HC Deb 02 August 1965 vol 717 cc210-3W
Mr. Eldon Griffiths

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what sum he contributes to the British Broadcasting Corporation's External Services; what general policies he lays down concerning expenditure of this money; and whether he will increase the sum available so as to expand the Corporation's broadcasts to Western Europe and North America.

Mr. George Thomson

The British Broadcasting Corporation's External Services are financed by Grants-in-Aid from Her Majesty's Government which in 1964–65 amounted to £8,753,000.

Under the terms of the Licence and Agreement granted by the Postmaster-General, the Overseas Departments prescribe the languages in which the British Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts and the duration of each service. The British Broadcasting Corporation must consult and collaborate with those Departments to obtain the information it requires to plan and prepare its programmes in the national interest. I am not empowered to give directives on the content of British Broadcasting broadcasts.

In view of the varied information media and channels of communication available to us in Western Europe and North America, I do not consider that there is any justification for expansion of British Broadcasting broadcasts to those areas.

Mr. Boston

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will set out in the OFFICIAL REPORT the average amount of weekly broadcasting time in

B.B.C. EXTERNAL BROADCASTS OUTPUT IN HOURS PER WEEK AS AT 31ST MARCH
1956 1957 1958 1959 1960
hrs. mins. hrs. mins. hrs. mins. hrs. mins. hrs. mins.
English
B.B.C. World Service (formerly General Overseas Service) 147 00 149 00 149 00 156 00 156 00
European Service in English 33 00 40 00 36 30 36 30 36 30
Other Regional English Services 60 40 58 25 51 50 44 50 44 50
Afrikaans 1 45 1 45
Albanian 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30
Arabic 28 00 66 30 66 30 66 30 84 00
Bengali 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 30 1 30
Bulgarian 10 30 10 30 10 30 10 30 10 30
Burmese 1 45 1 45 1 45 1 45 1 45
Chinese—Cantonese 1 45 1 45 1 45 1 45 1 45
Standard Chinese 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30
Czech (Czech and Slovak) 13 15 13 15 14 00 15 00 15 00
Danish 3 30 3 30
Dutch 4 00 4 00
Finnish 7 45 7 45 7 45 7 45 8 30
French (for Europe and Africa) 21 00 21 00 12 15 12 15 12 15
French for Canada 50 50 25 55 55
German 29 45 29 45 29 45 30 00 30 00
German for Austria 3 30 3 30
Greek 7 00 7 00 7 00 7 00 8 00
Hausa 30 30 30 3 30
Hebrew 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30
Hindi 4 15 4 15 4 15 5 15 5 15
Hungarian 12 15 14 00 14 00 14 45 14 45
Indonesian 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30
Italian 13 15 13 15 10 30 10 30 10 30
Japanese 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15
Malay 1 45 1 45 1 45 1 45 1 45
Maltese 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00
Marathi 30 30 30
Norwegian 4 30 4 30
Persian 7 00 7 00 7 00 7 00 7 00
Polish 14 00 14 00 17 30 17 30 18 00
Portuguese for Latin-America 8 45 8 45 8 45 8 45 8 45
Portuguese for Portugal 3 30 3 30
Rumanian 12 15 12 15 12 15 12 15 12 15
Russian 14 00 15 45 15 45 15 45 21 15
Sinhalese 30 30 30 1 00 1 00
Somali 45 3 30 3 30
Spanish for Latin-America 21 00 21 00 21 00 21 00 21 00
Spanish for Spain 11 30 8 00 8 00 8 00 8 00
Swahili 30 3 30 3 30
Swedish 3 30 3 30
Tamil 30 30 30 1 00 1 00
Thai 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30
Turkish 7 00 7 00 7 00 7 00 7 45
Urdu 4 45 4 45 4 45 5 15 5 15
Vietnamese 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30
Yugoslav (Serbo-Croat and Slovene) 11 45 11 45 11 45 11 45 11 45
TOTAL 559 45 605 30 564 45 575 30 601 00

each of the last 10 years to the nearest convenient date in each of the languages in which the British Broadcasting Corporation's External Services broadcast, specifying the countries concerned.

Mr. George Thomson, pursuant to his reply, OFFICIAL REPORT, 30th July, 1965, c. 181, gave the following information:

B.B.C. EXTERNAL BROADCASTS OUTPUT IN HOURS PER WEEK AS AT 31ST MARCH
1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
hrs. mins. hrs. mins. hrs. mins. hrs. mins. hrs. mins.
English
B.B.C. World Service (formerly General Overseas Service) 156 00 156 00 156 00 159 15 159 15
European Service in English 33 00 33 00 33 00 33 00 36 30
Other Regional English Services 32 55 36 00 35 00 31 30 35 00
Afrikaans
Albanian 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30
Arabic 84 00 84 00 84 00 84 00 84 00
Bengali 1 30 1 30 1 30 1 30 1 30
Bulgarian 10 30 10 30 11 15 11 15 11 15
Burmese 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 5 15
Chinese—Cantonese 1 45 1 45 1 45 1 45 3 30
Standard Chinese 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 5 15
Czech (Czech and Slovak) 15 00 15 00 15 30 13 45 13 45
Danish
Dutch
Finnish 8 30 8 30 8 30 8 30 8 30
French (for Europe and Africa) 28 00 28 00 28 00 28 00 33 15
French for Canada 35 41 41 41 41
German 30 00 30 00 30 00 28 15 28 15
German for Austria
Greek 8 00 8 00 8 00 11 30 8 00
Hausa 3 30 3 30 7 00 7 00 7 00
Hebrew 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30
Hindi 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15
Hungarian 14 45 14 45 14 45 15 15 15 15
Indonesian 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 5 15
Italian 10 30 10 30 5 15 5 15 5 15
Japanese 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 5 15
Malay 1 45 1 45 1 45 1 45 1 45
Maltese 1 00 35 35 35 35
Marathi
Norwegian
Persian 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15
Polish 18 00 18 00 18 00 16 15 16 45
Portuguese for Latin-America 8 45 8 45 8 45 8 45 8 45
Portuguese for Portugal 3 30 5 15
Rumanian 12 15 12 15 13 00 13 00 13 00
Russian 19 30 19 30 23 00 21 15 23 00
Sinhalese 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00
Somali 3 30 3 30 3 30 7 00 7 00
Spanish for Latin-America 21 00 21 00 21 00 21 00 21 00
Spanish for Spain 8 00 8 00 8 00 8 00 8 00
Swahili 5 15 7 00 7 00 7 00 7 00
Swedish
Tamil 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00
Thai 3 30 3 30 5 15
Turkish 7 45 7 45 7 45 11 15 7 45
Urdu 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15
Vietnamese 3 30 3 30 3 30 3 30 5 15
Yugoslav (Serbo-Croat and Slovene) 11 45 11 45 11 45 11 45 11 45
TOTAL 596 15 603 45 610 00 617 15 638 45