BBC World Service launches 11 new language services with new government funding
The BBC World Service has announced plans to expand with 11 new language services next year.
The growth is being funded by a government pledge, announced last year, to pump £85m a year into enhancing BBC services into areas such as Russia, North Korea, the Middle East and Africa.
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New languages offered will include Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Igbo, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin, Punjabi, Telugu, Tigrinya and Yoruba.
The £289m investment is part of a push by the BBC to double the size of its global audience to 500m by 2022. It said 1,300 jobs, mostly outside of the UK, will be created as part of the move.
BBC director general Tony Hall described it as a “historic day for the BBC, as we announce the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s”.
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He added: “The BBC World Service is a jewel in the crown – for the BBC and for Britain.”
The government funding was unveiled in November last year as part of a National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review.