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Press Releases
World Service receives £70m funding increase over next three years in Comprehensive Spending Review
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New ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ television news channels in Arabic and Farsi languages to get funds
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service will receive £70million of extra funding from the UK
Government for the three-year period from 2008/2009 to 2010/2011.
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The
announcement was made by Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling
during his Comprehensive Spending Review announcement in Parliament
today.
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The announcement formally confirmed £15m per annum funding for a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ
news and information television channel in the Farsi (Persian) language
for Iran which will be launched next year.
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The go-ahead for the service was announced in October 2006 by then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service also received funding to enhance its forthcoming
Arabic language television news and information channel.
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The services in Arabic and Farsi will be the first television news
services to be launched by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in a decade. They will be the first
television services to be publicly-funded by Grant-in-aid from the UK
Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
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The new ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Arabic Television Service is due to launch around the turn
of the year, initially as a 12-hour a day news and information service,
at a cost of £19m per annum.
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This initial service was funded through
reprioritisation of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service's language portfolio and self-help efficiencies.
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The extra funding announced today means the new channel would be able to
broadcast 24 hours a day from an appropriate point during the next
financial year. A full year's operational cost of the additional 12
hours of television broadcasting in Arabic will be an extra £6m per
annum.
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The overall settlement also includes £1m per annum from 2009/10 to
enhance ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service's multi-media operations in languages relevant
to ethnic communities resident in the UK.
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In common with other public organisations, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service plans to
meet its rising costs from within its existing budget through a vigorous
programme of efficiency savings.
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service Director Nigel Chapman said: "As we mark the 75th
birthday of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's service to the world this December, this
settlement strengthens ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service's future as a multi-media
provider of high quality independent and impartial news and information
around the world.
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"It specifically means that audiences in the Middle East and Iran will
have multi-media access – through television, radio, and online – to
trusted journalism of the highest standing and increased opportunity for
dialogue and debate. We believe this will be a popular and valuable
asset for audiences in this troubled region."
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He added: "This is a good settlement for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service. We are
grateful for the support we have received from our stakeholders in
Parliament and across Whitehall in these discussions and, in particular,
the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Treasury."
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Notes to Editors
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Overall funding in detail
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 The new investment means that ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service's overall funding level would rise from £246³¾ in 2007/8 to £271³¾ by 2010/11. ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service would receive an extra £19m in 2008/9; £26m in 2009/10; and £25m in 2010/11.
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In common with other public organisations and the domestic ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service plans to meet its rising costs from within its existing budget through a vigorous programme of efficiency savings.
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The level of funding for each year is as follows:
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| Ìý |
2007/8 |
2008/9 |
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
| Revenue |
£215³¾ |
£234³¾ |
£241³¾ |
£240³¾ |
| Capital |
£31.0³¾ |
£31.0³¾ |
£31.0³¾ |
£31.0³¾ |
| Total |
£246³¾ |
£265³¾ |
£272³¾ |
£271³¾ |
| Additions to 07/08 baseline |
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(+ £19m) |
(+ £26m) |
(+ £25m) |
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Farsi Television
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service's television news and information service in the Farsi (Persian) language for Iran will launch in 2008. It will be based in London. The service will complement the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's existing Persian radio and online services for Iran.
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It will initially broadcast for eight hours a day, seven days a week, from 17.00 to 01.00 hours (local time) – peak viewing time in Iran. It will be freely available to anyone with a satellite dish or cable connection in the region.
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The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Farsi television service will draw upon the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's un-matched newsgathering resources.
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Broadcast at primetime in Iran, it will showcase accurate, impartial, balanced news and analysis from a global perspective. It will also show investigative current affairs programmes, alongside quality ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ factual, cultural and educational documentaries. The channel will cover international and major regional issues.
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It will also carry multimedia discussion programmes and debates in conjunction with the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's well-established and trusted Farsi radio and online services.
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Arabic Television Channel
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The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is already regarded as the most successful, trusted and respected international voice in the Middle East after broadcasting in the region for nearly 70 years.
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The new ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Arabic Television news and information channel will complement the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's highly regarded news and current affairs services on radio and online.
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The new channel plans to broaden the regional news agenda for audiences; reflecting the full breadth of their interests as well as delivering a strong international agenda of news and expert analysis from the largest news gathering organisation in the world.
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The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's unique "tri-media" presence in the region means that Arabic-speaking audiences will be able to engage in informed debate and dialogue on the issues that matter.
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Repeated audience research in seven capital cities across the region indicated that between 80 and 90 per cent of those surveyed would be either "very likely" or "fairly likely" to use the new ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Arabic Television service. Most potential users cited the trusted nature of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ brand, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's independence, and the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's strong record in news coverage for their strong interest.
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The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Arabic Service is the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's oldest language service, after English. It marks its 70th birthday on 3 January 2008.
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service marks its 75th birthday this year, on
19 December 2007.
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service's weekly radio audience estimate in 2007 is a record 183 million listeners.
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service broadcasts in 33 languages including English. The other languages are: Albanian, Arabic, Azeri, Bengali, Burmese, Caribbean-English, Cantonese, French for Africa, Hausa, Hindi, Indonesian, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mandarin, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese for Brazil, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, and Vietnamese.
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service is available on short wave; on FM in 152 capital cities; and selected programmes are carried on almost 2,000 FM and MW radio stations around the world.
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The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's international-facing online news sites attracted 710 million page impressions in August 2007, and around 40 million unique online users across the globe.
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No licence fee money is used in the funding of any ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service operations.
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service Press Office
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