MUMBAI: BBC world service will close its Romanian language service on 1 August after 68 years of broadcasting. The news and current affairs service broadcasted for almost four hours a day on radio and also had a complementary website.
It is the last of the BBCs non-English language services specifically aimed at countries that are European Union member states.
The scale of the competition in radio and all media has intensified since Romania acceded to the EU in 2007. In addition, mergers have meant that several major FM network partner stations which previously carried BBC Romanian output no longer do so. These FM partnerships are critical in a country where direct listening to the BBC via shortwave is neither popular nor cost effective. This has led to a significant drop in audience (currently under 3% of the local radio market in Romania), which could not be countered by the presence of the BBCs limited number of FM relays.Broadcasts in Romanian for the Republic of Moldova will also cease, as the Moldovan side of the operation cannot be sustained without the infrastructure of BBC Romanian.
Romania will continue to be served by other BBC Global News services in English such as BBC World Service radio, BBC World News television, and online through bbc.com/news. The BBCs five local FM relays (four in Romania and one in the Republic of Moldova), which currently broadcast a mixture of Romanian and English programmes, will broadcast English programmes exclusively (plus Russian and Ukrainian in Moldova), subject to agreement with local regulators.
BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman says: Like the other European services we closed three years ago, BBC Romanian had its roots in the Second World War. It has served its audiences with distinction through the Communist era to the present day.
The contribution of all BBC Romanian staff has been immense serving Romanians with innovation and commitment for 68 years. The quality of the current output is of the highest standard. But Europe has changed, fundamentally, since the early nineties; and with the rapidly declining audiences in Romania we can no longer justify continuing the service. It is widely acknowledged that BBC Romanians presence has contributed to the building of freedoms now enjoyed by Romanias citizens. We believe this will be a lasting legacy.
He added: This was a tough decision but one that is right to ensure BBC World Service continues to put its limited resources where it is most needed. I know that BBC Romanian is full of talented broadcasters and we will do all we can to ensure that the staff in it are treated fairly and sensitively in terms of financial compensation both in and outside the UK. We will strongly support their efforts to find alternative employment.
This change has been approved by the BBC Trust. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Miliband, has also given his approval as he is required to do under the terms of the BBCs Charter and BBC World Services agreement with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.