21.03.03
BBC World provides continuous coverage of Iraq crisis to the world
BBC World, the BBC's 24-hour international news and information television channel, has provided continuous coverage of unfolding events in Iraq since the crisis first broke this morning. The channel has abandoned its regular programming schedule and is providing extensive rolling news coverage of the situation in Iraq for its audiences around the globe.
Terrestrial broadcasters from around the world are simultaneously broadcasting BBC World's breaking news as it happens - extending the channel's reach even further. A potential of 68 million free-to-air terrestrial households now have access to the channel's additional continuous news output, on top of the channel's ordinary distribution of 254 million households globally.
BBC World is being co-presented live from around the world by:
- Nik Gowing in Doha, Qatar
- Lyse Doucet in Amman, Jordan
- Jon Sopel in Kuwait
- Annita McVeigh and Mishal Husain in Washington
- The BBC World team in London
BBC World's round the clock coverage includes live reports from the channel's network of BBC News correspondents, studio interviews with key international commentators and politicians as well as special in-depth documentary programmes detailing the history and context of the conflict.
In addition, drawing on its unrivalled news strength, BBC News has put extra teams of reporters and crews in more than 30 key locations. Among those deployed with the British and US military and at key sites in the region are:
- John Simpson in Northern Iraq
- Rageh Omaar and Paul Wood (Baghdad)
- Caroline Wyatt and Hilary Andersson (with the British military in Kuwait)
- Gavin Hewitt (with the US military in Kuwait)
- Nicholas Witchell and Paul Adams (Qatar)
BBC personnel are also based in Iran, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain and Turkey, with a journalistic presence on carriers such as Ark Royal. Overall the BBC is mounting one of the most ambitious broadcasting operations in its history to cover the crisis in Iraq, providing viewers with a truly global perspective of the crisis as it unfolds. The BBC News deployment to the region is in excess of 200 staff, including producers and camera people. All staff have attended a week-long hostile environment course and correspondents are carrying personal body armour and CBR (chemical, biological and radiation) suits in their kit bags.
BBC World is making use of the full range of modern broadcasting technology from mobile satellite dishes to videophones to digital transmission systems. BBC News has seven satellite dishes in the region, including Baghdad, and teams will also be using portable systems including "store and forward" (shot on a DV Cam, saved on disc, edited on a laptop, compressed and re-sent back to the newscentre).
Notes to Editors:
BBC World, the BBC's commercially funded international 24-hour news and information channel, is owned and operated by BBC World Ltd, a member of the BBC's commercial group of companies. Reaching 254 million homes and 850,000 hotel rooms in over 200 countries and territories worldwide (100 million 24-hour homes), BBC World launched in its present format in 1995 and is funded by advertising and subscription.
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