''BBC OS'' (referred to as ''Outside Source'' when broadcast on television) is a news programme that was produced by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. It utilised social media in the presentation of its stories. The television programme version was usually presented by the BBC's analysis editor

Ros Atkins Roslyn Atkins (born 1974) is an English journalist and DJ who is analysis editor for the BBC. He presents '' Outside Source'', ''Ros Atkins on the week'' and ''Ros Atkins on..'' on BBC World News and the BBC News Channel. He also presents on r ...

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

and

BBC World News BBC News is an international English-language pay television channel owned by BBC Global News Ltd. – a subsidiary of BBC Studios – and operated by the BBC News division of the BBC. The network carries news bulletins, documentaries, an ...

until its cancellation in March 2023, and the radio version is presented by James Reynolds on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

. ''Outside Source'' replaced a standard edition of BBC World News, which originally was an edition of ''

World News Today ''World News Today'' is a current-affairs news programme, produced by BBC News that was presented on Friday-Sundays with Philippa Thomas, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera. Presenters alternated the weekend shifts. It was originally conceived ...

''. In the UK it replaced the ''

BBC News at Nine The ''BBC News at Nine'' (styled as ''BBC News at 9'') is a morning news programme. It aired every Sunday to Friday on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel for 60minutes from 9am until 10am. On weekends, it was replaced by a standard edition of BBC ...

'' along with ''World News Today'' on Friday and weekends. Normally between 23 December and 1 January Outside Source is replaced by an edition of World News Today at 19:00 on BBC World News and at 21:00 on the BBC News Channel. According to the

, "''Outside Source'' aims to open up the news process, enabling people to discover the latest on the stories that matter to them. An hour-long World Service Radio show is the first element of the pan-Global News format to be brought to air." The programme aired for the final time on domestic BBC News channel and

on 30 March 2023.

History

The programme was launched on BBC World Service on 28 October 2013; and on BBC World News on 17 February 2014. It began being broadcast in the UK on 1 June 2015, though it has been broadcast during major stories in the past. In March 2017 the radio programme was renamed ''BBC OS''. In 2017, the radio programme was moved to 16:00 GMT to go out at the same time as the TV version. But in July, this was changed to 19:00 GMT to allow an edition of ''World News Today'' to be broadcast at 19:00 UK Time. In 2020, Atkins developed with the OS team a series of short ten minute explainers called ''Ros Atkins On...'' which are designed to work on TV, radio and online, airing on BBC One during Breakfast,

and social media. These have covered topics from COVID,

Partygate Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about gatherings of Government of the United Kingdom, government and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 pandem ...

which went viral, to

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021) was a Formula One motor race held on 12 December 2021 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Contested over a dista ...

. On 30 March 2020, the format of the programme was drastically changed as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

moving from the balcony studio overlooking the newsroom into Studio C, where

is based, whilst

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

was operating with a reduced staffing capacity for social distancing. It's expected that the programme will return to the balcony on 21 June for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, after

had announced on Twitter that the 17th June show would be the last one from Studio C. Although the touchscreen itself, which has formed a major part of OS since it first launched in 2014, will not be returning as part of the main format, with Atkins stating in a Twitter reply, "I'm afraid it's time has come (on ''OS'' at least)." It's not yet known what the new format will look like when ''Outside Source'' returns to the balcony, though it has been teased by Atkins that they have "worked on something new" and that he's "excited to start using it from Monday." ''Outside Source'' had continued to broadcast on the

BBC News Channel The BBC News channel is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel owned and operated by the BBC. The channel is based at and broadcasts from Broadcasting House in the West End of London from which it is anchored during ...

and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

(in the United States) during lockdown, despite other specialised and uniquely branded programmes on BBC News having gone off air since the start of the pandemic. On the 18 August 2020, the programme was moved to 18:00 GMT / 19:00 BST swapping places with the programme formerly called ''

Beyond 100 Days ''The Context'', also styled as ''The Context with Christian Fraser'', is a live current affairs programme that airs Monday to Friday on the international and UK feeds of the BBC News channels from 20:00 GMT till 22:00 GMT. The programme ai ...

''. It ran for 90 minutes on BBC World News and BBC News Channel while ''OS'' on the World Service runs for 120minutes. On 13 January 2022, McGovern announced on Twitter that she would leave ''OS'' on the World Service to become a news presenter on

. However, had since become the main relief presenter for the TV version. The final televised episode of the program aired on 30 March 2023.

United States

''Outside Source'' broadcast on most PBS in the United States at 18:30 to 19:00 Eastern Time, although air times varied on each PBS member stations. The programme also launched on 1 January 2020 replacing ''

Nightly Business Report ''Nightly Business Report'' was an American business news magazine television program that aired on public television stations from January 22, 1979 to December 27, 2019, for most of that time syndicated by American Public Television. Internat ...

'' with the series finale ending a 40-year run.

Presenters

The remaining original edition shown on BBC News and ''BBC World News'' was presented by:

References

External links

* (BBC World News) * (BBC World Service)
''Outside Source''
at BBC Media Centre {{PBS BBC World News original programming 2020s British television series 2014 British television series debuts BBC World Service programmes 2023 British television series endings