BBC Arabic

I am just going by the Independent Article

Independent Article

The 31st March is close to the 1st April, when most financial years start, and I would expect the BBC to need to start making its latest savings
from 1st April?

There is certainly not an obvious link between Arabic launching three weeks before - they are about as independent of each other as it is possible to be and still be in the same corporation...

Here in New Zealand in the 31st March/1st April TVNZ launches their Factual News & Info channel, sorta like BBC World... but thats nothing to do with BBC Arabic lol any idea where BBC Arabic will be shown? Apologies if its been said here but I haven't been reading up.

The whole of bbcarabic.com will also be relaunched on 11th March, this will include live streams of the TV channel. The streams have been up for a while for testing, but the URLs are not in the public domain. Nothing to watch anyway, just the same feed as available on satellite.

But as a taster the Arabic service have started using embedded flash video in their website a little early. Example here

I expect this use of flash video to cause a bit of a stir elsewhere in the beeb once word gets round, as I think the Arabic Service are at least a couple of months ahead of the domestic BBC launching a full embedded flash video service for news.

In term of the presentation in that clip, the sting and lower third are all still the classic World Service look. Expect something very different on launch day - but it won't be the new BBC brand as it isn't due to be delivered in time for the launch.

The World Service received additional funding in the new FCO grant for Arabic TV to go 24 hours. My complete speculation is that this will be a soft launch of 12 hours a day with the full 24 hour service launch to follow a month or so after once the funding arrives in April.

Anyone heard anything else about the new channel, is it still launching on March 11th? I thought we would have had some press release of presenters or something...seem's all very quiet!

Yes it does seem quiet doesn't it? But remember the main target audience is in the middle east. The diaspora are a secondary market, so if there is a marketing push going on for the soft launch it won't be in London.

It is still on to launch on Tuesday 11th March.

Yes - AFAIK it won't be on the Astra 2/Eurobird orbital position (i.e. you won't get it on a Sky or Freesat set-up pointed at the normal UK position) - and I suspect any major promotion will be in the Middle East rather than Western Europe.

Hotbird 8 at 13E is probably your best bet if you want to receive it from Europe. Or you can watch it streamed from bbcarabic.com.

I don't understand why there is a need for the BBC to create an Arabic TV channel... why is this being done?

Similar rationale to the World Service I believe..spreading 'British values', something like that no doubt.

Same reason that the BBC operate BBC World Service Radio foreign language services - providing unbiased, impartial news to regions that are deemed iimportant to inform by the British Government - who directly fund BBC World Service Radio (and thus BBC Arabic TV which is part of BBC World Service and NOT BBC World)