TV & VIDEO - May 22, 1989

The BBC’s World Service, hit by spiraling costs, has said that radio programs in 37 languages would be threatened unless it gets more funding. A British Broadcasting Corp. spokesman said the service was having trouble finding the money for this year’s annual pay rise, and faced worse problems next year when rent and costs at its London headquarters would rise dramatically. Lack of funds would hit plans for more programs in Russian and Chinese, more English-language teaching programs and a new Zulu service to reach the largest ethnic group in South Africa. The World Service, which claims 120 million regular listeners worldwide, is funded by Britain’s Foreign Office.