BBC Bengali to drop two half hour shortwave transmissions at morning & evening

With effect from 1st April, 2018 BBC Bengali will drop its two half hour shortwave transmissions at morning, 0030 UTC (Prabhati) and late evening, 1630 UTC (Parikrama) .

"We have noticed that the radio audience of Bangladesh is gradually decreasing and most people have become dependent on television to hear or to know about the news," said Sabir Mustafa, editor, BBC News Bangla on the decision. Today 81 percent of the people in Bangladesh watch television and only 15 percent listen to the radio. "

"On the other hand, young people are going through digital media and online to meet their news and entertainment needs. In this context, we decided to reduce the radio show and will further increase our performance on television and online. "

"At the same time, we think it is very important to keep the news program on the radio in the morning, the popularity of the night is not very much, and we expect the demand for this morning's show will increase further", said Sabir Mustafa.

Mr. Mustafa says, "Now our activities through online and social will grow very much. Facebook and YouTube will be able to give more videos and more analytical articles will be published on our website. At the same time, the kind of stories that people can be good at reading or getting inspiration, the news will be given more. "

Sabir Mustafa said that although two radio programs were closed, BBC News Bangla is now going to become more diverse media.

Revised shortwave schedule BBC Bengali B17

UTC         FREQ  DAYS     SITE    PWR AZI 

----------------------------------------

0130 0200  9560   smtwtfs KRANJI       250 330

0130 0200  11995 smtwtfs KRANJI        250 320

1330 1400  5875   smtwtfs TASHKENT 100 131

1330 1400  9510   smtwtfs KRANJI       250 330

1330 1400  11750 smtwtfs A SEELA     250 60

To be cancelled from 1st April 2018 :

0030 0100 7465  smtwtfs KRANJI   250 340

0030 0100 9560  smtwtfs KRANJI   250 330

0030 0100 11700 smtwtfs KRANJI   250 320

1630 1700 5845  smtwtfs KRANJI   250 340

1630 1700 7485  smtwtfs KRANJI   250 340

1630 1700 9540  smtwtfs KRANJI   250 330  

(Alokesh Gupta, with inputs from BBC.com)  

BBC World Service English to end medium wave radio services to Eastern Mediterranean

BBC World Service English to end medium wave radio services to Eastern Mediterranean on 1323kHz in April

The BBC announced that the English language radio service in the Eastern Mediterranean - including Israel, much of Lebanon, Cyprus and southern Turkey - will end on 25 April 2015.

Director of BBC World Service, Fran Unsworth, says: "Our English language service will still be available via satellite and on the internet - which is increasingly how our audiences tune in. However, we cannot identify a financially viable method by which to continue the medium wave radio service. It is for this reason that we have decided to end these transmissions."

Audiences in the region will be able to listen to BBC World Service English 24 hours day through the direct-to-home satellite service on Eutelsat 13 (13o East, 11,117 MHz Vertical) or through the internet at BBCWorldservice.com

(BBC Press Release)

BBC to move Tamil service from London to India

Prasun Sonwalkar, Hindustan Times

London, July 19, 2014

 

The popular Tamil language service of the BBC is to be moved from London to India, where it will be relocated with the BBC Hindi service, according to new plans announced to cut costs until 2017.

 

A BBC World Service spokesperson told HT: "In India, BBC Tamil has a growing audience and we believe that relocating the team with BBC Hindi – which successfully relocated to Delhi and has achieved digital and TV growth – will benefit audiences".

 

Read the HT news report at.....

 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/bbc-to-move-tamil-service-from-london-to-india/article1-1242308.aspx

Sixty-five jobs to go in BBC Radio

The BBC is to cut 65 jobs in its radio division, the director of BBC Radio has announced.

 

BBC Radio needs to save £38m by 2016/17 and compulsory redundancies are likely, Helen Boaden told staff meeting at a briefing on Tuesday morning.

 

The move is part of the £800m cost-cutting measures required by the BBC savings programme Delivering Quality First (DQF).

 

About 200 jobs, or 15% of all radio employees, will be lost from 2012-2017

More at :

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27776707

BBC World Service to reduce shortwave transmissions as part of savings drive

Peter Horrocks, director of global news, says £15m must be saved to fund new investments over the next three years

The BBC World Service will further reduce its shortwave transmissions next year as part of a £15m savings drive which staff have been warned will be a "real stretch".

More at :

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/feb/19/bbc-world-service-reduce-shortwave-peter-horrocks

Related :

Peter Horrocks: Invest to Innovate - speech to staff

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/speeches/2014/ws-peterhorrocks-staffspeech.html

 

Peter Horrocks announces £8m investment plan for BBC World Service

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/ws-8m-wsinvestmentplan.html

BBC Seychelles relay station to close in March 2014

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced today that the Indian Ocean Relay Station (IORS) transmitter site at Grand Anse, Mahé, will cease all shortwave transmissions on 29 March 2014.

 

The site was established in 1988 and has been in continuous service since then, relaying BBC broadcasts to audiences in East Africa primarily in English and Somali.

 

The closure will not affect the availability of BBC World Service programmes in Seychelles, which are relayed from satellite broadcasts on to local FM frequencies 106.2, 105.6 and 105.2MHz. In areas of East Africa still dependent upon shortwave broadcasts, the signal will be supplied by other relay stations. The announcement follows an earlier decision to stop all shortwave broadcasts from the BBC World Service site in Cyprus for similar commercial, technological and audience reach reasons. These ended in March of this year.

 

The announcement will unfortunately result in 11 staff being put at risk of redundancy. The staff over the last 25 years have operated and maintained this shortwave broadcast facility with passion, expertise and professionalism. The technical ability and commitment of the team at the IORS has been applauded by the BBC World Service.

 

The decision to close the site has been taken due to changing commercial and technological circumstances. As countries develop and their media markets open, listening and viewing habits have changed. New technology has changed the way audiences listen to BBC programmes and reduced the importance of shortwave broadcasts in much of the area currently served by the IORS, making the IORS commercially unviable.

 

The BBC is supporting the development of new delivery platforms such as internet and mobile streaming as well as FM radio and TV broadcasts. Shortwave broadcasts continue to regions and markets where listening remains strong and BBC services can be delivered efficiently to large geographic areas.

 

(Press Release)

'The Economist' on future of BBC

http://www.economist.com/node/21542783?fsrc=scn/tw/te/ar/auntiesbigyear

(Thanks to Naleen Kumar for sharing the link)

NUJ members to strike at BBC on 15th July

Journalists at the BBC are due to walk out on 15 July in a strike over compulsory redundancies. NUJ members have a long standing commitment to the policy of no compuslory redundancies at the BBC. The NUJ has called on the BBC to enter urgent talks to resolve the threat of compulsory redundancies for the small number of outstanding cases and for the reinstatement of a member dismissed in the BBC World Service. Industrial action will go ahead next week if the BBC fail to address these issues.

More at :http://righttowork.org.uk/2011/07/nuj-members-to-strike-at-bbc-on-15th-july/

BBC World Service redundancy could spur strike vote

NUJ describes compulsory dismissal of Bengali World Service journalist as 'provocative act'

Tara Conlan
guardian.co.uk, Friday 17 June 2011 16.22 BST

Industrial action at the BBC could be on the cards after the corporation made a journalist at the BBC World Service take compulsory redundancy. The National Union of Journalists called it a "provocative act" and is urging its members to vote for industrial action. On Wednesday a Bengali member of the World Service was dismissed on the grounds of compulsory redundancy, according to the NUJ.

Full story at :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/17/bbc-strike-world-service?CMP=twt_fd

Lord Patten vows to protect BBC World Service

Lord Patten has said his love of the BBC World Service made protecting it a "priority" - particularly the "core" Arabic, Somali and Hindi services. The new BBC Trust chairman told the Sunday Telegraph he would fight for it as a 20% budget cut across the corporation takes effect this year. The paper claimed he signalled in the interview that digital TV channels BBC3 or BBC4 may be axed to help secure it.

Full story at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13741210

BBC Turkish radio service to sign off for last time due to cuts

BBC Radio's Turkish Service will end on May 27 after 72 years of continuous programs following a serious of British government cuts to their funding

More at :
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=bbc-radio-to-end-its-turkish-service-2011-05-23

MPs force rethink on BBC World Service cuts

By Gerri Peev

The BBC World Service's funding will not be cut after ministers gave the corporation a surprise stay of execution. The Foreign Office caved in to pressure from cross-party MPs to announce a
review into its decision to cut its budget.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388800/MPs-force-rethink-BBC-World-Service-cuts.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

House of Commons Discussion of the World Service
http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9490000/9490411.stm

William Hague questions BBC World Service's commitment to savings

William Hague questions BBC World Service's commitment to savings

Foreign secretary says cuts 'challenging but fair' as he questions corporation's transparency

More at :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/18/william-hague-world-service

FAC conclusion on BBC Hindi: Responses from Govt and the BBC

Naleen Kumar at British Parliament

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmfaff/1058/1058.pdf

Govt's response:
The Government has a strong bilateral relationship with India, and we are committed to make it even stronger, wider and deeper. Since the Prime Minister’s visit and the Summit with Indian Prime Minister Singh in July 2010, we have set in train an ambitious agenda of practical co-operation.
Under the terms of the agreement set out above between the BBC and the FCO, the World Service has editorial and managerial independence within an overall strategic framework, agreed with the Foreign Secretary. On this basis, while we retain a strong interest, decisions about changes to methods of broadcast within specific countries remain the responsibility of the World Service.
The BBC World Service told us that they made a decision to cease short wave broadcast in view of a falling short wave audience, and their broader decision to move away from short wave transmission. We were not formally consulted on this decision and we believe that the case they advanced for closure was not compelling. We welcome the World Service’s decision to identify savings from within its budgets to give the service the chance to explore a new operating model. We very much hope that the reprieve will continue, either through a new model of funding, or from the BBC identifying funds from their own resources.

BBC's Response:
The BBC remains committed to providing news to India but to secure its long term relevance needs to respond to rapid and significant changes in the media market. TV is now the key medium for news, and is already in six in ten households. FM deregulation has led to a steep decline in shortwave listening, despite the ban on news from any provider except the state broadcaster (All India Radio). Mobile phones are now ubiquitous in India, with 0.5 billion subscribers, and internet availability continues to grow. These changes have created commercial opportunities which have drawn a plethora of new competitors meeting the Indian preference for localised content.
This is the background which has seen the BBC Hindi audience in India decline by almost half in only three years, from 17.8m weekly listeners in 2008 to 9.7m in 2010—still significant in numerical terms, but representing only 1.3% reach among Hindi-speaking adults. As shortwave listening continues to decline in India, it is to be expected that the BBC shortwave audience will decline further.
As the Committee has noted, the BBC has announced the retention of one hour of Hindi shortwave for one year, in response to audience concern, and while it explores whether sustainable commercial funding can be found for the longer term. The BBC has noted the Committee’s recommendation regarding longer term support for an unreduced service. The original decision to cease Hindi short wave broadcasting was a difficult choice and sooner than we would have liked, however one that we believed was necessary given the resources available at the time. The BBC is examining whether any further retention is possible within the funding constraints.

(Naleen Kumar)

FT on BBC World Service

An interruption in the BBC's output
By Tyler Brûlé
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9f686b60-6166-11e0-a315-00144feab49a.html#axzz1LqTeub29

Why it is so hard to be soft
By Harry Eyres
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8e584d0c-7766-11e0-824c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1LqTeub29

(Thanks to Naleen Kumar for the links)

BBC Hindi & Mandarin to be back on shortwave from May 1 !

Planned additional txions of BBC in Mandarin Chinese and Hindi on SW have been moved to May 1 (ex April 18)

BBC Mandarin Chinese

1300-1530 on  6095 KIM 250 kW / 290 deg
              9605 NAK 250 kW / 020 deg
             11920 SNG 100 kW / 013 deg
             15285 SNG 100 kW / 013 deg

2200-2300 on  7325 SLA 250 kW / 063 deg
              9580 KIM 250 kW / 285 deg
              9610 NAK 250 kW / 020 deg
              9855 SLA 250 kW / 060 deg
             11795 SNG 250 kW / 013 deg
             11980 NAK 250 kW / 025 deg

BBC Hindi

0100-0130 on  6065 SLA 250 kW / 060 deg
              9425 SLA 250 kW / 060 deg
             11995 SNG 250 kW / 315 deg
             13745 TAC 200 kW / 131 deg
             15510 NAK 250 kW / 280 deg

0230-0300 on 11995 SLA 250 kW / 100 deg
             15660 NAK 250 kW / 305 deg
             17510 NAK 250 kW / 300 deg
             17655 NVS 250 kW / 195 deg

1700-1730 on  5910 SLA 250 kW / 060 deg
              7460 NAK 250 kW / 280 deg
              9605 CYP 250 kW / 090 deg
             11740 NAK 250 kW / 275 deg

Hindi, currently schedule on SW

1400-1500 on  7565 NAK 250 kW / 280 deg
              9685 NAK 250 kW / 275 deg
              9685 SLA 250 kW / 063 deg
             11795 SNG 250 kW / 340 deg
             15470 CYP 250 kW / 097 deg

(Ivo Ivanov)

BBC Statement in response to Foreign Affairs Committee report

Date: 13.04.2011

The BBC today issued the following statement:

The BBC welcomes the FAC's strong support for the World Service and
the value it brings in promoting British values and providing a widely
respected and trusted news service. It is of course for the Government
and Parliament to decide on the priorities for public spending.

The cuts being made to the World Service are a consequence of last
autumn's Spending Review and the BBC regrets the scale and pace of
cuts that have been necessary. If, in the light of the FAC report, the
Government is prepared to re-open aspects of the Spending Review
settlement the BBC will be pleased to engage with them constructively.
We look forward to the Government's response to the Committee's
recommendations.

The BBC is committed to the long-term future of the World Service and
hopes to reinvest when responsibility for funding transfers to the
licence fee in 2014.

(BBC Press Office)

After BBC shortwave

By BINOD BHATTARAI

www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=30010

BBC Russian radio hits the off switch after 65 years

At the end of this week, the BBC's Russian Service will close its radio frequencies for good.

The Russian Service began broadcasting to the Soviet Union in 1946 and quickly established a reputation with Soviet listeners, in the brief period before the onset of the Cold War.

Full story at : www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12820788

BBC Caribbean service begins farewell to listeners

After more than 72 years of broadcasting to the people of the region the BBC World Service is axing its Caribbean Service this week as part of the organisation's enforced cuts.

Full story at :
http://www.caymannewsservice.com/world-news/2011/03/22/bbc-caribbean-service-begins-farewell-listeners