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,
BBC News at Nine and social media. These have covered topics from COVID,
Partygate which went viral, to
2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. On 30 March 2020, the format of the programme was drastically changed as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic moving from the balcony studio overlooking the newsroom into Studio C, where
BBC World News is based, whilst
Broadcasting House 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
Ros Atkins 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,
BBC World News and
PBS (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. 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
BBC World News. 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==