World views

The ubiquitous Sarah Sands has penned a think piece for Chatham House, about the need to preserve the BBC World Service.  This matters because the Government needs to conclude a five-year spending review.

The funding is something of a mess at the moment. The BBC is heading towards the end of a five-year pledge to maintain licence fee funding for the core service, at no less than £254m per annum, due to run out on April 1 2022. In fact, the BBC has been spending a little more - £278m in 2018/19, £261m in 2019/20.  Meanwhile the Foreign Office has been investing in additional services aimed at particular countries - to the tune of £73m a year. Any funding beyond 2021 will form, part of the spending review. Meanwhile, BBC World and bbc.com carry advertising and sponsored programmes outside the UK, and last year that brought in a mighty £2m, on revenues of £115m.