Issues
The BBC, a challenge for Arab television
In what ways will the new BBC Arabic Channel differ from the 1996 attempt at Arabic TV broadcasting?
Our Arabic TV channel (launched in July 1994) was a commercial service using funding from the Arab-owned Orbit Communications and broadcasting for eight hours a day. Orbit withdrew its funding in April 1996 after the BBC refused to compromise its editorial independence. The BBC was unable to find a new commercial partner and the station closed. The new BBC Arabic channel will be funded by BBC World Service from within existing resources - launched initially as a 12-hour a day free-to-air service in early 2007, supported by BBC-generated text and audio for the rest of each day. Total control over funding for our new Arabic TV channel will be a guarantee of its editorial independence and also ensure stable, long-term financing. We will also be the only media-player in the Middle East with a genuine tri-media offer (BBC Arabic Radio, online and TV) - something our earlier venture lacked and which gives a unique advantage over competitor Arab-language TV news channels. Receiving the new service will also be easier - and much less expensive. The earlier venture required buying a $10,000 receiver: our new channel can be accessed by anyone with satellite receiving equipment.
What is you target audience and what perspective on world and Middle Eastern affairs will this Arabic channel espouse and convey to its audience?
The channel will be available to the whole Arab world from North Africa to the Middle East and the Gulf. We will also seek to make it available in Europe. Our target audience is everyone with an interest in news and information about the Middle East and the wider-world . Among these, we would hope to win significant viewers among influential opinion formers and decision makers. It will be a news and information service - supplying impartial and balanced coverage of regional and international issues. The BBC's long established reputation for trust, objectivity, relevance and quality of news coverage - as well as for innovative and interactive programming - will be at the heart of the new channel. It will keep its audiences informed and entertained. In addition to news reports from around the world, the channel will work closely with BBC Arabic Online and Radio in developing formats providing opportunities for audiences to take part in debates and interviews. A broad agenda will be offered - meeting the information needs of audiences across the Middle East.
Do you think that BBC Arabic TV will be in direct competition with al-Jazeera, and in what way?
BBC Arabic TV is being launched because extensive research tells us there is demand for what we can offer in terms of accuracy, impartiality, breadth of coverage and being a trusted channel. We do not see ourselves in direct competition with Al Jazeera which is a regionally-based station. We see ourselves as complementary to other stations - bringing an international perspective, putting news in a wider context and making it understandable and relevant for a Middle East audience. Most news consumers use more than one source and want more than one source.
As of spring 2006, Al Jazeera will be launching its own English news TV channel. How do you view such development?
News consumers benefit from access to a variety of news sources offering different perspectives. The BBC has a long-established reputation for delivering news and analysis world-wide via radio and television that is accurate, impartial and trusted - and we believe demand for our output will continue irrespective of services offered by other broadcasters.
In your opinion, what role could Western news outlets in Arabic play in the Middle East?
I can't speak for other western news-outlets, but I believe a BBC Arabic channel will have an important role to play. The Middle East has huge geo-political importance - combined with a lack of free and independent media for most audiences. Our research suggests that audiences in the region have a greater appetite for news than anywhere else in the word. Given that television is the dominant medium for news in the Middle East, I believe the need for a trusted, independent BBC Arabic television channel is greater than ever before.
-- Nigel Chapman
Director of BBC World Service
Information gathered by Chiara Sulmoni, Research Assistant
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- Origin CERMAM
- http://www.cermam.org/en/logs/dossier/the_bbc_a_challenge_for_arab_t/
- Publié le 23 February 2007