Re: [Swprograms] BBC World Service - why the dramatic slip in quality?

[Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>]

I read this, and then read through the thoughtful comments.

However I wonder -- how many of those commenting are part of the
audience the BBCWS is trying to reach?

Both the VOA and BBC have decided that Africa is their most important
target for English language services.

Further, whereas the BBC used to target an expat British audience when
shortwave was the only way to get the BBC abroad, now that audience
can simply tune into Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live whenever they want.

Broadcasters have become much more clever (for better or worse) in
identifying the target audiences they wish to serve, how they want to
reach them, and what they want to say to them.

And, yes, part of what we hear is a consequence of the "more
productivity with less resources" movement necessitated by the UK's
sharp funding cuts for the World Service.

Alas, the BBC World Service of, say, 1975 or even 1990, and the BBC
World Service of 2013 are equivalent in name only.  And that's too bad
for those of us who remember the good old days...

Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA  USA


On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 4:38 PM, Art Preis <ap54@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Found this discussion on the mediauk website:
>
> http://www.mediauk.com/radio/discussions/radio-chatter/bbc-world-service-why-the-dramatic-slip-in-quality
>
> Glad to see that some of our sentiments are more widely shared.
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