Poland’s public broadcaster brought forward the launch of its English language news channel this week, in response to the crisis on its eastern border.
TVP World, originally due on-air next year, was rushed into service to cover unfolding events on the Polish-Belarusian border. The channel is an offshoot from Poland’s TVP, where bosses hope the new channel’s early launch will help raise the Polish perspective of the migrant border crisis.
However, there have been some criticism of the channel’s launch. Onet’s news portal reported the channel’s rushed launch was visible, with frequent repetition of limited content. Others commented on the lack of other opinions outside of the Polish Government.
TVP World is distributed globally on YouTube. It also appears overnight on TVP’s free-to-air channel TVP Info. In time, the channel will also launch on satellite. So far, coverage via Astra 19.2E and Dish Network in the USA has been confirmed as coming soon. Demand for the channel appears low, with just 95 users watching the YouTube stream worldwide on Friday evening. This compared to 3.3K global viewers for Sky News via YouTube at the same time.
English language news and information channels from public or state broadcasters
A variety of English-language services launched by state and public broadcasters compete for eyeballs. The remit of the channels varies dramatically – from services which are strictly editorially controlled by their government to commercially funded off-shoots operated by stand-alone organisations with a greater focus on world news over domestic affairs.
| COUNTRY | BROADCASTER | CHANNEL NAME |
| China | China Central Television | CGTN News |
| France | France Médias Monde | France 24 English |
| Germany | Deutsche Welle | DW English |
| Iran | IRIB | Press TV |
| Japan | NHK | NHK World-Japan |
| Poland | TVP | TVP World |
| Russia | TV-Novosti | RT |
| South Korea | Korea International Broadcasting Foundation* | Arirang TV |
| Turkey | TRT | TRT World |
| United Kingdom | BBC** | BBC World News |