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BBC
World has announced the purchase of its broadcast company
Satellite News Corporation in Japan and an increase of its
Japanese translation service from 60.5 to almost 90 hours
a week.
BBC
World has been a shareholder, together with ITX (formerly
Nissho Iwai), of the Satellite News Corporation (SNC) since
1994. SNC is responsible for the marketing and distribution
of BBC World throughout Japan and in March 2002 it became
the first company fully registered and licensed to operate
under the new Japanese Broadcast Utilization Act.
The
announcement that BBC World, under the umbrella of its parent
company, BBC Worldwide, has become the sole shareholder
of the company makes the channel the first foreign company
registered to broadcast in Japan, a company release says.
Commenting
on the announcement, Patrick Cross, managing director, BBC
World, said: "This is by far the most significant commitment
that we have made to the Japanese market to date. We know
from audience research in the region that viewers value
BBC World and the unique translation service we provide
on breaking news so it is a great opportunity to be first
in the market with our own company as well."
BBC
World has also announced a considerable increase in its
Japanese translation service to nearly 90 hours a week.
BBC World news in Japanese is translated live and uses more
than one voice, unlike many other bilingual transmissions
in Japan which are delayed by several hours and use a single
voice for all interventions. The total number of translated
hours comprises both live news and pre-recorded Japanese
versions of BBC World's current affairs, lifestyle and documentary
programming. Translation is carried out by a London-based
team of 16 regular translators, backed by some 15 others
working on a part time basis and produced by a seven-strong
production team.
"This
is a great endorsement of the work we do here in the Japanese
translation unit. Everyone has worked very hard to provide
an excellent service on breaking news stories and given
the pace of gobal news events in the past year. I think
we have proved we can provide the highest quality output
which is now being reflected in the increased hours," said
Shigeru Tabata, Editor Japanese Translation Unit, BBC World.
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