News bulletins from BBC Radio Leicester are now available on-demand on Amazon Alexa-enabled devices by asking for the “BBC Radio Leicester Update” or “BBC Radio Leicester Gujarati Update”.
The broadcaster has expedited the expansion of its recently launched smart speaker service to the city in light of the local lockdown.
Audiences will be able to get the latest headlines, advice and public health information, as well as stories of people in the community making a difference.
Mukul Devichand, executive editor, BBC Voice + AI, said: “For all the changes elsewhere, lockdown isn’t being eased in Leicester, so people there have a uniquely urgent need for information they can trust.
“I’m proud that the BBC could move fast to use Voice Assistants to help them. I hope and believe this and other hyper-local services will carry on after the current crisis, because serving community-level need is a key part of our future vision for a British public media that uses AI well.”
Chris Burns, head of audio and digital for BBC England, added: “Connecting with our communities is a really important part of the local radio offer, so I am really pleased that we have been able to offer our listeners in Leicester the news in this way. I hope people in the city find it useful.”
On-demand news bulletins are also available from BBC Radio Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, London, Devon, CWR (Coventry and Warwickshire), as well as BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru in Welsh.
The BBC says it hopes to expand the service to non-Alexa platforms in the future.