HC Deb 18 January 1982 vol 16 c17W
Sir Brandon Rhys Williams

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has given consideration (a) to the possible transmission of BBC external services by satellite television and (b) to expanding the scope of educational programmes in the BBC external services to include language and other courses of study.

Mr. Luce

The opportunities for external services broadcasts by satellite television have been considered and are being kept under review. However, expansion into this field would be very expensive. Moreover, there are legal complications as well as technical difficulties such as the need for potential recipients to acquire special receiving equipment.

There are no plans to expand the external services' educational programmes. They are currently broadcasting 37¾ hours weekly of "English by radio" and such material is also available to foreign radio stations on tape, disc or film. In addition, the transcription service offers a series of "study tapes" for the use of edcuational institutions abroad.