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I wrote a section on WW2. It probably contains overly many citations for sometimes quite broad details, that could have been covered by some single source. |
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| name = BBC World Service
| logo = BBC World Service 2022 (Boxed).svg
| logo_size =
| type = Radio broadcasting [[news]], [[speech]], [[discussions]], [[
| logo_caption = Logo used since 2022
| established =
| test of transmission =
| airdate =
| country =
| available = Worldwide
| founded =
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| market_share =
| license_area =
| headquarters = [[Broadcasting House]],
| broadcast_area = Worldwide
| area =
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| owner = [[BBC]]
| parent =
| key_people = [[Jonathan Munro]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Jonathan Munro appointed BBC News Global Director |url=https://www.ibc.org/news/jonathan-munro-appointed-bbc-news-global-director/11104.article |date=10 July 2024 |access-date=16 September 2024 |work=IBC365}}</ref>
| foundation =
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1932|12|19}}
| dissolved =
| former_names = {{Unbulletedlist |BBC Empire Service
| digital =
| servicename1 =
| service1 =
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| former_affiliations =
| website = {{official URL}}
| webcast = [https://www.bbc.com/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service Web
}}
The '''BBC World Service''' is an [[international broadcasting|international broadcaster]] owned and operated by the [[BBC]]. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmfaff/334/334.pdf |title= The Work of the BBC World Service 2008-09 |publisher=House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee |date=5 February 2010 |access-date= 16 February 2011 |archive-date= 21 October 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201021001645/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmfaff/334/334.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> It broadcasts radio [[news]], [[speech]] and [[discussions]] in more than 40 languages<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ws/languages|title=News in your language |website=BBC News |access-date=31 October 2019|archive-date=22 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522030650/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ws/languages|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Media-News-Company/bbcworldservice/about/|title=BBC World Service|website=Facebook |access-date=31 October 2019|archive-date=13 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213091024/https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Media-News-Company/bbcworldservice/about/|url-status=live}}</ref> to many parts of the world on [[Analogue signal|analogue]] and [[Shortwave listening|digital shortwave]] platforms, [[internet streaming]], [[podcasting]], [[Satellite radio|satellite]], [[Digital Audio Broadcasting|DAB]], [[FM broadcasting|FM]], [[Longwave|LW]] and [[Medium wave|MW]] relays. In
BBC World Service English maintains eight regional feeds with several programme variations, covering, respectively, [[East Africa|East]] and [[Southern Africa]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service East and Southern Africa - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p02y9rxx |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[West Africa|West]] and [[Central Africa]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service West and Central Africa - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p02y9s47 |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Europe]] and [[Middle East]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p02y9rgr |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> the [[Americas]] and [[Caribbean]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p02y9hr1 |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[East Asia]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service East Asia - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p02y9rvj |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[South Asia]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service South Asia - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p02y9rlv |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Australasia]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service Australasia - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p02y9px0 |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> and the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service UK DAB/Freeview - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p02zbmb3 |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> There are also two separate online-only streams, a general one<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service Online - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl9p |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> and the other being more news-oriented, known as ''News Internet''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service News Internet - Schedules |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p02y9sgt |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service English News - LyngSat |url=https://www.lyngsat.com/radiochannels/uk/BBC-World-Service-English-News.html |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=www.lyngsat.com}}</ref> The service broadcasts 24 hours a day.
The World Service
The director of the BBC World Service is [[
==History==
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This address was read out five times as the BBC broadcast it live to different parts of the world.
Recording from original BBC archive disks [https://www.youtube.com/embed/w4FT766H3oo?si=ubj67KeE0omOkLzh YouTube]
=== World War II ===
The BBC would continue to claim independence from the Government during the war,{{sfn | Plock | 2021 | p=}}{{rp|25}} but as Asa Briggs noted, a complete picture of the wartime BBC would have to include 'persistent references' to the various connected agencies of the government.{{sfn | Briggs | 1995 | p=}}{{rp|393}} Chiefly, the [[Political Warfare Executive]],
On 3 January 1938, the first foreign-language service was launched—in Arabic. Programmes in German, Italian and French began broadcasting on 27 September 1938 projecting the British quest for peace in the days prior to the conference on the [[Munich Agreement]].
By the end of 1942, the BBC had started broadcasts in all major European languages. The Empire Service was renamed the '''BBC Overseas Service''' in November 1939, supplemented by the addition of a dedicated BBC European Service from 1941. Funding for these services—known administratively as the '''External Services of the BBC'''—came not from the domestic [[radio licence|licence fee]] but from government [[grant-in-aid]] (from the Foreign Office budget).{{Citation needed|date= July 2017}}
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[[File:Aldwych, Bush House, WC2 - geograph.org.uk - 668798.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bush House]] in London was home to the World Service between 1941 and 2012.]]
The External Services broadcast propaganda during the [[Second World War]], on the German-language service {{ill|Londoner Rundfunk|de}} especially against Nazi rule, believed in the early days of the war at least to have weak support.{{sfn | Seul | 2015 | pp=378–396}}
=== Cold War ===
The 1956 [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian uprising]] held enormous implications for international radio broadcasting as it related to western foreign policy during the Cold War. Western broadcasts (especially the US's [[Radio Free Europe|RFE]]) incited an expectation of support that had already been decided against by President Eisenhower.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawnsley|1996|p=67-68}}: On the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian uprising]] and the [[Radio Free Europe|RFE]]'s role: "The United Nations Special Committee which investigated the crisis in 1957 concluded that RFE had 'aroused an expectation of support'. In terms of apportioning responsibility, however, this means very little." ''(continued)''</ref>{{rp|67-68}} The BBC, unlike other broadcasters, did not lose credibility in the crisis. It showed sensitivity and acted as its own censor when diplomacy may have been jeopardised otherwise.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawnsley|1996|p=72}}: Rawnsley in the context of the BBC's reporting on the uprising wrote: "Thus despite what its critics assert about Suez the BBC was certainly sensitive of its power and often acted as its own censor where diplomacy may have been jeopardised."</ref>{{rp|72}}
By the end of the 1940s the number of broadcast languages had expanded and reception had improved, following the opening of a relay in [[British Malaya|Malaya]] and of the [[Limassol BBC Relay|Limassol relay]] in [[British Cyprus|Cyprus]] in 1957. ▼
In stark contrast stood the BBC's reporting on the [[Suez Crisis]] of the same year. Although the British government tried to censor the BBC, it continued its even-handed reporting to both home as well as all foreign audiences.{{sfn | Goodwin | 2005}}{{rp|109–114}} The row had the government seriously consider taking over the service when then prime minister [[Anthony Eden]] wanted to ensure that only the government line—that the British and French only invaded Eqypt to keep peace and because its president [[Nasser]] was breaking international law—would reach the home (and international) audience.{{sfn | Economic and Political Weekly | 1968 | p=1680}}<ref name="fairhall20110630">{{Cite news |last=Fairhall |first=John |date=30 June 2011 |title=Drama sparks Suez Crisis memories |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/drama_sparks_suez_crisis_memories_1_949446 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102190920/http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/drama_sparks_suez_crisis_memories_1_949446 |archive-date=2 November 2014 |access-date=21 January 2015 |work=[[Eastern Daily Press]]}}</ref>
▲By the end of the 1940s, the number of broadcast languages had expanded and reception had improved, following the opening of a relay in [[British Malaya|Malaya]] and of the [[Limassol BBC Relay|Limassol relay]] in [[British Cyprus|Cyprus]] in 1957.
Also in 1957, a number of foreign language services were discontinued, or reduced.{{sfn | Rawnsley | 1996 }}{{rp|3}}
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In 1962, the [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office|Foreign Office]] argued that the [[VOA]]'s philosophy, as presented to it by its then director [[Henry Loomis]], not to broadcast to fully-developed allied countries in their respective languages should be adopted by the BBC. The reluctance of the BBC to drop those services was predicted also.{{sfn | Rawnsley | 1996 }}{{rp|2}}
On 1 May 1965, the service took its current name of '''BBC World Service'''.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/history/story/2007/02/070122_html_60s.shtml|title= The 1960s|publisher= BBC World Service|access-date= 25 April 2010|archive-date= 8 November 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111108042303/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/history/story/2007/02/070122_html_60s.shtml|url-status= live}}</ref> It expanded its reach with the opening of the [[Ascension Island transmitting station|Ascension Island relay]] in 1966, serving African audiences with a stronger signal and better reception, and with the later relay on the Island of [[Masirah Island|Masirah]] in Oman.
In August 1985, the service went off-air for the first time when workers went on strike in protest at the [[British government]]'s decision to ban a documentary featuring an interview with [[Martin McGuinness]] of [[Sinn Féin]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thomas |first=Jo |date=8 August 1985 |title=British Newscasts Stopped by Strike |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/08/world/british-newscasts-stopped-by-strike.html |access-date=6 March 2021 |archive-date=25 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125155225/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/08/world/british-newscasts-stopped-by-strike.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=DeYoung |first=Karen |date=7 August 1985 |title=BBC World Service Falls Silent |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/08/07/bbc-world-service-falls-silent/057453eb-f526-49f4-962c-8fb8045c2ab6/ |access-date=6 March 2021 |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318142421/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/08/07/bbc-world-service-falls-silent/057453eb-f526-49f4-962c-8fb8045c2ab6/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 August 1985 |title=Strike halts BBC News Worldwide |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-08-ca-3574-story.html |access-date=6 March 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318142434/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-08-ca-3574-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Subsequently, financial pressures decreased the number and the types of services offered by the BBC. Audiences in countries with wide access to [[Internet]] services have less need for terrestrial radio.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} Broadcasts in German ended in March 1999, after research showed that the majority of German listeners tuned into the English-language service. Broadcasts in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], French, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], Italian, Japanese and [[Malay language|Malay]] stopped for similar reasons.
===Twenty-first century===
[[File:BBC World Service red.svg|thumb|upright|BBC World Service logo used from 2008 to 2019]]
[[File:BBC World Service 2019.svg|thumb|upright|BBC World Service logo used from 2019 to 2022]]
On 25 October 2005, the BBC announced that broadcasts in [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Greek language|Greek]], Hungarian, [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], Polish, [[Slovak language|Slovak]], [[Slovene language|Slovene]] and [[Thai language|Thai]] would end by March 2006, to finance the launch in 2007 of television news services in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]].<ref name="BBC East Europe voices silenced">{{cite news |title= BBC East Europe voices silenced |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4550102.stm |access-date= 18 July 2012 |work= BBC News |date= 21 December 2005 |quote= Announcing the cuts in October, the director of the BBC World Service, Nigel Chapman, said that the European services were a beacon of free and independent information during the Cold War, but were now in decline. |archive-date= 24 December 2005 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051224210437/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4550102.stm |url-status= live }}</ref> Additionally, [[Romanian language|Romanian]] broadcasts ceased on 1 August 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7473778.stm |title= BBC shuts down Romanian service |date= 25 June 2008 |work= BBC News |access-date= 29 July 2017 |quote= The BBC World Service is to close its Romanian language service, after 69 years of broadcasting.<br>Transmissions in Romanian will cease on 1 August. |archive-date= 3 March 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160303185334/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7473778.stm |url-status= live }}</ref>
In 2007, the last FM broadcast of [[BBC News Russian]] was discontinued at the order of the Russian government. [[Finam Holdings|Finam]] owned Bolshoye Radio, the last of three services to drop the BBC Russia broadcasts. A spokesman for the organization claimed that 'any media which is government-financed is propaganda – it's a fact, it's not negative'.<ref name="BbcOffFm">{{cite news
In 2011, BBC Kyrgyz service newsreader and producer Arslan Koichiev resigned from his BBC post after revelations and claims of involvement in the [[Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010|Kyrgyzstan revolution of April 2010]]. He had been based in London, but often travelled to Kyrgyzstan and used BBC resources to agitate against President [[Kurmanbek Bakiyev]], appearing on a Kyrgyz radio station under a pseudonym with a disguised voice. One of the leaders of the revolution, Aliyasbek Alymkulov, named the producer as his mentor and claimed that they had discussed preparations for the revolution.<ref name=revolt>{{cite news |date=7 April 2011 |title=BBC man quits after claims he helped to topple president in Kyrgyzstan revolt |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/bbc-man-quits-after-claims-he-helped-to-topple-president-in-kyrgyzstan-revolt-6389723.html |work=Evening Standard |location=London |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202081421/http://www.standard.co.uk/news/bbc-man-quits-after-claims-he-helped-to-topple-president-in-kyrgyzstan-revolt-6389723.html |url-status=live }}</ref>▼
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6951710.stm
| date=17 August 2007
| title=BBC radio ordered off Russian FM| access-date=18 August 2007|work=BBC News}}</ref> Reports put the development in the context of criticism of the Russian government for curbing media freedom ahead of the [[2008 Russian presidential election]].<ref name="BbcOffFm" /> [[Reporters Without Borders]] condemned the move as censorship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23321 |title=BBC dropped from Russia's FM waveband today |access-date=24 January 2014 |publisher=[[Reporters without Borders]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030180406/http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23321 |archive-date=30 October 2007 }}</ref>
▲In 2011, BBC Kyrgyz service newsreader and producer {{ill|Arslan Koichiev|ky}} resigned from his BBC post after revelations and claims of involvement in the [[Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010|Kyrgyzstan revolution of April 2010]].
According to London newspaper the ''[[Evening Standard]]'', "Mr Alymkulov claimed that Koichiev arranged secret meetings "through the BBC" and organised the march at the presidential palace on 7 April 2010"<ref name=revolt/>
In October 2010, the UK government announced that it was reducing the
In January 2011, the closure of the Albanian, Macedonian, and Serbian, as well as English for the Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa, services was announced. The British government announced that the three [[Balkans|Balkan]] countries had wide access to international information, and so broadcasts in the local languages had become unnecessary.<ref>{{cite news |title= BBC World Service to cut five language services |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12277413 |access-date= 18 July 2012 |work= BBC News |date= 26 January 2011 |archive-date= 26 January 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110126044945/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12277413 |url-status= live }}</ref> This decision reflected the financial situation the Corporation faced following transfer of responsibility for the Service from the Foreign Office, so that it would in future have been funded from within licence-fee income. The Russian, Ukrainian, Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, Vietnamese and Spanish for Cuba services ceased radio broadcasting, and the Hindi, Indonesian, Kyrgyz, Nepali, Swahili, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi services ceased shortwave transmissions. As part of the 16% budget cut, 650 jobs were eliminated.<ref name="WS cuts jan 2011">{{cite news |title= BBC World Service cuts outlined to staff |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12283356 |access-date= 18 July 2012 |work= BBC News |date= 26 January 2011 |archive-date= 5 January 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120105192548/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12283356 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Plunkett |first= John |title= BBC World Service to 'cut up to 650 jobs' |url= https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/25/bbc-world-service-jobs |access-date= 18 July 2012 |newspaper= The Guardian |location= London |date= 26 January 2011 |archive-date= 21 September 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130921002915/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/25/bbc-world-service-jobs |url-status= live }}</ref>▼
▲In January 2011, the closure of the Albanian, Macedonian, and Serbian, as well as English for the Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa, services was announced. The British government announced that the three [[Balkans|Balkan]] countries had wide access to international information, and so broadcasts in the local languages had become unnecessary.<ref>{{cite news |title= BBC World Service to cut five language services |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12277413 |access-date= 18 July 2012 |work= BBC News |date= 26 January 2011 |archive-date= 26 January 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110126044945/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12277413 |url-status= live }}</ref> This decision reflected the financial situation the Corporation faced following transfer of responsibility for the Service from the Foreign Office, so that it would in future have been funded from within licence-fee income. The Russian, Ukrainian, Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, Vietnamese and Spanish for Cuba services ceased radio broadcasting, and the Hindi, Indonesian, Kyrgyz, Nepali, Swahili, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi services ceased shortwave transmissions. As part of the 16% budget cut, 650 jobs were eliminated.<ref name="WS cuts jan 2011">{{cite news |title= BBC World Service cuts outlined to staff |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12283356 |access-date= 18 July 2012 |work= BBC News |date= 26 January 2011 |archive-date= 5 January 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120105192548/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12283356 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Plunkett |first= John |title= BBC World Service to 'cut up to 650 jobs' |url= https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/25/bbc-world-service-jobs |access-date= 18 July 2012 |newspaper= The Guardian |location= London |date= 26 January 2011 |archive-date= 21 September 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130921002915/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/25/bbc-world-service-jobs |url-status= live }}</ref>
▲In October 2010, the UK government announced that it was reducing the service's revenue funding by 16% and its capital funding by 52% by 2016–17. This necessitated over 650 staff leaving. Funding from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office would end in April 2014, when funding would mainly be from the television licence fee.<ref name=nao-20160607>{{cite web |url=https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/BBC-World-Service-1.pdf |title=BBC World Service |publisher=National Audit Office |date=7 June 2016 |access-date=19 January 2023}}</ref>
In 2012, London staff moved from [[Bush House]] to [[Broadcasting House]], so co-located with other [[BBC News]] departments. About 35% of its 1,518 full-time equivalent staff in 2014 were based overseas at 115 locations. From 2014 the service became part of [[BBC World News|World Service Group]] under the Director of BBC News and Current Affairs.<ref name=nao-20160607/>
From 2016, 1,100 additional staff were recruited as part of an expansion of the World Service, about a 70% increase, funded by the [[Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office]] providing £254 million/year for five years, partly a reversal of the government decision that the television licence fee would fund the service from 2014.<ref name=nao-20231217>{{cite web |url=https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BBC-savings-and-reforms.pdf |title=BBC savings and reform |id=HC 958 |publisher=National Audit Office |pages=s6,22 |date=17 December 2023 |access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=holl-20221124/> This was the biggest service expansion since [[World War II]].<ref name=bbcws-20210908>{{cite web |url=https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/36976/pdf/ |title=Written evidence submitted by BBC World Service |id=TFP0035 |work=BBC World Service |via=Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliament |date=8 September 2021 |access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref>
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The World Service was funded for decades by [[grant-in-aid]] through the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] until 1 April 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/public-diplomacy/world-service |title= About Us: BBC World Service |date= 22 October 2010 |work= British Foreign & Commonwealth Office |access-date= 9 January 2011 |archive-date= 31 December 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101231002104/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/public-diplomacy/world-service |url-status= live }}</ref> Since then it has been funded by a mixture of the United Kingdom's [[Television licensing in the United Kingdom|television licence fee]], limited advertising<ref>{{cite web|url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/guidelines/editorialguidelines/pdfs/250315-World-Service-Group-External-Relationships-Funding.pdf|title=Funding|website=Downloads.bbc.co.uk|access-date=31 October 2019|archive-date=18 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118124239/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/guidelines/editorialguidelines/pdfs/250315-World-Service-Group-External-Relationships-Funding.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> profits of [[BBC Studios]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annual-review/annual-review-2014/our-business.aspx |title=BBC Worldwide - Annual Review 2013/14 - Our Business |access-date=7 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422073204/http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annual-review/annual-review-2014/our-business.aspx |archive-date=22 April 2015 }}</ref> and [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office]] funding.<ref name=holl-20221124/>
From 2014, the service was guaranteed £289 million (allocated over a five-year period ending in 2020) from the UK government.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/23/bbc-world-service-receive-289m-from-government|title= BBC World Service to receive £289m from government|first= Tara|last= Conlan|date= 23 November 2015|newspaper= [[The Guardian]]|access-date= 1 December 2016|archive-date= 18 November 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201118140221/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/23/bbc-world-service-receive-289m-from-government|url-status= live}}</ref> In 2016, the government announced that the licence fee funding for the World Service would be £254 million/year for the five years from 2017.<ref name=holl-20221124/> From 2016 to 2022, the [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office]] contributed over £470 million to the World Service via its World 2020 Programme, about 80% of which is categorised as Overseas Development Assistance, amounting to about a quarter of the World Service budget.<ref name=hansard-20221201>{{cite web |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2022-12-01/debates/E550098A-BCAE-4755-8823-869F618497C1/BBCWorldService |title=Debate: BBC World Service |author=Lord Zac Goldsmith (Minister of State FCDO) |publisher=UK Parliament |work=Lord's Hansard |id=Column
==Languages==
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | 6 February 1952
| style="vertical-align: top;" | 26 March 2011 (Radio Service)
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [https://www.bbc.
| {{
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| {{Yes}}
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Finnish language|Finnish]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | 18 March 1940
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="31 December 1997" | 31 December 1997<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/europe/
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [https://web.archive.org/web/19970428015437/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/finnish/index.htm BBC Finnish archived]
| {{Yes}}
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[German language|German]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | 27 September 1938
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="26 March 1999" | 26 March 1999<ref>
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [https://web.archive.org/web/19970428015446/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/german/index.htm BBC German archived]
| {{Yes}}
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==Radio programming in English==
{{redirects|Business Daily|the Kenyan newspaper|Business Daily Africa}}
[[File:Steve Titherington.jpg|thumb|Steve Titherington - ''BBC World Questions'' broadcasting from Budapest]]
The World Service in English mainly broadcasts news and analysis. The mainstays of the current schedule are ''[[Newsday (BBC World Service)|Newsday]]'', ''[[Newshour]]'' and ''The Newsroom''. Daily science programmes include: ''Health Check'',
==Previous radio programming in English==
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===News===
News is at the core of the [[broadcast programming|scheduling]]. A five-minute bulletin is generally transmitted at 01 past the hour, with a two-minute summary at 30 past the hour. Sometimes these are separate from other programming, or alternatively made integral to the programme (such as with ''The Newsroom'', ''[[Newshour]]'' or ''[[Newsday (BBC World Service)|Newsday]]''). In October 2024, it was announced that the bulletins would be broadcast on domestic BBC radio stations during the night.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-15 |title=More job cuts announced as BBC radio stations combine further bulletins and programmes |url=https://radiotoday.co.uk/2024/10/more-job-cuts-announced-as-bbc-radio-stations-combine-further-bulletins-and-programmes/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=RadioToday |language=en-GB}}</ref> During such time slots as weeknights 11pm-12am GMT and that of ''Sportsworld'', no news summaries are broadcast. As part of the BBC's policy for breaking news, the Service is the first to receive a full report for foreign news.<ref name="BBC News works">{{cite web|last=Boaden|first=Helen|date=22 January 2007|title=Editorial Processes – How BBC News works|url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/review_report_research/impartiality_business/f2_news_submission.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207054802/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/review_report_research/impartiality_business/f2_news_submission.pdf|archive-date=7 February 2017|access-date=11 August 2012|website=|publisher=BBC Trust|page=4}}</ref>
==Availability==
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BBC World Service is available by subscription to [[Sirius XM Holdings|Sirius XM's]] [[satellite radio]] service in the United States.<ref>{{cite press release |publisher=[[XM Satellite Radio]] |date=26 July 1999 |url=http://xmradio.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1104 |title=BBC World Service and XM announce programming alliance |access-date=17 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111180733/http://xmradio.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1104 |archive-date=11 November 2006 }}</ref> Its Canadian affiliate, [[Sirius XM Canada]], does the same in Canada. More than 300 [[Public broadcasting|public radio]] stations across the US carry World Service news broadcasts—mostly during the overnight and early-morning hours—over [[AM broadcasting|AM]] and [[FM broadcasting#See also|FM]] radio, distributed by [[American Public Media]] (APM).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/press/archive/pr_071212.html |title=BBC World Service Appoints American Public Media as New Distributor in the United States |publisher=APM |date=12 July 2012 |access-date=2 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126101159/http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/press/archive/pr_071212.html |archive-date=26 January 2013 }}</ref> Some public radio stations also carry the World Service in its entirety via [[HD Radio]]. The BBC and [[Public Radio International]] (PRI) co-produce the programme ''[[The World (radio program)|The World]]'' with [[WGBH (FM)|WGBH]] Radio [[Boston]], and the BBC was previously involved with ''[[The Takeaway]]'' morning news programme based at [[WNYC]] in [[New York City]]. BBC World Service programming also airs as part of [[CBC Radio One]]'s ''[[CBC Radio Overnight]]'' schedule in Canada.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}
BBC shortwave broadcasts to this region were traditionally enhanced by the Atlantic Relay Station and the Caribbean Relay Company, a station in [[Antigua]] run jointly with [[Deutsche Welle]]. In addition, an exchange agreement with [[Radio Canada International]] gave access to their station in [[New Brunswick]]. However, "changing listening habits" led the World Service to end shortwave radio transmission directed to North America and [[Australasia]] on 1 July 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/foi/docs/annual_reports_and_reviews/annual_report_and_accounts/BBC_Annual_Reports_and_Accounts.htm#page54|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202090014/http://www.bbc.co.uk/foi/docs/annual_reports_and_reviews/annual_report_and_accounts/BBC_Annual_Reports_and_Accounts.htm#page54|url-status=dead|title=Pages 1–136 from BBC AR Cover 03|archive-date=2 February 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/faq/news/story/2005/08/050810_nzandswpacific.shtml |title=BBC World Service | FAQ |publisher=BBC |date=10 August 2005 |access-date=16 February 2011 |archive-date=10 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110052617/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/faq/news/story/2005/08/050810_nzandswpacific.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[shortwave listening|shortwave listener]] coalition formed to oppose the change.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.savebbc.org/press/6_june_2001.html |title=Save the BBC World Service in North America and the Pacific! – BBC to Cut Off 1.2 Million Listeners on July 1 |website=Savebbc.org |date=6 June 2001 |access-date=16 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130004805/http://savebbc.org/press/6_june_2001.html |archive-date=30 November 2010 |url-status=dead
The BBC broadcasts to Central America and South America in several languages. It is possible to receive the [[West Africa|Western African]] shortwave radio broadcasts from eastern North America, but the BBC does not guarantee reception in this area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules/010119_namerica.shtml |title=FAQ | World Service |publisher=BBC |access-date=16 February 2011 |archive-date=18 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918100925/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules/010119_namerica.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> It has ended its specialist programming to the [[Falkland Islands]] but continues to provide a stream of World Service programming to the [[Falkland Islands Radio Service]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/02_february/23/falklands.shtml |title=Press Office – Falkland Islands and BBC to boost home-grown media |publisher=BBC |date=23 February 2006 |access-date=16 February 2011 |archive-date=6 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106014444/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/02_february/23/falklands.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>
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For several decades, the World Service's largest audiences have been in Asia, the Middle East, [[Near East]] and South Asia. Transmission facilities in the UK and Cyprus were supplemented by the former BBC Eastern Relay Station in [[Oman]] and the [[BBC Far Eastern Relay Station|Far Eastern Relay Station]] in Singapore, formerly in Malaysia. The East Asian Relay Station moved to [[Thailand]] in 1997 when Hong Kong was [[Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|handed over]] to Chinese sovereignty. The relay station in Thailand was closed during January 2017, and in [[Singapore]] during July 2023;<ref>{{cite news | title = BBC's call will continue after transmissions end | url = https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/bbcs-call-will-continue-after-transmissions-end/MBUUASPXN3PNXAVHUNUTHSVKWA/ | author = Rosaleen Macbrayne | access-date = 30 August 2023 | work = New Zealand Herald }}</ref> currently, a relay station in [[Masirah]], [[Oman]] serves the Asian region. Together, these facilities have given the BBC World Service an easily accessible signal in regions where shortwave listening has traditionally been popular. The English shortwave frequencies of 6.195 (49m band), 9.74 (31m band), 15.31/15.36 (19m band) and 17.76/17.79 (16m band) were widely known. On 25 March 2018, the long-established shortwave frequency of 9.74 MHz was changed to 9.9 MHz.
The largest audiences are in English, [[Hindi]], [[Urdu]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and other major languages of South Asia, where BBC broadcasters are household names. The [[Persian language|Persian]] service is the ''de facto'' national broadcaster of [[Afghanistan]], along with its Iranian audience. The World Service is available up to eighteen hours a day in English across most parts of Asia, and in Arabic for the Middle East. With the addition of relays in Afghanistan and Iraq these services are accessible in most of the Middle and Near East in the evening. In Singapore, the BBC World Service in English is essentially treated as a domestic broadcaster, easily available 24/7 through long-term agreement with [[Mediacorp#Radio|MediaCorp Radio]]. For many years [[Radio Television Hong Kong]] broadcast BBC World Service 24/7 but as of 12 February 2021, Hong Kong has banned the BBC's World Service radio from its airwaves, following swiftly on the heels of China's decision to bar its World News television channels, seemingly in retaliation for Ofcom revoking the UK broadcasting licence of China Global Television Network. In the [[Philippines]], [[DZRJ-AM|DZRJ 810 AM]] and its FM sister station [[DZRJ-FM|RJFM 100.3]] broadcasts the BBC World Service in English from
Although this region has seen the launch of the only two foreign language television channels, several other services have had their radio services closed as a result of budget cuts and redirection of resources.<ref>{{cite news | title = BBC Thai service ends broadcasts | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4609860.stm | author = Clare Harkey | date = 13 March 2006 | access-date = 8 November 2008 | work = BBC News | archive-date = 18 December 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081218021705/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4609860.stm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12864041 |title=BBC Chinese Service makes final broadcast in Mandarin |author=Vivien Marsh |publisher=BBC |date=28 March 2011 |access-date=25 October 2011 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511224200/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12864041 |url-status=live }}</ref>
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===Europe===
The BBC World Service is broadcast in Berlin on 94.8 MHz. FM relays are also available in Ceske Budjovice, Karlovy Vary, Plzen, Usti nad Labem, Zlin and Prague in the Czech Republic, Pristina, Riga, Tallinn, Tirana and Vilnius. The station is also available in Reykjavík, Iceland on 94.5
The World Service employed a [[Orfordness transmitting station|medium wave transmitter]] at [[Orford Ness]] to provide English-language coverage to Europe, including on the [[frequency]] 648
In the 1990s, the BBC purchased and constructed large medium wave and FM networks in the former Soviet bloc, particularly the Czech (BBC Czech Section), Slovak Republics (BBC Slovak Section), Poland ([[BBC Polish Section]]) (where it was a national network) and Russia ([[BBC Russian Service]]). It had built up a strong audience during the Cold War, whilst economic restructuring made it difficult for these governments to refuse Western investment. Many of these facilities have now returned to domestic control, as economic and political conditions have changed.
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===UK===
The BBC World Service is broadcast on [[Digital Audio Broadcasting|DAB]], [[Freeview (UK)|Freeview]], [[Virgin Media]] and [[Sky UK|Sky]] platforms, as well as on [[BBC Sounds]]. It is also broadcast overnight on the frequencies of [[BBC Radio 4]] and the [[Welsh language]] service [[BBC Radio Cymru]] following their closedown at 0000 or 0100 British time. The BBC World Service does not receive funding for broadcasts to the UK. In southeast England, the station could be picked up reliably on medium wave 648 kHz, which was targeted at mainland Europe.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}
According to [[RAJAR]], the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 1.2 million with a listening share of 0.
==Presentation==
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===Time===
The network operates using [[Greenwich Mean Time]], regardless of the time zone and time of year, and is announced on the hour on the English service as "13 hours GMT" (1300 GMT) or "Midnight Greenwich Mean Time" (0000 GMT). The BBC World Service traditionally broadcasts the chimes of [[Big Ben]] in London at the start of a new year.<ref>{{
==="This is London"===
A BBC News report would begin with its [[station identification]] phrase "This is London" or "This is London calling".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.turnipnet.com/whirligig/radio/index.htm|title=
During the [[Eurovision Song Contest]], before announcing the contest points from the UK, the broadcaster from the BBC delivering the votes usually begins with "This is London Calling". In 2019, the BBC started a weekly podcast called ''Eurovision Calling'' with Jayde Adams and [[Scott Mills]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Eurovision Calling | publisher=BBC | date=19 February 2021 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0704rjr | access-date=26 February 2021 | archive-date=25 February 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225215009/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0704rjr | url-status=live }}</ref>
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===British soft power===
The World Service claims that its aim is to be "the world's best-known and most-respected voice in international broadcasting, thereby bringing benefit to the UK, the BBC, and to audiences around the world",<ref
In 2014, [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP [[John Whittingdale]], chair of the [[Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee]], characterising the BBC's primary mission as fighting an 'Information War' (a role which some{{Example needed|date=August 2022}} media scholars agree to<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Safiri |first1=F |last2=Shahidi |first2=H |title=Great Britain xiii. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |journal=Encyclopædia Iranica |volume=XI/3 |pages=276–286 |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/great-britain-xiii |access-date=19 February 2022 |archive-date=21 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121015816/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/great-britain-xiii |url-status=live }}</ref>), saying: "We are being outgunned massively by the Russians and Chinese and that’s something I’ve raised with the BBC. It is frightening the extent to which we are losing the information war.”<ref name="The Guardian"/> In March 2022, as the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine]] started, the UK government announced additional emergency funding for the World Service to provide "independent, impartial and accurate news to people in Ukraine and Russia in the face of increased propaganda from the Russian state" and to counter "Putin’s lies and exposing his propaganda and fake news".<ref name=govuk-20220324>{{cite press release |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bbc-gets-emergency-funding-to-fight-russian-disinformation |title=BBC gets emergency funding to fight Russian disinformation |publisher=UK Government |via=gov.uk |date=24 March 2022 |access-date=12 January 2023}}</ref>
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{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book | last=Plock | first=Vike Martina | title=The BBC German Service during the Second World War | series=Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | publication-place=Cham | date=20 September 2021 | isbn=978-3-030-74091-7 | doi=10.1007/978-3-030-74092-4}}
* {{cite journal | last=Seul | first=Stephanie | title=
* {{cite journal |first=Peter|last=Goodwin|author-link=Peter Goodwin|date=2005|title=Low Conspiracy? – Government interference in the BBC|journal=Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture|volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=96–118 |doi=10.16997/wpcc.10 |issn=1744-6708 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal | last=Milland | first=Gabriel | title=The BBC Hungarian service and the final solution in Hungary | journal=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television | volume=18 | issue=3 | date=1998 | issn=0143-9685 | doi=10.1080/01439689800260231 | pages=353–373}}
* {{cite book | last=Rawnsley | first=Gary D. | title=Radio Diplomacy and Propaganda | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK | publication-place=London | date=1996 | isbn=978-1-349-24501-7 | doi=10.1007/978-1-349-24499-7}}
* {{cite book | last=Briggs | first=Asa | title=The War of Words: The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume III | publisher=Oxford University PressOxford | date=1995-03-23 | isbn=978-0-19-212956-7 | doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192129567.001.0001}}
* {{cite journal | title=Keeping BBC Unfettered | journal=Economic and Political Weekly | volume=3 | issue=44 | year=1968 | page=1680 | issn=0012-9976 | jstor=4359258 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4359258 | ref={{sfnref | Economic and Political Weekly | 1968}} | access-date=2024-03-14}}
{{refend}}
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