Alpha Cyprus to broadcast in early 2016

ALPHA Cyprus, a new channel set to operate on the island received a broadcast licence from the Cyprus Radiotelevision Authority, director Neophytos Epaminondas said on Thursday.

“Alpha Cyprus is licensed in Cyprus and it is a registered company in Cyprus. It will broadcast programmes from Alpha Greece, however there will be Cypriot content and news,” Epaminondas told the Cyprus Mail.

The application, approved on Wednesday, identifies Giorgos Tsalakos, former chairman of the state broadcaster CyBC, as the new channel’s general manager.

Morning shows and series will be aired from Alpha Greece, however, local channel will include current affairs programmes and news bulletins.

Some 60 people are expected to be hired in the new venture and is expected to start broadcasting in the beginning of 2016.

The new broadcaster is based at the facilities of the Alithia publishing company on the outskirts of Nicosia, which coincidentally used to operate a subscription channel also called Alpha TV.

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.