BBC World (original) (raw)
BBC World is the British Broadcasting Corporation's 24-hour international current affairs TV channel with news, documentaries, lifestyle programmes and interviews, and was launched in January 1995. It competes with the US network CNN, particularly in India, where it now has its own tailor-made programming.
It was formerly known as BBC World Service Television, although unlike BBC World Service radio it is commercially funded, as the British government refused to extend the Foreign Office grant-in-aid. It was originally carried on Star TV, the pan-Asian satellite television service based in Hong Kong, which was later acquired by Rupert Murdoch. Owing to the People's Republic of China government's dislike of the BBC's news coverage, Star TV dropped its carriage of the channel in the region, although the Corporation later found another satellite.
BBC World is carried on satellite and cable, and its bulletins are also rebroadcast on local terrestrial channels. It is not officially available in the United Kingdom, although it can be viewed on satellite, but some of its news bulletins are shared with BBC News 24; these are simply identified as "BBC News" with no reference to either channel. On weekdays BBC World also produces a 30 minute analytical news programme called The World which can be seen in the UK on BBC Four.