Interview: Catherine Blizzard, BBC World Service

When the BBC World Service was a crackly, short wave radio channel beamed around the globe from the depths of a London studio, the idea that it would need a director for either marketing or audiences would have seemed faintly absurd. Everyone who mattered knew the World Service and what it stood for, and its audiences got what Auntie Beeb believed was good for them – no need to ask what they wanted or what they thought.

How times have changed. Today, while its short-wave broadcasts retain a loyal audience, the World Service can also be accessed via a plethora of media from FM and TV to podcasts and social media. Its competitors – those peddling both genuine and “fake” news – are legion, and it must fight for ears and eyeballs as never before.

It seems to be winning the battle. Audience numbers are at an all-time high and the service recently launched in a dozen new languages.

“We’re developing and launching new TV programmes for Africa, launching a richer…