BFBS to revive Radio 2 this month

BFBS bosses are planning to revive the defunct Radio 2 service this month, just nine months after the station was axed and replaced with a pop-music channel.
The easy-listening station, which was popular with ex-pats, was shut down in March 2009 after a series of cost cutting measures, which saw thirty staff lose their jobs.
Station bosses also claimed that listening figures within the target forces community were ‘very low’.
The demise of the station was greeted with anger by many listeners in both the forces and local community.
Since the stations closure, programmes from BFBS UK were relayed on the former transmitters of BFBS 2, which in stark contrast to the old easy listening format, largely consists of DJs playing dance, pop and rock.
Many serving officers complained that they felt let down: some charged BFBS with only providing a service exclusively for young squaddies, with a complete disregard for older listeners with a broader taste.
Station controller Nicky Ness confirmed the u-turn, and said that the channel will be back on air with an easy listening style, similar to that used before the stations closure.
“Overseas listeners have told us they miss BFBS Radio 2 and the choice of programmes and music style it offered. 
“We’ve listened and we’re delighted to confirm that BFBS Radio 2 will return on Monday 11th January.”
BFBS say they are planning a series of daily shows, providing more than six hours of music, interviews and news.
BBC programming such as the Today programme, The World at One and PM will remain on the schedules, along with sport from Five Live.
The British Forces Broadcasting Service was established by the British War Office in 1943 and was instrumental in broadcasting news and information island-wide during the 1974 Turkish invasion, when CyBC radio services in Nicosia were disrupted.
The station is operated by the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), which is a British registered charity.
The station has been broadcasting in Cyprus for over 50-years and currently employs 168 broadcasters and technicians worldwide.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.