Cutbacks at the BBC have forced the corporation's Arabic service to launch an austerity drive of its own.
The UK broadcaster has shed almost 6,000 staff during the past seven years, partly due to a freeze in the taxpayer licence fee that funds it.
Cost-cutting has now hit the BBC's Arabic service, which has been asked to share its Middle East bureaus, having already lost several staff to competitors.
Faris Couri, the editor-in-chief of BBC Arabic, said the service was "not immune" to the austerity measures in the UK.
He said BBC Arabic has been asked to share staff with the corporation's English-language news channel and radio stations. "Neither the financial situation nor the editorial policy allows us to be a standalone operation," he said. "Within the next 18 months or so, we'll see more cooperation, working together with the news gathering."
BBC Arabic bureaus in the region will be merged with those of the English-language news channel, with bilingual staff used by multiple TV and radio stations across the corporation, Mr Couri said.
This had already happened in Baghdad and would be rolled out to other regional bureaus on a "one-by-one" basis, he added.
"For a long time we were kind of a standalone operation, but now we are no more." While the impetus for the move was the BBC's austerity drive in the UK, Mr Couri said it would have its advantages.
"It started as a cost-cutting measure. But … it will enhance cooperation. Editorially, it makes a lot of sense to have a correspondent talking in both languages from the same location," he said.
However, the BBC Arabic service has already seen some staff leave, which Mr Couri attributed to the cutbacks imposed by the UK broadcaster.
"Because of the austerity measures, we've lost a number of staff. The Gulf is very attractive financially, and people have already left," said Mr Couri. "So the recruitment process is ongoing, and we are replenishing what we have lost."
BBC Arabic reported record TV audiences during the Arab Spring, with an 80 per cent rise in viewers during the uprisings. However, it now faces increased competition for audiences following last week's launch of Sky News Arabia.
Alarab, another new Arabic TV-news station, is set for launch early next year.
Mr Couri played down the new competition in the market, and said the additional choice would be good for Arab TV viewers. "There are 538 Arabic TV channels, including [many] other news channels. And so an additional two won't make a lot of difference. If there are others who would like to join, the more the merrier."
BBC Arabic also operates a news website, which Mr Couri said would start carrying advertising from next month.
