CAIRO: With a mission to challenge the dominance of Al-Jazeera, BBC’s anticipated Arabic TV service is expected to launch early this year with an annual operating cost of £19 million, offering an Arabic multimedia package of TV, radio and online content.
The service was announced in October 2005 and was scheduled to start broadcasting in Autumn 2007. The launch has since been delayed, and Hossam El Sokkari, head of BBC Arabic, announced late last year that the station is set to launch in 2008.
“The BBC Arabic Service is the first and the oldest [available] in Arabic.
The Middle East has always been an important region [with] an important language in a geo-political [sense], said Mike Gardner, BBC’s head of media relations and public affairs. “Over that line, the region has built the trust and tradition of listening to BBC, which is trusted for being impartial and accurate.
According to BBC officials, research had shown there was a strong demand for a balanced, editorially independent Arabic TV service in the Middle East.
“BBC Arabic will be the only major international news provider in the Middle East offering a service in Arabic across television, radio and online, sharing views and perspectives across the region and the wider world, said BBC World Service Director Nigel Chapman on the BBC’s website.
“Recent research from seven capital cities across the Middle East indicates that between 80 and 90 percent of those surveyed are likely to watch an Arabic television service from the BBC, Chapman pointed out. “We will be satisfying a strong demand from the region for comprehensive news and analysis together with a discussion forum for Arabic speaking audiences in the region.
The new service will cover regional as well as international issues and carry multi-media discussion programs and debates in conjunction with the BBC’s well-established Arabic radio and online services.
The service will operate on Nile Sat, Arab Sat, and HotBird, broadcasting news in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. “It is not only us bringing the world to the region, but also the region to the rest of the world, Gardner added.
This is not the first time that the BBC has attempted to set up an Arabic television service. The previous attempt closed in 1996, after two years on air, when the BBC’s partner – Saudi-owned company Orbit – pulled the plug after the news station aired an episode that was critical of the Saudi government.
Many of the staff that worked for the original BBC Arabic TV service went on to work for Al Jazeera television, which launched shortly after.
“The funding model wasn’t right for it, and we came into conflict with the funding arm because our editorial independence is not negotiable, Gardner explained. “It is only now that we got the funding.
The operating cost of £19 million a year will be found from the BBC World Service’s existing grant-in-aid funding from the UK government.
“The service will be independent of the government. They don’t tell us what to broadcast. The BBC comes from a free and open media. We don’t deliver a governmental line. Our objective is to bring free information to people who don’t have access to it, Gardner added.
Despite strong presence of rivals including Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya TV stations, BBC does not see a crowd in the Arabic TV landscape. “With strong new players [entering the scene], people will raise their game.
“Competition is what makes the service better, said Gardner. “The audience will watch Al-Jazeera and other channels. They don’t watch just one channel. People hop from one channel to the other comparing coverage.
What he believes will make BBC stand out in the competition is its objectivity as well as its integrated multimedia offer of TV, radio, Internet, and mobile services. “Al-Jazeera can’t say they are strong in radio, he said.
“Editorial standards are what BBC stands for. If you go to an expert – a journalist – and ask them to do a proper evaluation of Al-Jazeera content, there comes the question of balance and objectivity, he added.
“The BBC has been doing that job for 70 years. News values and ethics run within our DNA.
