BBC World Service - Programming

Programming

At present, the English language service of the World Service offers a schedule consisting mainly of news and background programmes with some other cultural programmes also featuring. Mainstays of the current BBC World Service schedule include the news programmes The World Today, World Update, Newshour and World Briefing, and the daily arts and entertainment news programme The Strand, which started in late 2008. There is a daily science programmes, including Health Check, the technology programme Click and Science in Action. At the weekends, much of the schedule is taken up by Sportsworld, which often includes live commentary of Premier League football matches. On Sundays the international, interdisciplinary discussion programme The Forum is broadcast. On weekdays, an hour of the schedule is given over to World: Have Your Say which encourages listeners to participate in discussing current events via text message, phone calls, emails and blog postings.

Previously, other programming was broadcast including music programmes, such as those presented by John Peel, classical music programmes presented by Edward Greenfield, religious programmes with mostly Anglican celebrations, often from the Church of St. Martin in the Fields, weekly drama, educational programmes such as English-language lessons, and humour, with programmes such as Just A Minute. Other notable previous programmes included Letter from America by Alistair Cooke, which was broadcast for over 50 years; Off the Shelf, which featured a daily reading from a novel, biography or history book; and Outlook, a long running human interest story programme, first broadcast in July 1966 and presented for more than thirty years by John Tidmarsh. Further examples of the broad range of programmes for the audience can be seen through programes included A Jolly Good Show, a musical requests programme presented by Dave Lee Travis; Waveguide, a radio reception guide for listeners; The Merchant Navy Programme, a show for seafarers presented by Malcolm Billings.

While some of this range of programming is still retained, since the late 1990s, the focus of the station has been as a news network, with news bulletins added every half hour following the outbreak of the Iraq War.