For the BBC television network that was previously known as BBC World News, see BBC News (international TV channel).
"World Service" redirects here. For other uses, see World Service (disambiguation).
BBC World Service
Logo used since 2022
Type
Radio broadcasting news, speech, discussions, state media
Country
United Kingdom
Availability
Worldwide
Headquarters
Broadcasting House, London
Broadcast area
Worldwide
Owner
BBC
Key people
Liliane Landor
Launch date
19 December 1932; 91 years ago (1932-12-19)
Former names
BBC Empire Service BBC Overseas Service External Services of the BBC
Webcast
Web Stream
Official website
www.bbcworldservice.com
The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach.[1] It broadcasts radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages[2][3] to many parts of the world on analogue and digital shortwave platforms, internet streaming, podcasting, satellite, DAB, FM and MW relays. In 2015, the World Service reached an average of 210 million people a week (via TV, radio and online).[4] In November 2016, the BBC announced that it would start broadcasting in additional languages including Amharic and Igbo, in its biggest expansion since the 1940s.[5]
BBC World Service English maintains eight regional feeds with several programme variations, covering, respectively, East and South Africa; West and Central Africa; Europe and Middle East; the Americas and Caribbean; East Asia; South Asia; Australasia; and the United Kingdom. There are also two separate online-only streams with one being more news-oriented, known as News Internet. The service broadcasts 24 hours a day.
The World Service claims that its aim is to be "the world's best-known and most-respected voice in international broadcasting",[6] while retaining a "balanced British view" of international developments.[7] Former director Peter Horrocks visualised the organisation as fighting an "information war" of soft power against Russian and Chinese international state media, including RT.[8][9][10] As such, the BBC has been banned in both Russia and China, the former following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the latter for having "violated regulations that news bulletins should be 'truthful and fair".[11][12]
The director of the BBC World Service is Liliane Landor;[13] the controller of the BBC World Service in English is Jon Zilkha.
^"The Work of the BBC World Service 2008-09" (PDF). House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. 5 February 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
^"News in your language". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
^"BBC World Service". Facebook. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
^"BBC's combined global audience revealed at 308 million". BBC. 15 May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
^"BBC World Service announces biggest expansion 'since the 1940s'", BBC News, 16 November 2016.Archived 18 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
^"Annual Review 2008/2009". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
^"BBC protocol". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
^"The Implications of Cuts to the BBC World Service: Responses from the Government and the BBC to the Committee's Sixth Report of Session 2010–12" (PDF). Foreign Affairs Committee. UK Parliament. 17 May 2011. HC 1058. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
^Lewis, Gavin (April 2016). "The Broken BBC". The Monthly Review. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
^Halliday, Josh (21 December 2014). "BBC World Service fears losing information war as Russia Today ramps up pressure". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
^"China bans BBC World News from broadcasting inside the country". South China Morning Post. Bloomberg. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
^"Russia blocks access to BBC and Voice of America websites". Reuters. Reuters. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
^"BBC announces Liliane Landor as Senior Controller of BBC News International Services". BBC World News. BBC. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
The BBCWorldService is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception...
online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. Since 1 April 2014, it has also funded the BBCWorldService (launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire...
to the BBCWorldService, the world's largest international broadcaster, which began broadcasting in 1932. 1932 19 December – The Empire Service (precursor...
BBCWorldService Television, often abbreviated to WSTV (WorldService Television), was the name of two BBC international satellite television channels...
BBC News Russian (Russian: BBC News Ру́сская слу́жба) – formerly BBC Russian Service (Russian: Ру́сская слу́жба Би-би-си́) – is part of the BBCWorld...
the name BBC Television Service, which was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution. It was renamed BBC TV in 1960...
available around the world and in the United Kingdom. BBC News runs BBC Radio 5 Live and BBCWorldService as part of its rolling news coverage, journalists...
coverage is also added to the BBC Sport website and through the BBC Red Button interactive television service. The BBC has broadcast sport for several...
BBC Hausa is the Hausa-language service of the BBCWorldService meant primarily for Hausa-speaking communities in Nigeria, Ghana, Niger and the rest of...
until World War II. In addition to news, Gaumont British and Movietone cinema newsreels had been broadcast on the TV service since 1936, with the BBC producing...
BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including...
BBC Persian (Persian: بیبیسی فارسی) is the Persian language broadcast station and subsidiary of BBCWorldService which conveys the latest political...
specialist programmes. Under the plan, BBC Four would cease originating new programmes, and become a service showcasing the BBC's "rich archive". The plan also...
BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport...
the BBCWorldService, accompanied by its website, which served as a news portal and provided online access to radio broadcasts. The radio service was...
The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. Between the early...
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes...
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a...
on 11 March 2008. It is run by the BBCWorldService and funded from the British television licence fee. In 1994, BBC Arabic Television was launched by...
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, but as with the BBCWorldService which is also funded by the FCO, the BBC remains editorially independent, though some Iranian...
March 1923. In 1936, the BBC experimented with the world's first televised weather maps, brought into practice in 1949 after World War II. The map filled...
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the public service broadcast outlet British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated...
Service (BFBS) to members of HM Forces and their families around the world, replacing the BFBS2 TV channel, which already carried a selection of BBC Two...
BBC Arabic (Arabic: بي بي سي عربي) may refer to the Literary Arabic language radio station which was run by the BBCWorldService, as well as the BBC's...
BBC country image poll". BBC News. 23 May 2013. "BBCWorldService poll" (PDF). Downloads.bbc.co.uk. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2015. "BBCWorld Service...
BBC Red Button is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced...
and 909 kHz and digitally via digital radio, television and on the BBC Sounds service. Due to rights restrictions, coverage of some events, particularly...
The BBC Albanian Service (Albanian: BBC Shqiptar) was a foreign language service of the BBCWorldService. It ceased operations on 28 February 2011. "BBCAlbanian...
Global Information
