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| indiantelevision.com's Breaking News |
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| BBC World, World Service to merge in
December |
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Indiantelevision.com
Team
(18 October 2002 5:00 pm) |
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| NEW DELHI: The BBC will create a single integrated
BBC international news and information division from December, bringing
together BBC World Service and BBC World following approval by the
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for the incorporation
of BBC World as a separate company. |
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| The announcement in the UK, which came
on October 14, also said the aim of the new division, announced last
year, is to create a clearer, coordinated presence in the international
media marketplace, improving the impact of BBC services and journalism
with global audiences, according to an official statement from the
BBC. |
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The new division will be formally established on 1
December this year. It will be led by Mark Byford as Director, World
Service and Global News, and will include BBC World Service radio,
BBC World television and the BBC's international facing online news
services. He will develop the BBC's overall international news strategy
and ensure greater editorial, marketing and audience research coordination
to deliver a more integrated BBC news strategy around the world.
The new division will work in partnership with BBC News, which will
continue to provide core newsgathering, English language news and
current affairs programmes in radio and television and the international
facing online news site in English.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which funds the World Service
through grant-in-aid, has been fully consulted about the proposition
and is supportive of the development. BBC World, the international
news and information television channel funded by advertising and
subscription, will remain a commercial service. The separate identities
of the two services and their different funding streams will be respected.
BBC World will no longer be a part of the BBC's commercial arm BBC
Worldwide Ltd. The BBC will establish BBC World Ltd as a new subsidiary
of the newly established commercial holding company BBC Commercial
Holdings Ltd., the statement said.
BBC World Ltd will fully comply with the BBC's Commercial Policy Guidelines
and Fair Trading Commitment, UK and EU competition law, and all other
relevant regulatory requirements.
Mark Byford, Director of BBC World Service and Global News in the
statement said: "The new division brings a golden opportunity for
the BBC to strengthen its reputation as the best known and most respected
international news broadcaster, across radio, television and new media.
I'm determined to build on the impact made by the BBC's international
news services in the past year and develop a coordinated global news
strategy to enhance our reputation, reach, relevance and impact around
the world."
The BBC World Service is a leading international broadcaster, attracting
audiences of 150 million listeners each week. It is rapidly developing
into a multimedia broadcaster, using radio and the internet, for all
its 43 language services. It is funded by grant-in-aid from the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office. The grant for 2002/3 is £201m.
In the UK, World Service is available on 648 MW in Southern England.
In addition, overnight on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio
Wales and BBC Ulster and across the UK via digital radio, digital
satellite and the Internet. Outside the UK, BBC World Service is available
on short wave; on FM in more than 130 capital cities; and selected
programmes are carried on almost 2,000 FM and MW radio stations around
the world. High quality reception of World Service programmes is available
via satellite in Europe and North America. It can be heard on the
BBC's digital multiplex in the UK, or in Europe on the Astra satellite,
channel 865.
BBC World is at the heart of the BBC's vision for global news leadership.
BBC World is the BBC's 24-hour, English language, international news
and information television channel, reaching 222 million homes in
200 countries and territories worldwide. Launched in its present format
in 1995, BBC World is a commercial service.
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