I.

Introduction

BBC World Service, international radio division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The BBC World Service transmits radio programs around the world in 33 languages. With a regular audience of about 150 million listeners on radio and online, it reaches more people than any other international broadcaster. The World Service also prepares news programs for its sister television organization and is responsible for a major news monitoring service that extracts information from the world’s media. Unlike the domestic services of the BBC, which are funded by license fees, the World Service receives a direct grant from the British Parliament for operating international broadcasting, amounting to about $345 million. It is, however, an integral part of the BBC, sharing the same standards and granted the same editorial independence. The aims of the World Service are: to provide comprehensive, in-depth, and impartial news and information to contribute to a better-informed world; to help meet worldwide needs for education and training, including the study of the English language; and to give people overseas access to British culture and entertainment.

II.

History

The BBC World Service was founded in 1932 as the Empire Service on the initiative of John Reith, the BBC’s first director general. In the early days it was broadcast on short wave from Daventry in the Midlands, and only in English. The approach of World War II in 1939 brought many changes. To counter the propaganda being broadcast by Germany and Italy, the British government asked the BBC to offer services in Arabic and Spanish, and agreed to pay the additional costs required.

From the beginning, the approach to news in the overseas services was to give the facts, even if they might at first seem harmful to British interests or unpalatable to recipient nations. As foreign-language broadcasting grew (French, German, and Italian started in September 1938; others followed soon after), this policy was central in establishing the BBC’s reputation as the most credible overseas broadcaster. Vernacular broadcasts to other parts of the world were added, and by the end of the war the BBC was by far the biggest international broadcaster. The government then reviewed the future role and purpose of the World Service (or the BBC External Services, as they were then called) and in a policy paper in 1946 the government concluded that “in the national interest and in order to maintain British influence and prestige abroad, it is essential that the Services continue.” However, this support was not backed by sufficient funds, resulting in extensive budget cuts in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Although there were increases in broadcasts to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Eastern Europe during the Cold War, reductions elsewhere meant that by 1960 the BBC had lost its position as the largest international broadcaster, overtaken by the USSR, China, the United States, and Egypt.

This period saw the beginning of the transistor revolution and the spread of small radio receivers able to pick up short-wave broadcasts. It was also the start of decolonization and the emergence of new nations, ending many of the old arrangements for the rebroadcasting of BBC programs, but also producing the conditions for new opportunities. The World Service responded to the changes with new program initiatives, such as the creation of a round-the-clock English service with a strong emphasis on news, and with a greater focus on the needs of people in developing nations, particularly Africa and Asia. The government provided the means to replace old transmitters and build new relay stations overseas. While the 1970s and early 1980s proved to be financially unstable, capital investment subsequently picked up and some additional money was provided for program enhancement.

The end of the Cold War produced a whole series of tributes to the BBC and other international broadcasters for their role during the war. Not only did new leaders—such as Lech Wałęsa of Poland and Václav Havel of Czechoslovakia—express their thanks, but also thousands of ordinary listeners.

III.

The Changing Face of the World Service

The collapse of Soviet power also brought reassessments by international broadcasters and the governments that fund them. For the World Service this was less fundamental than for others. It had never seen itself as a propaganda or a “surrogate” station and had always addressed friends as well as potential adversaries. It aimed to provide accurate information and background, reflect different viewpoints, and let listeners make up their own minds. As John Tusa, managing director from 1986 to 1992, put it: “What the BBC taught its listeners was to judge critically, to apply critical questioning to problems. In the end that example had its own impact on people reared on ideological certainties.”

The self-scrutiny did not lead to any major changes in the program or editorial policy of the World Service. There was, however, a major managerial reorganization in 1994 with a new structure based on six geographic regions, each with its own broadcasting strategy. This coincided with, and was reinforced by, two other major changes: a new broadcasting agreement with the Foreign Office, replacing some of the arrangements that had been in place since 1946; and the creation, under the chairmanship of Robert Phillis, of BBC Worldwide, whose purpose was to bring together all the international activities of BBC radio, television, and publishing. World Service Television had been started on a commercial basis in 1991, initially in Europe and then as a 24-hour service to Asia. In its White Paper in 1994, the British government gave the green light to further development of the BBC’s international television services: It also gave its support to the continuation of the radio services, the range and quality of which, it said, are widely appreciated by their audiences.

This was a reassuring message for the World Service. However, as the White Paper also pointed out, if it is to survive and be successful in an increasingly competitive environment, the World Service must continue to adapt to changes in technology, to changes in the listening habits of its audiences, and to other factors. The regional restructuring is part of that adaptation to change; so is the growing move to get more programs on to local stations so they can be heard in better quality than on short wave. In the long term, direct broadcasting of digital radio services by satellite offers the prospect of a new era in international broadcasting. In the mid-1990s, however, the World Service faced government funding cuts and the prospect of broadcasting in fewer languages.