BBC makes major restructuring to global teams as part of cost saving plan

Some 400 members of the BBC World Service staff will be impacted as the company outlines plans to accelerate its digital offering and make a saving of £28.5m, as part of the wider £500m of annual savings and reinvestment to make the BBC digital-led.

According to the company, this is part of its strategy announced earlier this year to create a “modern, digital-led and streamlined organisation” midst changing audience needs.

While the BBC World Service will continue to operate in all the languages and countries where it is currently present, including the new languages added during its expansion in 2016, seven more language services will be digital only.

The British broadcaster also said that some TV and radio programmes will stop under the new plans. World Service English will continue to operate as a 24 hour broadcast radio, available around the world, but BBC Arabic radio, BBC Persian and BBC Bangla radio will cease. Some TV programming on local broadcasters across Africa and Asia will also cease.

The World Service currently reaches 148 million people in an average week. BBC added the digital share of World Service Languages reach has more than doubled, from 19% to 43% since 2018, said BBC.

BBC World Service director Liliane Landor said the role of the BBC has never been more crucial worldwide. “We will continue to bring the best journalism to audiences in English and more than 40 languages, as well as increasing the impact and influence of our journalism by making our stories go further,” said Landor.

Landor added that there is a compelling case for expanding BBC’s digital services across the World Service in order to better serve and connect with audiences.

“The way audiences are accessing news and content is changing and the challenge of reaching and engaging people around the world with quality, trusted journalism is growing,” she said.

As part of the restructure, the brand will focus more on its own platforms and presence in markets, and reducing the volume of syndicated TV and radio content on partners’ platforms in some territories. It aims to “focus on impact, rather than reach” to build long-term engagement.

It will also be creating an Africa content hub that commissions and delivers original, distinctive and impactful digital first content for all 12 African language services, digital, TV/Radio, plus coverage of the continent for the rest of the BBC. Meanwhile its Thai service will move from London to Bangkok, the Korean service to Seoul, the Bangla service to Dhaka and the Focus On Africa TV bulletin to broadcast from Nairobi.

As for China, it will create a new China Global Unit based in London to tell the global story of China to the world.

BBC Worldservice also aims to create a new centralised digital-first commissioning and newsgathering content production hub to create high-impact content for distribution across all non-English language services. World Service English making changes to its content and schedules which will allow investment in new initiatives, including a new podcast for younger audiences globally, and developing the podcast offer more broadly.

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