Tim Davie is lobbying for government funding of international news division
The decision on the level of government funding for the BBC World Service next year is to be revealed on 30 October, in line with the Autumn Budget, Broadcast has learned.
It is understood the decision will be made by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for the upcoming financial year 2025/26.
Director general Tim Davie and recently appointed BBC News global director Jonathan Munro have been in discussions with foreign secretary David Lammy and his team, with the current funding settlement set to run out at the end of March 2025.
Davie has been making the case for the government to take back the funding for the World Service, which it fully funded for 80 years until 2014. The decision to stop doing so was made as part of the 2010 licence fee settlement.
For the last financial year, the World Service was chiefly funded by the UK licence fee (75%) amounting to £265m. The government agreed to provide additional funding from 2016, which amounted to £104m for the last financial year.
This week, Davie sounded the alarm that Russian and Chinese state-funded media are moving in to fill gaps where the World Service has seen recent cuts. Between them, they are spending an estimated £6-8bn on spreading propaganda.
Today (15 October) the media minister Stephanie Peacock voiced the government’s support for the World Service, telling the Lords communications and digital committee: “As a government we are fully committed to the World Service, and we see the benefit, and we recognise the pressures it has been under in recent times.”
No comments yet