BBC Arabic TV

I've been involved in many programme and channel launches in my time - but few as smooth as the launch of BBC Arabic TV. This was in no way due to anything I did - but was the result of many months of hard work by a great team. The outcome - a sharp, modern, TV news service that is also unquestionably BBC.

If you missed the launch tape you can see it again here.

And here is a piece I wrote for the BBC Editors blog the day before launch. Not all the commenters seem to be convinced by the idea of building bridges or in favour soft power, but they balance up by the end!

Comments

[Jeff]

As BBC launches it Arabic channel, it also needs to see how it carries different messages across its different platforms.

Take for example the BBC survey about the situation in Iraq on the eve of the fifth year of invasion. A report on BBC World News Tonight on BBC4 talked cited a survey speaking about "safer neighbourhoods" and a "Sunni awakening" as signs of improvement. One wonder if footage of Adam Brook's report on the Fallujah race and his interview with Dr. Monjed Al-Rezali, Head of the Baghdad Morgue are used
on BBC Arabic Channel and how the audiences responded to it.