LONDON (Dispatches) – After 85 years of broadcasting, the curtain closed on BBC Arabic radio.
BBC Arabic radio was the first foreign language branch of the British Empire Service, which began broadcasting news to British colonies in English in 1932.
The Arabic station’s first show was aired at 4:45 pm London time on 3 January 1938, as Nazi Germany and fascist Italy spread propaganda over Arabic airwaves about Britain’s presence and interests in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East.
The closure of BBC Arabic and Persian radio was announced in September as part of a plan to cut costs.
Almost 382 people will lose their jobs at the BBC World Service. The World Service says it aims to save £28.5m by axing the Arabic and Persian radio stations, part of a broader attempt to save £500m annually.
BBC World Service is also axing its Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Hindi, Bengali, Chinese, Indonesian, Tamil, and Urdu radio services.
The British foreign office funded the BBC World Service until 2014 when it began relying on taxpayers, advertisements, and governmental monies to keep going.