BBC Russian Service
 |
|
| Type | Internet, IPTV, previously radio network |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Availability | International |
| Owner | BBC |
|
Key people
|
Sarah Gibson (Head of Service) |
|
Launch date
|
1946 |
|
Official website
|
bbcrussian.com |
The BBC Russian Service (Russian: Ру́сская слу́жба Би-би-си́) is part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of 27 languages it provides.
The BBC Russian Service began broadcasting on 26 March 1946.
However, during World War II there were sporadic broadcasts to the Soviet Union in Russian only. Most of these broadcasts were after 1942.
These were mainly short news bulletins or announcements relating to UK Foreign Office policy in Russian from 1943 onwards but often weeks or months apart.
In the Cold War-era broadcasts were severely jammed. Despite this, it tried to bring to listeners in Soviet Union information they were deprived of, including works of writers and dissidents who could not publish their work at home, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Jamming finally stopped in the late 1980s, as perestroika took hold.
The BBC Russian Service has moved all its operation to the Internet, halting radio broadcasting after 65 years on air.
Before the final decision to concentrate on online production the Russian Service radio was available only on AM.
The BBC Russian Service partnered with Bol'shoe Radio (Russian: Большое радио), an FM broadcaster in Moscow between April and August 2007. Daily broadcasts alternated between the Russian Service and Radio Moscow. On 17 August 2007 Bol'shoe Radio notified the BBC World Service that it planned to stop transmission of BBC programming in Russian as of that afternoon. BBC content was not aired as usual at 1700 (Moscow time); the station was ordered by its owner, the financial group Finam, to pull the shows or risk being taken off air altogether. The BBC planned to appeal against the decision. In its 2007 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee concluded that "the development of a partnership with the international arm of a Russian state broadcasting network puts the BBC World Service's reputation for editorial independence at risk".
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