The BBC World Service has agreed a new partnership with the Korean internet giant, Naver, which will see BBC Minute and five-minute news bulletins available on Naver’s voice-activated artificial intelligence (AI) speaker, Clova.
BBC Minute is a pacey 60-second news summary that keeps audiences updated on what is trending and being shared on social media, as well as the latest international news headlines, plus sport, technology, entertainment and science. It is updated twice an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
People in South Korea can now access the BBC on Clova speakers by saying its wake word ‘Clova’ followed by ‘Play BBC News’ – this can be said in Korean.
Simon Kendall, Business Development Director of BBC World Service said: “I am delighted to be working with Naver on this new partnership which will allow audiences in South Korea to access the BBC on an innovative new platform. The World Service’s journalism is trusted around the world, and it’s great to be able to bring it to more people in South Korea.”
Suk-Geun Chung, Director of Clova Business said: “The partnership with BBC World Service, the world's leading broadcasting brand, is a significant partnership for NAVER's Clova AI platform. We are committed to bringing world-class content to millions of Clova users. It also reflects Clova platform's position as not only a leading AI platform in Asia but also the leading source of audio content.”
This is not the first time that the BBC has partnered with Naver, and audiences in South Korea can continue to listen to World Service programs on Naver’s audio portal, AudioClip. Naver was founded in 1999 as one of the first web portals in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine.
