Budget boost for BBC World Service  

IN BRIEF:

• The UK government has announced an increase in funding for the BBC World Service, although few details have been released.
• The BBC has welcomed the announcement, saying it will protect existing foreign language service provision and its mission to deliver globally trusted media.

IN FULL:

The BBC World Service has been given a funding boost in the UK government’s latest budget, announced this week.

“In 2025-26, the settlement provides an increase in funding to the BBC World Service, protecting existing foreign language service provision and its mission to deliver globally trusted media, in support of the UK’s global presence and soft power,” a small note in the budget document said.

The value of the funding boost has not been announced, but the money will come from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The BBC, which only a couple of weeks ago announced its latest round of job cuts, said it was “pleased the government has acknowledged the strong case for investing in the World Service. As the world’s most trusted broadcaster, we are in a unique position to lead the global news and information market,” it said in a statement.

It comes after the BBC’s Director-General, Tim Davie, made a public call for the restoration the old funding mechanism, directly through the government. This was ended in 2014 and the BBC was forced to fund the World Service itself through the licence fee. Davie said the World Service was a counter to the state-backed Chinese and Russian international broadcasters, which are funded in the billions.

“Today’s announcement will enable us to maintain all of our existing language services, to continue fighting disinformation around the world, and also to provide emergency information services to those in crisis, as we have recently done in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine.”

However, this week’s announcement is no salve for wider issues besetting the broadcaster, which has cut hundreds of jobs and made several changes over two years in the news department. An announcement over more changes to the World Service has been pending.

“Given this, we will need to work through the details of the funding, and we will say more in due course about any changes and savings we need to make to stay competitive in the face of those continuing pressures,” the BBC said.

As de-democratisation spreads and authoritarian states expand their international media services, the case for a well-funded, viable and strong World Service that provides independent, impartial and trusted media to a global audience of hundreds of millions is clear. While the PMA is pleased to hear that there has been an increase in funding, the question now is whether it is enough to ensure the service’s longterm viability and ability to maintain and grow its reach.

PMA will continue to advocate for the importance of the BBC World Service and report further once the settlement figure becomes public.