As part of efforts to transition completely from TV and radio to digital channels, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has begun plans to shut down the Hausa Service broadcast, media sources have revealed.
The BBC Hausa TV will be impacted, and so will its other radio and TV outlets, including Somali TV and Afrique TV broadcast stations, which have become reliable sources of information to the African community.
‘Focus on Africa’, which has aired for over 50 years, will be converted into a podcast.
Other programmes in African languages will also be converted to digital programming, and certain children’s programmes will cease to run, the says.
The BBC stated that the transition was necessary to match the needs and habits of its audience.
“Audience needs and habits are changing, and we know there is huge potential for digital growth across the continent,” a BBC spokesperson was reported saying, but assured that the BBC was still “totally committed to bringing impartial, independent journalism to people across Africa” and would not stop serving its African audience in local languages.
But it was also reported that some BBC employees criticised the concept arguing that not all Africans have easy access to the internet and that the corporation did not factor in the expensive cost of data for its 63 million-strong African audience.
BBC’s digital transition will result in a major job loss for many journalists who work with the corporation’s Africa team.
In Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania make up three of the corporation’s largest audiences.