Axe could fall on BFBS Radio 2 as jobs cut

AT LEAST 30 staff at the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) will lose their jobs as part of a series of dramatic cuts in the networks operation.

The axe will fall exclusively on employees from the radio division and rumour is rife that the popular Radio 2 network will also be shut down as part of the streamlining.

It is unknown if the shake-up will have any serious impact upon the operation in Cyprus, which produces local programmes during daytime hours from their base at Akrotiri.

A spokesman said: “Up to 30 broadcasting staff are likely to be made redundant. BFBS has proposed restructuring to focus on connectivity between the UK and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

BFBS 2 is popular in much of Cyprus as many of the programmes are sourced from BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Five Live, including the soap opera The Archers, The Today Programme, PM and Broadcasting House, as well as extensive live football coverage from Five Live.

In an effort to make savings, BFBS 2 axed most of their long-running specialist programmes earlier this year, but they do continue to produce a local breakfast programme weekday mornings from the British base at Dhekelia.

The spokesman declined to comment on speculation that BFBS Radio 2 will be closed down under the restructure and no statement was forthcoming last night from their press office.

According to the Radio Today Magazine, a third of all journalists at the BFBS networks are having to reapply for their jobs.

BFBS, which has been broadcasting in Cyprus for over 50-years, currently employs 168 broadcasters and technicians worldwide.

“At present our priorities are working through the details of the reorganisation plan with its staff and with its client, the Ministry of Defence, in order to provide a forces broadcasting service that meets the needs of its audience today and in the future,” the spokesman added.

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 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.