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BBC World Service

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Jack Straw) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. The BBC World Service has today announced a significant modernisation and reprioritisation of its services to enable it to build on its international pre-eminence. The full text of that announcement can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice. The changes result from a thorough strategic review of its services carried out by the BBC World Service earlier this year. That review was conducted against the background of the BBC Charter Review Green Paper that was published in March 2005. A number of significant issues were considered in the course of the review. These included the very positive developments in the both the political and the media environment in central and eastern Europe in the course of the past 15 years; an assessment of where BBC World Service vernacular language provision has had the greatest impact in recent years; developments in broadcast technology, changing audience preferences and the strategic importance of each of the present 43 language services currently provided. The changes will lead to the closure of 11 vernacular radio services. The services are Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Slovene, Bulgarian, Croatian, Portuguese for Brazil (radio programming only, online vernacular services will remain), Kazakh and Thai. The funding released will be reinvested in new technologies such as online, television and video products, including the creation of a BBC World Service Arabic TV service. The changes will not affect the global role of BBC World Service. Online and radio services in English will continue to be available globally and will remain the foundation of the BBC World Service's news and information service. Vernacular radio services will be concentrated in areas where the media marketplace is less well developed and where the audiences have a greater need for impartial, independent sources of news and information. Many of the services that will be closed had their roots in the 1940s and the issues and problems of that time. They continued to serve their audiences well through the Cold War years, offering them a lifeline of accurate and reliable news and information. Their presence during this period and beyond has contributed to the building of democracy and prosperity. I endorse the BBC World Service's decision to refocus its vernacular output to ensure it maintains a strong presence in the places where there is the greatest need and where it will have the greatest impact. These changes will help BBC World Service to maintain and build on its position as the world's most respected international broadcaster.