United Kingdom
BBC Arabic TV to operate 24 hours a dayPosted Oct 20 2007
The BBC World Service will begin a 24-hour Arabic television service after the station received an additional $ 142 million (101 million euros or 70 million pounds) in funding from the British government.
The money will be spent over the next three years, and besides providing a channel in Farsi language for Iran, it will also allow the BBC Arabic TV to run a 24-hours news service building on it’s current 12-hour service, reported Agence-France Presse.
The station will begin in early 2008 and the newsroom will be based in London, reported the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.
Chancellor, Alistair Darling, said that the increase in funding will make the World Service’s budget rise from £246m this financial year to £271m in 2010-2011, the Guardian reported.
BBC’s first Arabic TV service began 11 years ago.
The BBC World Service director, Nigel Chapman told the Guardian that the new cash “means that audiences in the Middle East and Iran will have multimedia access – through television, radio, and online – to trusted journalism of the highest standing and increased opportunity for dialogue and debate.”