BBC Arabic
BBC Arabic (
The radio service was broadcast from
In September 2022, the World Service had announced the proposed closure of its Arabic radio service as part of a cost-cutting plan, but an online service will remain.[1]
On Friday, 27 January 2023, BBC Arabic's radio broadcasts end at 13:00 UTC. The service had been on air since 1938.[2]
History
Origins
In 1936, the BBC helped the
In the years leading up to the 1938 establishment of the BBC Literary Arabic language service, there were plans by the
In 1938, 16 years after the
Early Programming
The BBC Arabic service started in 1938 as 65-minute broadcasts. In 1940 the broadcasts had grown to 1 hour and 25 minutes, and close to two hours by 1942.[9] By the end of World War II, the Literary Arabic language programme was three hours.[9]
The first broadcasts in 1938 featured one
Key Figures
First Organizer
- Steward Perowne (1938–39)
First Editors
- A. S. Calvert (1938)
- Donald Stephenson (from 1939)
Director Near Eastern Services
- Sigmar Hillelson (from 1940)
Director Eastern Services
- Donald Stephenson (from 1945)
Head Eastern Services
- Charles Pennethorne Hughes (from 1948)
Head Eastern Service
- Gordon Waterfeield (from 1949)
Head Arabic Service
- Gordon Waterfield (from 1959)
- James Thomson (from 196)
- Charles McLelland (from 1971)
- Hamilton Duckworth (from 1976)
- Eric Bowman (from 1981)
- James Norris (from 1986)
- Bob Jobbins (from 1988)
Programming
BBC Arabic broadcast programs and hourly news bulletins 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. [11]
Radio Broadcasts
Television programmes
- Nuqtat Hewar (Talking Point)[12]
- 'Alimna (Our World)[12]
- 4 Tech (Technology Programme)[12]
- Sa'at Hisaab (Tunisia two months after the revolution)[12]
- Saba'at Ayyam (Seven Days)[12]
- Hasaad al-Yowm (Today's Harvest, news round-up)[12]
- Al-Ahamm wa al-Muhimm (The Most Important and the Important)[12]
- Barnamaj liqaa' (Interview Programme)[12]
Television
The BBC launched an Arabic-language satellite channel on 11 March 2008.
Web
BBC Arabic radio and television both use the BBC Arabic website as an online news portal. The website facilitates online access to the other two broadcasts.
Phone
A live stream of BBC Arabic is available to listeners in the US by calling 712-432-7877.
Notable people
- Lina Musharbash, TV news presenter[13]
Further reading
- Partner, Peter (1988) Arab Voices: The BBC Arabic Service 1938-1988. London: British Broadcasting Corporation.
References
- ^ Waterson, Jim (29 September 2022). "Hundreds of jobs to go as BBC announces World Service cutbacks". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ "BBC Arabic radio goes off air after 85 years of broadcasting". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ISBN 0-563-20669-1.
- ISBN 978-3-86596-168-6.
- ^ a b c "The 1930s". BBC World Service | FAQ. BBC. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ISBN 0-563-20669-1.
- ISBN 0-563-20669-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57273-975-8.
- ^ ISBN 0-563-20669-1.
- ISBN 0-563-20669-1.
- ^ "Radio Schedule". BBC Arabic News. BBC. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "TV and Radio". BBC Arabic. BBC. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ "BBC - Press Office - BBC Arabic: multimedia service on TV". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2016.