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Tag: BBC

  • BBC to boost multi-media news in Middle East

    MUMBAI: BBC Arabic head Hosam El Sokkari has promised a new multi-media era for Arab audiences to the BBC.

    Speaking in Cairo at a reception to mark the 70th anniversary of BBC Arabic, El Sokkari looked forward to the BBC’s new multi-media news and information services in Arabic which includes a television news and information channel launching in the New Year.

    He says, “BBC Arabic may be 70-years-old but we are on the brink of a new, modern era for our audiences. BBC Arabic is no longer just a radio and online provider. We are now a fully integrated news and information service for the Arab world.

    “We will reach audiences on radio, television, the internet via bbcarabic.com, mobiles and handheld computers – in whatever way best suits the audience. We are already well known and trusted across the region for our 24-hour, seven days a week news and information programming.

    “Now, with our multimedia offer, we will be at the forefront of creativity and innovation, presenting high quality news and information across a range of formats to Arabs across the Middle East. We are also well known for covering stories and issues which others have ignored and for reporting more than just conflict and politics.

    “In future BBC Arabic will continue to broaden the news agenda for audiences in the region. It will reflect the breadth of the Arab interests and actively involve Arabs in dialogue on the issues that reflect their lives.”

    El Sokkari also used the occasion to formally announce the first of the BBC’s new television presenters.

    Hasan Muawad is returning to BBC Arabic, where he worked as a radio broadcaster for many years. He was most recently a presenter on the Al Arabiya TV channel.

    El Sokkari adds, “I am delighted such an iconic presenter is returning to the BBC. He had a huge fan base when he worked for us in radio and is extremely popular with television audiences across the Arab world. I know from working with him in the past that he is going to be a great asset to our new multimedia offer.”

    Muawad, who attended the event, said: “Working at Al Arabiya TV has built on my many years of experience at the BBC. But coming back to the BBC is like returning home. I’m now looking forward to meeting the new audiences the BBC will reach with our multimedia offer.”

    The event also marked the 75th anniversary of BBC World Service. The international broadcaster launched on 19 December 1932 with an English language service for listeners across the ‘Empire’.

    BBC Arabic was to become its very first language service, launching on 3 January 1938, and remains the biggest of the BBC’s 33 language services, after English.

  • BBC to follow Britain’s Olympic hopefuls in documentary series ‘Olympic Dreams’

    MUMBAI: With the 2012 London Olympic Games drawing ever closer, many British athletes will embark on the long journey towards fulfilling their ultimate goal of winning gold in front of a home crowd.

    Olympic Dreams is the new BBC Two documentary series which will follow the fortunes of our rising British stars as they endure the hopes and heartaches, troubles and triumphs on the road to London 2012.

    Each 45-minute episode will join British hopefuls on their epic quests to win gold including heptathlete Jess Ennis; the elite Coxless Four rowing team of Alex Partridge, Peter Reed, Andy Triggs-Hodge and Steve Williams; gymnasts Lizzie Beddoe, Jessica Hogg and Venus Romaeo; table tennis players Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight; BMX champion Shanaze Reade; cyclist Ben Swift; diver Tom Daley and Paralympic Dressage Champion Lee Pearson.

    The series offers an intimate insight into the British athletes’ gruelling training schedules, daily sacrifices, highs of victory, lows of defeat, and the pressure of coping under the weight of growing expectation. With such strong competition not every athlete will make the grade and they must face many rounds of selection and competition to be the best.

    On their journey the athletes struggle to overcome a variety of obstacles, ranging from lack of training facilities, nerves, injury and teenage hormones in order to succeed. A second installment of the series will air next year.

    In the intervening 12 months, fans can follow the journey of these athletes via BBC Sport’s Olympics website – bbc.co.uk/olympics – through a combination of news, reports, video clips and regular diary entries.

  • UK unions announce BBC strike ballot

    MUMBAI: UK unions are to ballot for industrial action across the BBC, following moves by the UK pubcaster to push ahead with plans for compulsory redundancies.

    The decision to hold a ballot was taken jointly by the NUJ, Bectu and Unite, the three unions representing staff across the BBC.

    A strike ballot had been averted in October after managers backed down on plans to begin the process of cutting 2,500 posts without consulting the unions.

    However, BBC Vision has now announced that it will begin selecting people for compulsory redundancy, despite the fact that over 300 people have expressed an interest in voluntary release.

    Unions have criticised the decision to begin the compulsory redundancy process without first agreeing on the release of volunteers, potentially putting a large number of people at risk of losing their jobs.

    NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said, “We’ve been very clear with the BBC that any attempt to force through compulsory redundancies will result in a ballot for industrial action. Our members are already deeply concerned about the strain they will be put under as a result of the BBC’s cutbacks. Now management is piling on the pressure by leaving thousands of people uncertain about whether they will have a job in the new year, even though it appears that many of these cuts could be dealt with through voluntary redundancies.

    “When a negotiated settlement is within reach it is madness for BBC to force experienced staff out the door. At a time when the BBC needs top-class management it is suffering from poor decision making.

    “We urge the BBC to rethink its decision which makes a mockery of the voluntary redundancy process and to come back to 
    the table to discuss how we can deal with these changes without resorting to industrial action.”

    The BBC issued a statement. “It’s difficult to understand, particularly given the very positive position with volunteers in some areas of the BBC where compulsory redundancies are now much less likely, why our unions (NUJ, BECTU and UNITE) have decided to ballot for strike action.

    “It’s important to say that the vast majority of staff will not be affected by the proposed job reductions. A strike will inevitably hurt the people who pay for our services. It will not change the overall economics of the BBC. The bottom line is that increasing expenditure in one area means reducing it in another.

    “The BBC remains above all committed to distinctive quality programmes and services for all licence fee payers. We will continue to have local dialogue with our staff and unions during this time.”

  • BBC publishes code of conduct for competitions and voting

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has published for the first time a code of conduct for competitions and voting on the Corporation’s television, radio and online services. The code is the BBC’s undertaking to its audiences on the running of competitions and voting.

    The code, which applies to competition and voting activity on every BBC programme, emphasises the importance of trust in the relationship with audiences. An honest and open relationship is required, in which the public is treated with respect and fairness. Competitions and voting will be handled with rigorous care and integrity.

    The code, which will be widely publicised on the BBC’s services, also reminds audiences that BBC competitions and votes will not be run on the BBC to make a profit. The only time BBC competitions or votes will be aimed at raising funds will be for a BBC charitable initiative.

    In particular, through the code, the BBC undertakes to ensure that:

    – competitions and votes are conducted in a way that is honest, open, fair and legal

    – winners of competitions and votes are genuine and never invented, pre-chosen or planted by the production team. Every entry should have a fair chance of winning

    – it will never ask anyone to pose as a competition contestant or winner

    – prizes are described accurately. The BBC will not mislead entrants about the nature of a prize and prize winners will receive their prizes in reasonable time

    – there are clear rules for any competition or vote, which are readily available to the public.

    The Code states that whatever pressures there may be to “keep the show on the air”, the BBC must never compromise its editorial integrity.

    If things go wrong with running a competition or vote, the BBC will not cover it up or falsify the outcome.

    Premium rate telephone services will be used when the size of the likely response to votes or competitions requires large numbers of calls to be handled, or where raising money for a BBC charitable initiative.

    The code of conduct is part of the response by BBC management to the requirement from the BBC Trust for a comprehensive plan to address important issues which arose from serious editorial breaches on the BBC earlier this year.

    The code was called for by the BBC Trust, and further detailed advice for programme makers on competitions, voting and running awards and a formal approvals process for such activities is to be submitted to the Trust for its consideration before competitions can resume on the BBC.

    It is anticipated that some competitions may return on air before Christmas.

    A mandatory editorial training programme for 17,000 staff, Safeguarding Trust, is also now underway.

    BBC DG Mark Thompson said, “Trust is the BBC’s most important value and we must never do anything that may undermine that trust. That belief is shared by the BBC’s programme makers. The new Code will enable audiences to have a clear understanding of what they should expect in the conduct of competitions and votes on the BBC. Audiences enjoy interacting with BBC programmes and output. It’s important that they can do so with confidence at all times.”

  • Australian broadcaster SBS to produce local version of BBC’s ‘Top Gear’

    MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has concluded a deal with Australian free-to-air network SBS to license the rights to a local version of Top Gear. This is the first such a deal is done globally.

    Freehand Productions, BBC Worldwide’s Australasian partner, will produce the local version, which will transmit on SBS next year. Eight episodes are planned.

    BBC Worldwide has identified Top Gear as one of its top priority brands across all platforms.

    Top Gear MD at BBC Worldwide Adam Waddell said, “This is an incredible step forward for the brand in one of our most important territories. With the UK series viewed in more than 100 countries worldwide, and BBC Top Gear magazine licensed in 19 countries, our focus is very much about expanding the brand through areas such as local production and localised online content.”

    SBS has also extended its commitment to the UK version. Top Gear has aired on the network since 2005, and is its highest-rating non-sport show.

    BBC Worldwide Australasia’s head of sales Julie Dowding sales, “It is very exciting for us to have done this deal with SBS. We are very proud that the first global deal for a local version of Top Gear has been done here in Australia.”

    UK Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson says, “I’m delighted that Top Gear is going to Australia. Maybe the first guest could be Jonny Wilkinson.”

    BBC Top Gear magazine is licensed in many countries including India, Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Dubai, Syria, New Zealand and Singapore.

  • George Entwistle is BBC controller, knowledge commissioning

    MUMBAI: George Entwistle has been named as the new BBC Controller of Knowledge Commissioning.

    In this role, Entwistle will be responsible for delivering the recently launched knowledge building strategy across the BBC on TV and on the web, from landmark series to documentaries; across specialisms from arts to history, natural history, business, science and religion; to consumer journalism and contemporary factual.

    He will head BBC Vision’s Knowledge and Learning commissioning teams who commission programmes and multi-platform content from Vision Productions and the independent sector, which together produce over 1,600 hours of output a year.

    BBC Vision director Jana Bennett said, “As a programme maker and a creative leader, George has an impressive track record across a wide range of genres including current affairs, arts and science. This gives him a deep understanding of how to deliver great factual programmes for all audiences.

    “He has been an outstanding member of the factual commissioning team and has also had real success leading the creative renewal in current affairs and during his time running BBC Four.

    “Knowledge building is a cornerstone of the BBC’s future and this is an opportunity to bring the knowledge story together more powerfully across all channels, the web and other platforms, building on the foundations laid by Glenwyn Benson.”

    Entwistle said, “The BBC’s knowledge output – on TV and every other platform – is right at the heart of our public purposes. I am delighted to be given the opportunity to play my part in taking forward our new Knowledge Strategy – in partnership with the exceptional talent across the BBC and the independent sector – to deliver factual content our audiences will find outstandingly valuable, compelling and enriching.”

    In 1999, after ten years in current affairs, he joined the science department as Deputy Editor of BBC One’s flagship science show Tomorrow’s World.

    He went from there to become Deputy Editor and, in 2001, Editor of Newsnight – which won five RTS awards during his editorship.

    In 2004 he moved to BBC Arts to become Executive Editor of Topical Arts. There he launched The Culture Show for BBC Two.

    He also spent several months as Chair of the Knowledge Building workgroup on Mark Thompson’s Creative Future strategy review.

  • BBC, Discovery charter new territories with two new ‘Expedition’ series

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC’s Natural History unit, in partnership with Discovery, is venturing into remote rainforests, high mountains and raging underground rivers to uncover the mysterious landscapes of Guyana and Papua New Guinea, in two epic Expedition series.

    It will be shown on BBC One in 2008.

    Expedition Guyana: Hidden on the northern coast of South America, the forgotten country of Guyana holds some of the most extraordinary jungle on Earth. With the forest currently under threat from loggers and their chainsaws, the Expedition Guyana team aims to discover new species in order to help Guyana protect its environment.

    Living rough in a jungle camp alongside local conservationists, the team will track the animals from high in the canopy to deep within the rivers. They are in search of the giants of Guyana including the anaconda, jaguar, giant anteaters, giant turtles and the enormous Harpy eagle. Working in a pristine jungle, which has been earmarked for logging or oil exploration, the cameras will be rolling every step of the way.

    The series producer Steve Greenwood says, “This incredible habitat is completely unspoilt and we’re sure it is home to some remarkable creatures. We’ll be spending a month tracking them down and capturing them on HD. We’ve got all the latest camera technology to help us: thermal cameras, remote cameras, micro and underwater cameras – but in the end it will be old fashioned field skills that are most needed to survive and find the animals in this tough jungle.”

    Expedition New Guinea: New Guinea is the most species-rich island on the planet but its landscape is so inaccessible that much of the wildlife is barely known. Recent exploration has hinted at new and utterly unique species with strange adaptations thriving in the dense forests, in the depths of the impenetrable swamps and perched on the edges of the active volcanoes.

    Hidden deep within this island is the deepest mystery in the whole of the tropics. A series of colossal caves pepper the hillside, most of them completely unexplored. Joined by world experts in extreme caving, the Expedition team take on this stern and drastic environment providing true and original exploration, captured on camera as it happens.

    Running in parallel, other members of the expedition team will explore the rugged rainforests that drape the mountains. These missions include journeying up the Sepik River to meet the Crocodile People and the 26-foot crocodiles they share the river with; searching for strange birds of paradise, capturing on camera their bizarre rituals and mating behaviours; and exploring for Queen Alexandra birdwing butterflies, the largest butterfly in the world and one that is rapidly declining towards extinction.

    The show’s executive producer Tim Martin says, “New Guinea will be our toughest expedition yet. Sheer mountains and tangled forests make its interior hard to navigate and disputes between rival tribes are an added complication we’ll have to cope with. But the rewards should be great – birds of paradise, tree kangaroos and whole forests that scientists have yet to investigate. And beneath the ground lies a vast system of caves, much of which has never been explored.

    “The observational style of our Expedition brand, as seen on Expedition Borneo, Amazon Abyss and Pacific Abyss, captures the dramas of expedition life and gives a real sense of what it’s like to explore some of the world’s last great wildernesses. Tourists and film crews tend to visit the same well known National Parks and our approach is to go much deeper into the wilds, to places that haven’t yet felt the impact of humans.”

  • BBC Hindi’s radio documentary wins ABU award

    MUMBAI: BBC Hindi has won an award at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).

    Its radio documentary – Rising Mercury, Deepening Crisis – won the Best Radio Documentary Award at the 44th ABU General Assembly in Tehran, Iran, on 3 November.

    It was produced by BBC Hindi Radio editor Shivkant Sharma and presented by Mukesh Sharma. Shivkant Sharma said, “The objective of Rising Mercury, Deepening Crisis was to report how climate change is impacting lives of millions of people in north India, how economic development and changing lifestyle are speeding up climate change and what people could do individually and collectively to tackle climate change.

    “We had a very encouraging feedback from our audience, and now the ABU Award proves that we have been quite successful in our mission.”

    India accounts for just 4.5 per cent of the global emission of green-house gases but the picture is likely to change dramatically within a generation. India’s share of global emission is likely to soar as urbanisation accelerates, fuelled by the rapidly growing economy.

    In Rising Mercury, Deepening Crisis, BBC Hindi examines the effect of human activity on climate change, and the affect of climate change on the lives of millions of people in India. The documentary takes listeners to places where the impact of climate change is already visible and looks at the evidence on the ground.

    Starting in a busy street of Kanpur, one of the most polluted cities of India, the programme moves on to Gangotri, the largest glacier in the Himalayas, and Sunderbans, the largest mangroves in the world, tracing the natural path of the carbon-cycle.

    Along with explaining and highlighting the imminent and visible dangers of climate change, the BBC Hindi documentary examines the practical steps that governments and individuals can take to address the issue.

  • BBC to look at life of The Royal Family

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced that its channel BBC One will go ahead with the planned series about the working lives of The Queen and other members of The Royal Family.

    The five- part series, Monarchy: The Royal Family At Work, gives a unique insight into the work of The Queen and other members of The Royal Family as they go about their duties at home and abroad.

    BBC Vision director Jana Bennett said, “I am delighted that we are going ahead with this series and bringing it to BBC One this year. There has never been any doubt about the integrity of the films themselves: they are a serious and important look at the way the monarchy works. With exceptional access, viewers will get a remarkable picture of the work of The Royal Family over the course of a year.”

    The series will be completed by a new project team, set up and supervised by the BBC and consisting of staff from the BBC, from RDF Television and from the television production freelance community and will transmit before Christmas.

    Denys Blakeway will head up the production team as an independent executive producer reporting to BBC commissioning executive Martin Davidson.

    All profits from the series will be given to charities nominated by The Royal Household and agreed by all parties.

  • Neil Chugani is BBC Worldwide CFO

    MUMBAI: Former BSkyB director of corporate finance and Goldman Sachs banker Neil Chugani joins BBC Worldwide as its chief financial officer, succeeding David King who has been appointed MD, Acquisitions. Neil will join BBC Worldwide in December 2007.

    He will lead the financial team at BBC Worldwide, which in 2006/07 posted profits of £111.1 million from revenues of £810.4m – a three-fold increase in profits in just three years. He will be responsible for leading and developing all aspects of BBC Worldwide’s financial strategy, in particular the development of the five year growth plan.

    BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith says, “I am delighted that Neil is joining the Board at BBC Worldwide. He brings tremendous financial, strategic and negotiating expertise to our team and joins us at a really exciting time of our international development.”

    Chugani adds, “This is a fantastic opportunity. BBC Worldwide is a dynamic and fast growing business with operations and partnerships around the world. The recent acquisition of Lonely Planet demonstrates the ambitions of BBC Worldwide and I am looking forward to playing a major part in the business achieving its strategic and financial goals.”