BBC Will Stop Broadcasting in Hausa
In an effort to switch completely from analog TV and radio to digital channels, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has started planning to end the Hausa Service transmission.
The BBC’s other radio and TV stations, notably Somali TV and Afrique TV broadcast stations, which have developed into trustworthy sources of information for the African population, would also be impacted in addition to BBC Hausa TV.
Focus on Africa, a long-running popular current events program on the service, will be turned into a podcast.
Some children’s programs will stop airing as well as other African language content that will be converted to digital programming.
In support of the change, BBC claimed that it was had to adapt to its audience’s requirements and habits.
“Audience needs and habits are changing, and we know there is huge potential for digital growth across the continent,” a BBC spokesperson inform Semafor.
However, the spokesman reaffirmed that the BBC was “completely dedicated to presenting unbiased, independent journalism to people across Africa” and will continue to provide its African audience with localized content.
The idea was criticized by several BBC staff who claimed that not all Africans had easy access to the internet and that the company failed to account for the high cost of data for its 63 million-strong African audience.
The three countries with the highest viewers for the corporation are Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania.
Many journalists who work with the BBC’s Africa division will lose their jobs significantly as a result of the company’s digital transition.
Paul Siegart, a spokesman of the National Union of Journalists in the UK, begged the legislators to back their campaign pressing the BBC management to reevaluate the proposals.
