BBC Persian TV

The BBC launches its latest TV channel today - BBC Persian. It will be a daily eight hour service, for audiences in Iran, Afghanistan, and the wider region, broadcasting at peak times for the market. It will run from 17:00 to 01:00 local time in Iran (that’s 13:30 to 21:30 GMT).

The backbone of the schedule will be news, together with a rich mix of current affairs, features and documentaries, culture, science, business and arts programmes - all broadcast in Farsi from a new newsroom in central London. Iran is obviously geopolitically important with significant influence across the Middle East. The BBC has been providing news and information on radio in Persian for six decades. But these days, TV is the preferred news medium for Iranian audiences.

The BBC is well respected by opinion formers within Iran and brand awareness is high – despite Government media restrictions. Media freedom is severely limited - so we hope BBC Persian TV will build a following by providing free and independent news and information - the traditional role of the BBC World Service over the last 75 years - and provide a window for Iranian viewers to the rest of the world in an open and unbiased way.

The Iranian authorities have been a little apprehensive about the launch, describing it as "an illegal channel", refusing us permission to work within Iran and suggesting anyone found working for it will be arrested as a spy. However, we hope once they have seen the service they may recognise the independence and quality of the channel - and hopefully take part in its programmes.

Persian TV is aimed at audiences in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan – totalling around 100m Persian speakers. The potential audience in Iran is young, highly educated and outward-looking. The projected audience figures for Persian TV are 10m within 3 years – with a total tri-media reach (radio, TV and online) of close to 20m by 2012. The channel will cost £15m a year - funded by the Foreign Office via Grant in Aid.

The launch is much anticipated within the region and is already being discussed on blogs within Iran and beyond. It will be available globally, streamed on the BBC Persian website. Here's a taste of it from YouTube:

Comments

[Mark Kraft]

I hope that this launch works. That said, I hope that it is both independent AND that the emphasis on subjects and coverage is appropriate to the region.

I've been using LiveStation extensively during the Gaza conflict, flipping between Al Jazeera English, France24, and BBC News... and frankly, AJ and France24 both appear to be doing a much better job with their coverage, both featuring journalists inside Gaza... this despite the fact that London has had huge, rapidly growing protests against the conflict.

You should read this article by Jay Rosen.
http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/01/12/atomization.html

It's especially relevant towards channels like BBC Iran, and it also explains a lot of what is going wrong lately in journalism.

See: http://mediabloodhound.typepad.com/weblog/2009/01/ap-reporters-tough-questions-on-gaza-crisis-missing-from-article.html

Lastly, I would ask if you are going to make statements like "media freedom is severely limited" in Iran, you would at least attempt to put such a statement in some kind of context, such as data from Reporters Sans Frontieres.

I'm not denying that media freedom is limited in Iran, but there are plenty of "pro-Western" nations with about the same level of press freedom, and several major double standards when it comes to Iran lately. The most recent RSF press index puts Iran ahead of countries such as China, and barely behind others such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc.

Only eight years ago, we were talking about U.S./Iranian "soccer diplomacy" and an easing of tensions, and now the US views Iran as a country that something must be done about... and yet, practically nothing concrete and factually verifiable has changed. Indeed, the biggest obvious change is that inflammatory rhetoric has helped to polarize the leadership of both the West and of Iran. And frankly, most of that change has been from the West, as Iranian leaders have pounding their chests about what they'd like to do to Israel to help for decades. It's largely a matter of political bluster, made for internal consumption.

Of course, when you point out that bluster is most likely bluster, (i.e. Saddam's WMDs) you risk getting called "weak on terror", "biased against Israel", etc. We are apparently supposed to believe that Iranians are basically suicidal and warlike, and, as such, must be killed for their own good.

Never mind the fact that Iran were victims of a US/British coup that put in the Shah/dictator, because BP and others didn't want Iranian oil nationalized. Ignore the fact that the US armed the Shah and trained his notorious SAVAK, that "disappeared", tortured, and killed thousands. Or that the US appears to have used Saddam's Iraq as a proxy army against Iran, killing up to a million Iranians, greenlighting chemical weapons precursor shipments to Iraq, and even reportedly sharing US satellite intelligence with the Iraqis to target concentrations of Iranian troops, reportedly provided with battlefield casualty estimates based on the use of chemical weapons.

It's not just whether you report the facts or not. It's what facts you choose to report.

[GumpB]

I watched the very first hour of BBC Persian TV. I was impressed with the quality programming. I wish it much future success.

[Alex Strick van Linschoten]

Haven't had a chance to watch this live yet but wish you all the best.

[noosh]

they kill people,they shooting at us by their guns.
DO SOMETHING...our young people were killed and they arrest 100 people...

[Voice Broadcasting Service]

Hope they don't feature killing of people by shooting guns, it is not a good example to the viewers. :(