BBC Arabic TV
|12:46 UK time, Tuesday, 11 March 2008
The concerns that the BBC might be late with this project strengthen the case made in my previous post - this channel urgently needs big promotion; the image and brand will not be enough to make a big enough splash in a crowded market. It's not sure the BBC has the budget for that, instead relying on the name and a 70 year history in Arabic radio.
The editorial standards are bound to be high (full disclosure: a couple of years ago I helped train Arabic Service stringers in interview techniques.)
But other news channels are much more eyecatching and outrageous. So unless BBC Arabic do it standing on their heads, it'll be hard to catch the attention of an audience that can now choose from hundreds of channels.
Comments
I think the main thing to note would be whether the new TV service manages to transcend, on a perceptive scale, the east/west divide. If it manages to get accused of bias by both sides, then it is doing a good job. Then it will have a promising future.