QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

General v Why the Changes

The purpose of these changes is to enable the World Service to maintain its pre-eminence as a broadcaster in an increasingly multi-media, digital age.

That means delivering news and information on multiple platforms - TV, radio and new media (including the web and mobile devices) in many developed and developing world markets, where audience need demands it.

In a world of fixed resources until the next SR outcome (July 07 for 08/09), it also means intensifying our provision, in fewer places - and withdrawing vernacular language services from areas where audience need has declined.

v Will the closures mean that we are no longer a ‘World’ Service?

The BBC’s global service remains in English - in television, radio and online. This is where, in the past, we have been seen as a ‘World’ service internationally. This will continue.

Nonetheless, vernacular services are, and will continue to be, important. BBC World Service will still have 33 out of 43 services (75%). Indeed, we have invested heavily in the expansion of radio and on-line services over the past few years, particularly in the geopolitically important areas of the Middle East and wider Islamic world and areas covered by the Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Indonesian language services.

Going forward we want to ensure our grant-in-aid funded services deliver in the market in relation to the cost of doing so. In future we will have an even stronger focus on areas of:

· geo-political importance (i.e. how significant and important the country currently is and is likely to be on the global stage),

· Need for information (i.e. how much need there is for impartial, high quality news and information due to political oppression, economic deprivation or market failure.

· Current and potential audience impact. Given the increasing costs of maintaining impact across a wide range of services, we have to prioritise. Our intention is to be even clearer about our target audiences in the future to ensure we achieve and maintain impact given our finite resources.

v What other factors have influenced this change?

· Responding to a fast changing media landscape · Clear priorities · Finite resources

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In recent years, BBC’s news and information have been available to people around the world in ways unthinkable just 20 years ago. The growth of satellite, cable and online have made turned the world into an information village where distances are obliterated by the sheer speed of communications. Potentially more people have access to the BBC than ever before. And the BBC has impressively built its online presence to become one of the world’s most respected online sites and at the same time used new technologies to reach people with its radio programmes.

Looking forward, our task is to match increasingly our rich content to the best available means of distribution to audiences around the world.

v Does this mean that World Service is pulling out of providing radio output to concentrate on vernacular TV?

No it doesn’t. In some markets BBC World Service is accelerating towards becoming a full multi-media broadcaster on radio, TV, on-line and other emerging platforms in order to serve better our audiences rapidly changing media consumption needs and demands.

However, we need to review constantly our portfolio of service to make sure that they are responding to changing geopolitical conditions and the international media market place. In some markets radio will often be the dominant medium. In other, Brazil for example, online listening is our dominant delivery platform.

Radio is one of the key pillars of how the BBC’s Global News division’s services are distributed. We currently attract 149 million listeners each week on radio. This is better than any other international radio broadcaster. Our radio services are particularly strong in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and they’ve had considerable investment over recent years.

But we must also reflect that audience needs are changing and technology is moving rapidly. Shortwave is also declining at a fast pace and if we don’t change we will die.

One of the key points of this package is that we are continuing to invest in further FM distribution. This has been one of the key successes of the last 15 years – we now get a third of our audiences by this delivery method and are now in 146 capital cities.

We are exploring new means of radio distribution, including satellite and cable, mobile phones and DRM in priority markets. These have also been successful. Television is a logical move in a priority market where it is the dominant medium for news but the Arabic radio is also successful in the region.

The death of radio has been predicted in Britain and the US since the television became popular in the 1950s. Fifty years later and radio is the most popular medium in the UK and the US. It is important and will remain important.

v What will be the impact on the BBC’s journalistic reputation and brand of ‘abandoning’ some language services?

We believe that the BBC’s reputation, which has developed over the past 50 years or more, will remain strong. Our legacy rests on the trust that the public places in our services – the quality of our news and information, our impartiality, objectivity and accuracy.

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The World Service has left a rich legacy of freedom of expression and the media landscape of each of these countries is stronger and more mature than when we first launched our services. This is in no small part due to the contribution made by the BBC World Service language services in each country.

The decision to close services has been taken because of the need to reprioritise our operations to reflect the changing geo-political situation – similar to the reasons why we launched services in these countries in the first place.

It also takes into account our strengthened presence in English around the world, in radio, on TV through BBC World and on-line and that our services are used by key audiences in those countries.

v Do the benefits of launching limited TV services outweigh the loss of global presence as a result of language service closures?

The world is changing rapidly. Audience demands, technology, competition and de- regulation are having a massive impact on the international media landscape. The rise of television as a media platform is dramatic and by 2010, television penetration will be near universal outside rural areas in the less developed world.

We have to respond. We have done so in the past by investing and enhancing our radio services– for instance across the Arabic world, Persian and Pashto services. Radio is and will continue to be important. However, television is the dominant platform for international news.

The BBC is approaching the media landscape changes on a multi-media basis – using BBC World television, BBC World Service radio, our international facing online offer and other new media platforms like mobile phones.

But the development of an increasingly digitised media will lead to profound changes in the usage of news over the next five years and beyond.

Therefore we must continue to anticipate audience demands and changing patterns of media consumption. We believe vernacular television and online development are areas where we can have huge impact as part of a multimedia BBC Global News strategy.

v Why are we spending so much money on broadcasting to the USA when they have massive exposure to free and independent media?

BBC World Service is not spending vast amounts of money broadcasting to the US; in fact BBC World Service receives some income from rebroadcasting partners to offset delivery costs. Audiences receive the same programming as the rest of the world from our English Service; aside from one programme. BBC World Service continues to co-produce the regional programme The World with WGBH Boston.

We have moved money that was spent on broadcasting SW to the region in obtaining partnerships with the public radio network stations. We have also made ourselves available on other platforms, including digital satellite networks such as Sirius and XM, which has increased our availability in the country.

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The increased usage of BBC World Service and BBC World in country has also been attributed by commentators to the fact that we offer a distinctive news service with an international agenda appealing to a significant sector of the news audience. In an increasingly polarised media market place, audiences appear to respond to our values of trust and impartiality. For example, around 25 per cent of opinion formers in Boston, New York and Washington listen to BBC World Service every week.

v How many people will lose their jobs as a result of these changes?

It is currently forecast that there will be 236 overall job reductions from these restructuring proposals. However more job reductions will be announced after the impact of the restructuring on BBC News has been discussed with unions and staff.

The current forecast total is made up of 218 posts due to the closure of 10 language services (around 127 jobs in the UK and 91 overseas); and a further 18 posts will be lost in other reprioritisation, such as the Portuguese for Brazil service becoming available online only.

In all around 201 new jobs have or will be created by the new investment. It is expected that 148 new jobs will be created by the new Arabic channel; 41 new posts for New Media and interactive initiatives; and 12 in international offices like Delhi and Sao Paulo.

After detailed discussions with management in BBC News, we have agreed savings targets for News for the next two years. Over the past few years we have invested around £2 million in new initiatives in News: new posts, correspondents and programmes. We have also shielded our core News operations from much of the annual rounds of World Service efficiency savings.

Whilst we understand that news is the core essence of what we do, the law of diminishing returns means we can no longer protect News from the realities that other departments are facing. We have asked BBC News to make proposals to save around £2.3 million over the next two years. This will come from new programming and scheduling, a reduction is some services, new and different ways of working and some reductions in our news gathering capacity. BBC News will be talking to staff and unions as soon as possible about the impact on jobs.

Arabic Television v Why are we launching an Arabic TV Service?

It is clear that if the BBC wishes to build World Service reach and impact in the Middle East, it must be present on television in Arabic. We have carried out extensive research across the Arab world. Two clear lessons emerge from this work. First, satellite TV is a key news source for most people living in the Arab speaking world. TV is used as an information source and the place for discussion about ideas, views and comment. Radio, continues to be used in the mornings, but its popularity during the day, and particularly in the evenings is limited, apart from countries where TV is not available.

All of our research in key capital cities in the Middle East in 2003 and repeated in 2005 show demand for a BBC Arabic channel is increasing. In seven Arab capitals a range of between 80 – 90% of those surveyed said they would be “very likely” or “fairly likely” to use a BBC

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Arabic TV service, with about half in the “very likely” group. This has remained consistently high over the past two years, and, in some areas, demand has solidified in the intervening period.

The trusted nature of the brand – its independence and strong record in news coverage – is cited by most potential users as the reason for their strong interest in a BBC Arabic TV station.

We would assess the impact of the channel in terms of reach, reputation and editorial quality regularly, as we do with all our services, to ensure its continued success.

v What are the criteria for the success of Arabic TV?

It would have a significant impact in terms of 'reach'. We want to reach people who consume news and enjoy talking about it. Our research shows that although Online and radio reaches many of these people, some now only consume their news from TV. Add to that the difficulties of distribution in some areas (such as North Africa where we do not have an FM presence and where our medium wave signal is poor). Television will make it possible to reach people we currently do not.

Five years after launch we aim we aim for a significant share of the market' with significant audiences among influential opinion formers and decision makers. High ratings would be expected for trust, objectivity, relevance and quality of news coverage - as well as for innovative and interactive programming - compared to other international television in the region.

v BBC World is the BBC’s international television broadcaster – why does it not already fulfil this role?

BBC World has a significant impact in the region to English speakers. However, only 10 per cent of people in the Middle East speak a modest level of English. All of our research shows that a vernacular offer would have high impact.

v Why is it not a commercial service?

All other major Arabic language channels have not had commercial success, unless a financial backer has agreed to support it. The funding of BBC World as a commercial operation, still on a path towards breaking even and eventual profitability, is unable to invest in such a venture at this time. The stability of grant-in-aid funding, coupled with high BBC editorial standards, would ensure that BBC Arabic TV will be seen, as is BBC Arabic Radio, as a ‘gold standard’ of objectively and impartiality against which to judge other more partisan offers. The BBC Arabic television channel will be a free to air service. v Will funding be taken from Arabic radio to fund Arabic TV?

The BBC Arabic Radio was the first vernacular language service. It has always been a senior Service in terms of geo-political importance, hours broadcast and the level of funding. In recent years, it has benefited from significant new investment to sustain its leading position in radio and on-line. As it moves towards a tri-media offer, it will be up to the Service to decide how best to deploy it’s funding across all media. Initially it is not envisaged that money will be taken from BBC Arabic Radio to fund the start up of BBC Arabic TV, but we

BBC World Service to 2010 – Q&A (Gateway & Web) 5 will need to look at the overall requirements of the Arabic Service as a whole as it matures, especially in relation to overall journalism and distribution costs.

v Why are we launching this now?

The changing face of the media landscape makes it imperative that we launch a BBC Arabic tv service so we can maintain and build impact. We are building on strong foundations. The BBC’s Arabic radio service is trusted and respected for its editorial independence, impartiality, objectivity and range of voices. It was the first vernacular language radio service to be launched by the BBC in 1938. Also, our Arabic language online service has rapidly developed a strong position. Together it has meant that the BBC has carved a special niche in the market place for its innovative, interactive programming. Therefore the BBC brand is already strong in the market place.

However, the media market has developed quickly recently, with TV rapidly becoming the pre-dominant news media in the Arabic world. Our research strongly supports the notion that there is strong demand for a BBC Arabic TV Service – steeped in the values of the radio service which has broadcast for over 67 years.

The establishment of an Arabic TV Service would mean the BBC was the only media player with a genuine tri-media offer which will give us a unique advantage in the market place.

There is no question of the geopolitical importance of the region. It is accepted globally that the region is a primary source of a significant number of conflicts. There is a lack of free and independent media in through out the region. Our research shows that audiences in the region have a greater appetite for news than anywhere else in the world and television is the dominant medium for news in the Middle East. Therefore, we believe that the need for a trusted, independent BBC Arabic Television Channel is greater than ever before.

v Are we too late? Why didn’t we try it before?

As many of you will know, we had a proposal for a grant-in-aid funded Arabic TV service in the early 90s. However the Government of the day did not wish to support it financially. But they allowed the BBC to launch a commercial service. This was launched in July 1994 with funding from the Arab-owned Orbit Communications. To access the service audience had to purchase a $10,000 receiver. It broadcast for eight hours a day from Television Centre to the Middle East and Africa. However Orbit pulled out its funding in April 1996 over editorial issues. The BBC was unable to compromise its editorial independence. The BBC was also unable to find a new commercial partner and the venture ceased. It was the first venture of its kind and proved there was a market for a pan-Middle East television channel. The idea has led to many other channels – in fact, many of those working for the BBC Arabic channel went onto to help launch Al-Jazeera and other channels in the region.

It has always been a strategic ambition to complement our radio and online services with a television offer service with the same BBC editorial values. However the lessons of the past have taught us that commercial funding by a sole partner could compromise the operation’s viability and threaten the BBC’s editorial independence. Therefore this will be a publicly funded, free to air service which will be accessible to all using standard receiving equipment

The geopolitical significance of the Middle East has increased, not diminished, in recent years and according to our research in the region, so has the appetite for a BBC Arabic TV service.

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All of our research in key capital cities in the Middle East in 2003 and repeated in 2005 show demand for a BBC Arabic channel is increasing. In seven Arab capitals a range of between 80 – 90% of those surveyed said they would be “very likely” or “fairly likely” to use a BBC Arabic TV service, with about half in the “very likely” group. This has remained consistently high over the past two years, and, in some areas, demand has solidified in the intervening period.

The trusted nature of the brand – its independence and strong record in news coverage – is cited by most potential users as the reason for their strong interest in a BBC Arabic TV station.

v We’re experts in radio, why not commission BBC World or BBC News to run the channel?

Clearly this could be an option, particularly as BBC World is in the Global News division and BBC News supplies us with news programmes already. However BBC World Service already has experience of launching a BBC Arabic language channel and 67 years of experience in broadcasting to Arabic speaking audiences in the Middle East and Africa. We feel that an integrated tri-media offer across radio, TV and online can best be achieved through the editorial operation within the BBC Arabic service where we think there will be closer synergies for this particular project. But no doubt we shall be using the expertise of other parts of the BBC as we go along.

The service is planned to be funded through grant-in-aid. It makes sense for it to remain under BBC World Service control. Running this service through BBC World or BBC News could also introduce unnecessary complexities in keeping the separation within Fair Trading regulations between commercial funding, grant-in-aid and licence fee.

Re-prioritisation v How was the decision reached to close my Service? What criteria were used?

In the specific countries - Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, , Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia - recent political and media changes have lessened the need for BBC language services as audiences in those countries also have access to open media. We also propose to close our services in Kazakhstan and Thailand which had low impact for a number of reasons including their audiences’ preference to access alternative BBC services (Russian language in Kazakhstan and English language in Thailand) and other local broadcasters.

v The services targeted for closure are primarily those whose countries have joined the EU. Was the decision based on political pressure rather than audience focus?

The BBC does not make decisions based on political pressure. The key criteria are:

· geo-political importance (i.e. how significant and important the country currently is and is likely to be on the global stage),

· Need for information (i.e. how much need there is for impartial, high quality news and information due to political oppression, economic deprivation or market failure.

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· Current and potential audience impact. Given the increasing costs of maintaining impact across a wide range of services, we have to prioritise. Our intention is to be even clearer about our target audiences in the future to ensure we achieve and maintain impact given our finite resources.

The language services of countries who have recently, or will shortly, join the EU have made a significant contribution to the stability and maturity of those country’s media marketplace. It is a testament to their contribution to those societies that we believe that the need for these services has decreased while audiences are now better served by their national and local media. This is a criteria also used in this region by other international broadcasters.

v What we do to maintain news coverage in areas where BBC World Service is withdrawing its language services?

BBC World Service will continue to maintain a strong news gathering presence in these countries. Europe will remain a big story and the wider BBC has committed extra resources to ensuring that we still provide comprehensive coverage of all the issues. Audiences in these countries have access to free media and will continued to be served by BBC World Service in English, BBC World and our universally available online service in English.

v The BBC Governors have asked for improvements in the BBC’s European coverage. How does this stand against your reduction of the European vernacular language services?

Our commitment to News gathering and analysing the issues in the region is undiminished. The BBC has pledged extra resources to covering Europe which remains a big story.

We have already appointed Mark Mardell as our new Europe Editor to focus on the politics, policy and economics of Europe and the EU. We are also recruiting an additional Europe Institutions Editor to report on the EU decision making processes in Brussels and Strasbourg.

We will also retain extensive stringer network. A special group has been set up in BBC World Service to look at the issue to ensure that we maintain and build on our coverage of the region.

v Where have you got a newsgathering presence in Europe?

BRUSSELS X 7 Corrs (of which 2 WSR) X 3 Prods PARIS X 2 Corrs X 2 Prods BERLIN X 1 Corr X 1 Prod ROME X 2 Corrs (including David Willey) X 1 Prod

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ATHENS X 1 Corr ISTANBUL X 1 Corr BELGRADE X 1 Corr BUDAPEST X 1 Corr MADRID X 2 Corrs GENEVA / BERNE X 1 Corr VIENNA X 1 Corr THE HAGUE X 1 Corr WARSAW X 1 Corr SARAJEVO X 1 Corr PRAGUE X 1 Corr LISBON X 1 Corr OSLO X 1 Corr Russia hub bureau in Moscow with 3 staff corrs + 1 freelance available + full production back-up Ukraine - 1 freelancer Georgia - 1 freelancer (covers Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) Kazakhstan - 1freelancer (covers all Central Asia - , , Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, ) Riga x 1 freelancer (covers Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia)

v Will a language Service re-open next year if more money is found? Or is it closed for ever?

We have not taken these decisions lightly. We have worked hard to research and understand the markets in which we operate and it is very unlikely that this decision will change in the foreseeable future. However any unexpected geo-political developments may result in reappraisal.

Romania v Is the Romania Service next if Romania joins the EU?

EU accession is not the only criterion for reprioritisation. It is as important to take note of the maturity of the media market in question and whether audiences have access to free and open media. We will continue to assess and review our portfolio of services against the changing media and geo-political landscape.

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v Why are you staying in Romania when you have decided to withdraw services from our neighbours? Is this because you think the media in Romania is not sufficiently free and open? Or, that the country is not sufficiently stable?

Romania’s access to free and independent media is significantly lower than neighbouring countries, rating at 47 on the Press Freedom Index. Most other neighbouring countries are between 20 and 37.

As the impact of the Romanian Language Service is significantly higher than neighbouring countries at 1.4 million listeners (7.6 per cent reach). We have good FM facilities and reach an opinion former audience of almost 17 per cent.

We note that Romania is a bidding for EU membership and we will continue to monitor the situation accordingly.

v The Government’s Green Paper was very clear about reprioritising BBC World Service Language Services, starting with accession countries. Is the BBC at risk of losing its independence by simply following the government’s direction?

The Green Paper is a summation of comprehensive debate around the UK, amongst stake holders and those with an interest in the media, intended to provoke discussion. The passage in the Green Paper relating to vernacular language services made it clear that it is for the BBC to consider which language services in which it wishes to broadcast. The BBC’s response stated that the Green Paper reflected discussions already taking place between BBC World Service and the FCO. As the FCO is our main sponsor we take note of their strategic direction whilst retaining our editorial independence and responsibility for day to day management. The proposals outlined emanated from the BBC and was sent for approval, as under the Charter and Agreement, to the Secretary of State.

v My service is in a country which is seeking EU accession, will we be closed once we join the EU?

EU accession is not a key criterion for reprioritisation. It is more important to take note of the maturity of the media market in question and whether audiences have access to free and open media.

v Will you be closing more language services in the future to fund other new investments?

BBC World Service throughout its history has opened and closed many language services in response to the changing world in which it has operated. Our long term future has always depended on us adapting and keeping abreast of the rapidly changing media markets. It will continue to be important that we constantly review our portfolio of services and reprioritise our funding accordingly. However we do not envisage changes on this scale in the foreseeable future.

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Re-broadcasting partnerships v What is the impact on our current contractual arrangements with re-broadcasting partners?

We shall be talking to our partners who use our vernacular services in the next few weeks to explain why we have taken this decision and to work out how to minimise the impact on their services. In general we expect to have fulfilled all our contractual obligations by March 2007. v When will the services close down?

This will vary from Service to Service as it will depend on a number of factors including commitments to re-broadcasting partners and the terms of our broadcasting licences. We shall be talking to our partners who use our vernacular services in the next few weeks to explain why we have taken this decision and to work out how to minimise the impact on their services.

We expect to stop broadcasting within three months and to have closed down most of our overseas offices in the affected services by 31st March 2006. However once we have completed our discussions with our partners overseas, we will have a clearer view.

BBC Monitoring v How will this announcement impact staff in BBC Monitoring?

Where a language service facing closure is the sole recipient of a product or service from BBC Monitoring then that supply will cease when the operation ends.

However, the vast majority of BBC Monitoring's output is supplied to more than one customer; spanning users in both the BBC, BBCM's official stakeholders and its US partner. BBC Monitoring is now engaged in discussions, both internally and with Stakeholders, on how it will transform its business out to 2010 and beyond. The overall impact of the changed requirements of BBC World Service for Monitoring's services stemming from the WS 2010 strategy will be incorporated into those discussions.

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