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PS/Mr Lennox-Boyd RECEIVE
FROM:
DATE:
19 December 1990
ccs:
PS
14 JAN 1991
DESK O
BBC TV INTERNATIONAL
PS/Mr Hogg
PS/PUS
Chief Clerk
Mr Gore-Booth News Dept In Tais
My Grecustock Un Hemans
Mi
Beauch
An Miler.
ona Cooper, Planner
1. The BBC announced the launch of BBC TV International on 16 December. The following is the background.
2. BBC TV International is to be a commercial operation designed to draw together a number of existing activities, including those of BBC Enterprises, BBC TV Europe and the BBC World Service's planned world television news service. It will be fully commercial and financed by BBC Enterprises' existing earnings. No money will be diverted from licence fees or the World Service Grant-in-Aid.
3.
•
The new service will operate via international satellites on the pattern established by the existing "BBC TV Europe". It will comprise a mixture of both BBC-1 and BBC-2 programmes, and a new world television news programme to be supplied by "BBC World Service Television News" Furthermore it will include English language teaching programmes and will distribute World Service Television News in English and foreign language versions for rebroadcasting by other organisations throughout the world. It will also market BBC-1 and BBC-2 programmes for relay over cable systems. The Chief Executive will be Mr Chris Irwin, at present well known to us as Controller of Resources and Administration, BBC World Service.
4.
BBC TV Europe has been in operation for several years and now broadcasts for 18 hours a day. As well as direct subscribers throughout Europe, there are distribution agreements with local television or cable operators in 22 countries and the offshore oil industry. It is not yet profitable but is projected to go into surplus in mid-1991. BBC Enterprises currently sells BBC-1 and BBC-2 programmes to cable operators serving 6 million households in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Ireland. The BBC World Service (radio) initiated plans for World Service Television News in the mid-1980s. The Government turned down BBC proposals for funding it by Grant-in-Aid (as for the BBC World Service) not least because commercial companies
ADMADH