§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what annual savings would result in each case if broadcasting by the External Services of the BBC in Japanese, Burmese, Somali, Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Tamil, Nepali, French and German were to cease.
§ Mr. LuardIt is estimated that the following annual savings would result if broadcasting were to cease in each of the following languages:
£ Japanese 119,000 Burmese 91,000 Somali 78,000 Finnish 112,000 Portuguese 128,000 Spanish 115,000 Italian 121,000 Greek 115,000 Tamil 13,000 Nepali 9,000 French 560,000 German 578,000 The French and Portuguese services to Africa are included in these figures.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what annual savings would result if broadcasting by the External Services of the BBC to Australia, New Zealand Canada, and the United States of America were to cease.
§ Mr. LuardNo programmes are produced specially for these countries. A saving of about £50,000 per annum could be made for switching off certain transmitters covering these areas.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what loss of audience would result from a shutdown in the External Services of the BBC between 20.00 hours and 04.00 hours GMT.
§ Mr. LuardIt is not possible to put a precise figure on the loss of audience which would result from a shutdown of the BBC's External Services between 20.00 hours and 04.00 hours GMT but it892W would probably number millions of regular listeners.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what annual savings would result from a shutdown in the External Services of the BBC between 20.00 hours and 04.00 hours GMT.
§ Mr. LuardIt is very difficult to estimate the effect of such a shutdown. New shift patterns at transmitters and Bush House would need to be worked out with consequent staffing implications. In very approximate terms, savings might be £1,400,000 per annum.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated audience for the External Services of the BBC in the European Community in any one week.
§ Mr. LuardThe BBC estimated that the regular audience in the European Community is approximately 5 million.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated home audience for the External Services of the BBC in any one week.
§ Mr. LuardThe United Kingdom is not the intended audience of External Services broadcasts. There is circumstantial evidence that World Service broadcasts in English are heard by a large number of listeners here on the medium wave, but the size of this audience has not been measured.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the broadcasts of the External Services of the BBC is to Communist and non-Communist countries, respectively.
§ Mr. Luard26 per cent. of the broadcasts of the External Services of the BBC is directed to Communist countries. This does not include the extent to which the BBC's German language service, broadcasting for 24½hours per week, is heard in the German Democratic Republic.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth 893W Affairs what is the total estimated audience of the External Services of the BBC in any one week.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the external broadcasts of the BBC is in English.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many foreign languages are used by the External Services of the BBC.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the broadcasting time of the External Services of the BBC is directed to educational programmes.
§ Mr. LuardIt is not possible to distinguish between the general and educational elements of External Services output, except for English by radio, which is clearly educational and with 34½hours per week accounts for 4.8 per cent. of total output.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice he gives to the External Services of the BBC with regard to the abolition or the establishment or the re-establishment of any particular foreign language service.
§ Mr. LuardMy right hon. Friend is responsible in accordance with the Licence and Agreement between the Government and the BBC for prescribing the hours and languages of vernacular broadcasts. Decisions about abolishing or re-establishing such services are, of course, taken after consultation with the BBC.
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the Government grant to the External Services of the BBC has been used for investment in transmitters in each of the last 10 years.
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§ Mr. LuardThe following amounts have been spent by the BBC External Services on building or modernising transmitters. These amounts are expressed as a percentage of the total grant in Aid for broadcastaing, excluding monitorings, in each of the last 10 years.
Total Expenditure Proportion of Grant in Aid £ percentage 1967–68 992,000 10.2 1968–69 1,140,000 11.2 1969–70 806,000 7.6 1970–71 1,303,000 10.7 1971–72 698,000 5.5 1972–73 515,000 3.8 1973–74 600,000 3.9 1974–75 279,000 1.5 1975–76 1,262,000 5.1 1976–77 2,391,000 8.6 In addition to the above expenditure on transmitters, the following amounts were spent on building or modernising transmitters at relay stations operated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on behalf of the BBC External Services:
Total expenditure £ 1967–68 527,300 1968–69 510,700 1969–70 105,200 1970–71 25,800 1971–72 80,900 1972–73 30,100 1973–74 100,500 1974–75 198,100 1975–76 495,500 1976–77 1,285,100
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the cost of the External Services of the BBC in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. LuardThe cost of the External Services of the BBC in each of the last 10 years, consisting of the grants in aid for broadcasting and monitoring is as follows:
£ 1967–68 10,566,000 1968–69 11,093,000 1969–70 11,517,000 1970–71 13,201,000 1971–72 14,009,000 1972–73 15,026,000 1973–74 16,713,000 1974–75 20,546,000 1975–76 26,653,000 1976–77 32,259,000
§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth 895W Affairs what responsibility he has with regard to the overall management of External Services of the BBC.
§ Mr. LuardThe overall management of the External Services is a matter for the Managing Director of those services. My right hon. Friend is, however, responsible to Parliament for the grant-in-aid provided for the External Services of the BBC and for prescribing the hours and languages of vernacular broadcasts.