BBC Persian television combats broadcast interference from Iran
The BBC has increased the number of satellites that carry its BBC Persian television service for Farsi-speakers in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. This follows persistent interference of the Hotbird 6 satellite which carries the BBC’s international television and radio services in various languages as well as services from other broadcasters.From now on, BBC Persian television will now be additionally available on the Eutelsat W2M satellite and continues un-interrupted on the Telstar 12 satellite.
BBC Persian is also expected to be available on Nilesat soon.They will serve Farsi-speaking audiences across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Since Friday 12 June the BBC Persian service, other BBC services, and the services of other broadcasters on Hotbird 6 have been subject to deliberate interference.BBC Arabic television and various language services have also been experiencing transmission problems including being off the air at various points. The satellite operator has traced the interference and has confirmed it is coming from within Iran. This interference is contrary to all international agreements for satellite usage to which Iran is a signatory.
BBC Persian television has extended its broadcast hours. There are an extra five hours of programming at Iranian breakfast and lunchtime, in addition to its usual evening broadcasts.Radio broadcasts have also been extended.BBC World Service Director Peter Horrocks said: “This is an important time for Iran and many Iranians are turning to the BBC for impartial and independent news and information during this crisis. “We hope that by adding more ways to access BBC Persian television, Farsi-speaking audiences can get the high-quality news, analysis and debate they clearly desire.
“We also hope this will lessen the impact on other broadcasters who have been affected by the interference.”Despite the interference, bbcpersian.com has experienced a huge growth in usage since the current protests began.Compared to traffic in May, the number of daily page impressions increased seven-fold to more than 3.6 million page impressions earlier this week. The number of visitors to the website has seen a four-fold increase.
Online users streaming BBC Persian television through bbcpersian.com have also increased. On Monday 15 June alone the stream was accessed nearly half a million times online – this is more video requests than the whole of last May.The BBC Persian YouTube channel showed an increase in usage until the Iranian authorities blocked the site to those within Iran last weekend.The huge growth in Iran’s usage of the BBC’s online services means Iran is now second only to the USA as the country which streams the most BBC World Service TV and radio services.BBC Persian has also been receiving user-generated content, such as videos and eye-witness accounts via email and phone, at a rate of up to eight per minute.
