BBC Igbo, Yoruba, Pidgin coming to a device near you

You must have heard of BBC Hausa service, or at least, you must have heard of Aisha Buhari’s interview, which left the nation talking for weeks? That was BBC Hausa service at work.

BBC has said its world service will launch 11 new language services as part of its biggest expansion “since the 1940s”, to include BBC Igbo, BBC Yoruba and BBC pidgin.

According to BBC, the expansion is a result of the funding boost announced by the UK government last year.

The new languages will be Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Igbo, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin, Punjabi, Telugu, Tigrinya, and Yoruba. The first new services are expected to launch in 2017.

“This is a historic day for the BBC, as we announce the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s,” Tony Hall, BBC director general, said.

“The BBC World Service is a jewel in the crown – for the BBC and for Britain. As we move towards our centenary, my vision is of a confident, outward-looking BBC which brings the best of our independent, impartial journalism and world-class entertainment to half a billion people around the world.

“Today is a key step towards that aim.”

The plans include the expansion of digital services to offer more mobile and video content and a greater social media presence.

Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s World Service director, said: “Through war, revolution and global change, people around the world have relied on the World Service for independent, trusted, impartial news.

“As an independent broadcaster, we remain as relevant as ever in the 21st Century, when in many places there is not more free expression, but less.

“Today’s announcement is about transforming the World Service by investing for the future. We must follow our audience, who consume the news in changing ways; an increasing number of people are watching the World Service on TV, and many services are now digital-only.

“We will be able to speed up our digital transformation, especially for younger audiences, and we will continue to invest in video news bulletins. What will not change is our commitment to independent, impartial journalism.”

The new language services mean the BBC World Service will be available in 40 languages, including English, Hall has set a target for the BBC to reach 500 million people worldwide by its centenary in 2022.