[Swprograms] OT: BBC Considers Arabic News Channel

["Rob de Santos AFANA" <rdesantos@xxxxxxxxx>]

Compare the cost of this effort to the "savings" gleaned by the
shortwave cuts of recent years...  

>From Tele-Satellite News:

BBC CONSIDERS ARABIC NEWS CHANNEL
The BBC is planning an Arabic-language television
channel that will be on the air 24 hours a day
throughout the Middle East. Speaking before the
Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK parliament on 22
June, BBC World Service Acting Director Nigel Chapman
said the proposed channel's mix of news, discussion
programmes and documentaries would address what he
described as "the dramatically changed media landscape
in the Middle East". The plans have been included in
the British Foreign Office's 2004 Spending Review
which goes before the British Treasury for approval.
The BBC is seeking an additional £28 million to fund
the channel, according to reports in the London
'Financial Times'. BBC World Service radio is funded
by the UK government through the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office while BBC World television is an
entirely commercial venture. BBC World Service
Television ran an Arabic service that was carried on
Orbit, the Middle East satellite bouquet, for a number
of years until it closed in 1996 following pressure
from the Saudi Arabian government.

-Rob de Santos
-Columbus, Ohio USA


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