by Thinus Ferreira
With Britain's BBC that is ending the separate BBC News TV news channel for viewers in the United Kingdom and BBC World News (DStv 400 / StarSat 256) TV channel for global viewers, the British broadcaster plans to launch the new combined service in April 2023.
The new "BBC World News" - with a new name that has not yet been announced - will be shown globally, although domestic British viewers will get shortchanged as part of the BBC's drastic cost-cutting measures since the focus on the new TV news channel will be on global stories at the cost of reporting UK-focused news.
The new BBC TV news channel will be without any ads in the United Kingdom,will contain feature shows built around some of its high-profile journalists, and these shows will be available across multiple platforms.
According to the BBC, a new live and breaking news team will provide "universally available coverage of global breaking news" and "when relevant a UK-only stream for domestic news events".
Sports programming on the BBC news channel will feature a mixture of domestic and new global sports shows.
The new BBC TV news channel will broadcast from London during daytime hours in the United Kingdom which means that little will be changing for viewers watching the channel on for instance MultiChoice's DStv in South Africa or across sub-Saharan Africa.
The BBC TV news channel will then switch to broadcasting from Singapore, and then Washington D.C. to bring viewers news from the United States while its daytime hours there. This will again not be much of a change since BBC World News' American broadcast block has been following the British block in late-night hours as seen in Africa.
"Our aim is to create the best live and breaking video news service in the world - on our web pages, our apps, on BBC iPlayer and on our new TV news channel," says Naja Nielsen, BBC News digital boss in a statement.
"The way audiences consume news is changing. In recent years we've seen a huge surge in audiences coming to our live coverage, with tens of millions following live pages when big stories and events unfold."
"As the world's most trusted source of news, with a huge depth and breadth of expertise, the BBC is uniquely placed to offer audiences the best analysis and explanation as these stories are unfolding. So we are investing in new capability to cover breaking news stories - and our news channel and digital teams will work hand in hand to bring the best journalism to audiences both at home and abroad."
BBC Studios will be responsible for securing revenue for the new BBC TV news channel outside of the United Kingdom - primarily through ad sales - with that money then going towards funding the BBC that can be reinvested in the company's journalism.
