BBC Prime

BBC Prime is the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It was launched in January, 1995, and began broadcasts in Africa in March, 1999. A version of the channel was launched in Asia on December 1st, 2004. It broadcasts via satellite and cable, for 18 hours a day, with the remaining six hours being used for educational programmes for BBC Learning.

Related Topics:
BBC - TV channel - Europe - Africa - Middle East - January - 1995 - March - 1999 - Asia - December 1st - 2004 - Satellite - Cable - BBC Learning

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Owing to rights issues, much of the programming on BBC Prime is from the Corporation's archive. This caused considerable annoyance to many British expatriate viewers, who had much preferred the mix of BBC One and Two previously offered by BBC TV Europe and BBC World Service Television.

Related Topics:
Expatriate - BBC One - Two - BBC TV Europe - BBC World Service Television

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Consequently, many people in mainland Europe bought viewing cards to receive full broadcasts of BBC One and Two from the UK, which prompted GBC in Gibraltar to end terrestrial retransmission of BBC Prime in 1999. Even after the BBC switched to broadcasting unencrypted on a satellite with a much weaker signal, many people in Spain and elsewhere could still receive these signals, particularly those who already had large satellite dishes.

Related Topics:
Gibraltar - 1999 - Unencrypted - Spain

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The BBC argues that most of BBC Prime's viewers are not British, and often may not have English as a first language, hence the availability of subtitles in Swedish, Danish,Norwegian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, Italian and Hebrew.

Related Topics:
Swedish - Danish - Norwegian - Czech - Polish - Romanian - Hungarian - Italian - Hebrew

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Similarly, some programmes on BBC Prime in Africa are different from the European service, as many have already been licensed to South African broadcasters.

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In Asia the programming is completely different to take account of time zones and cultural differences, with subtitles in local languages like Chinese and Thai. BBC Prime's Asian service is currently only available in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore, but will become available on cable and satellite services in other countries in the region. A similar channel, called BBC Japan, launched in Japan on December 1st, 2004.

Related Topics:
Chinese - Thai - Hong Kong - Thailand - Singapore - BBC Japan - Japan - December 1st - 2004

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