BBC World Service to provide people of Syria with enhanced services

Following the rapid developments in Syria, the BBC World Service will offer enhanced services to audiences across the country.

Broadcast on medium wave and FM, an enhanced audio service will provide the people of Syria and surrounding countries with a trusted source of independent news when audiences need it the most, particularly as local media and digital services are disrupted.

Broadcasting news and information in Arabic, the service will air BBC News Arabic bulletins throughout the day including the BBC News Arabic’s World at One and BBC News Arabic’s Newsnight. It will also feature packages from the Gaza Lifeline service and contributions from correspondents such as Feras Kilani as well as the BBC’s wealth of reporters based across the region.

There will also be an English offer on the network, curated from World Service English, for those Syrians who speak the language.

Jonathan Munro, Global Director, BBC News (pictured), says: “As we have all been watching, listening to and reading about the dramatic changes that have swept through Syria, the Syrian population have been left without essential access to reliable and independent news about the events taking place. The BBC World Service’s enhanced services will bring them the latest breaking news and analysis from Syria, the Middle East and the rest of the world.”

The Syrian radio network will go out  on medium wave, 720kHz and 639kHz, and on 93.0 FM.

The BBC World Service has a history of responding to emergency situations globally. Most recently, in Nov 2024, we launched an emergency radio service for Gaza – which remains on air – and in May 2023 during the conflict in Sudan, BBC News Arabic began an emergency radio service. In February 2022, the BBC News Ukraine service extended TV bulletins following the invasion of the country.

BBC News has responded to the events in Syria with special programming across the week. World Service English amended their schedules on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 December in response to the fast-developing story, there have been additional episodes of the BBC Global News podcast and correspondents including Barbara Plett-Usher, Lyse Doucet and BBC News Arabic’s Feras Kilani, have brought audiences breaking news across BBC outlets.

[Source: BBC press release]