The launch of Persian TV
Today, the new Egton Wing of Broadcasting House in central London is a hub of activity, as Persian TV, the BBC’s new Farsi-language television station, launches to audiences in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, to a potential 100m Farsi speakers.
Although news is its core remit, the new channel will carry a special version of Click, the technology programme, and more features and analysis than is normal for a World Service network. That’s partly because the Iranian authorities have refused the BBC’s permission to base a Farsi journalist in Tehran (and are sceptical in general about the new station, as Richard Sambrook writes), although Jon Leyne has been based there for years, reporting for the English networks.
Here’s a taster of the programmes. You’ll notice the famous BBC branding, along with revamped ‘globe’ graphics similar to those on the News Channel and World TV. Persian TV will also follow Arabic TV, launched last year, in hosting a daily interactive phone-in, broadcast on both TV and radio.
Good luck to everyone working just two flights up from where I’m writing this blog post for today, and for the future.
(You can watch BBC Persian TV live online from anywhere in the world, and on various satellites in the region.)
