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BBC 'remain committed' to Radio Foyle after building listed for sale

Mike McBrideBBC News NI
News imageBBC Shows a BBC Radio Foyle sign and another beside it saying For Sale - Investment Opportunity - OKTBBC
This For Sale sign was erected outside Radio Foyle studios on Friday afternoon

BBC Northern Ireland (BBC NI) has said it remains "committed" to Radio Foyle after the building in Londonderry was listed for sale on property website PropertyPal.

The building on Northland Road, which the BBC currently leases, is listed for sale at a guide price of £475,000.

Radio Foyle staff were not told in advance about the sale, which is being handled by the Belfast- and Coleraine-based commercial property agency O'Connor Kennedy Turtle (OKT).

In a statement, BBC NI said its lease on the building will remain in place until at least September 2029 and "work over the next period will be unaffected by any change in the building's ownership".

News imageBBC Radio Foyle's building in Londonderry has a large black gate outside it. There is two Radio Foyle signs on either side of the gate. A number of trees are also visible on the grounds.
The BBC Radio Foyle premises on Northland Road in Derry, which is leased by the corporation, is now up for sale

"We remain committed to Foyle as a BBC production and broadcast hub and its future role within our service portfolio," a BBC spokesperson said.

The listing on the PropertyPal website states: "Given its scale and prime location, the property may also present potential for alternative uses or redevelopment, including possible conversion to residential or mixed-use accommodation, subject to obtaining all necessary statutory consents."

News imageThe radio studio in BBC Radio Foyle on the Northland Road in Derry
BBC Radio Foyle's Breakfast Show was replaced with a 30-minute news programme called The North West Today in April 2023 but later extended to an hour

The move comes almost four years after BBC Northern Ireland announced a number of Radio Foyle and Radio Ulster schedule and programme changes.

BBC Radio Foyle's two-hour Breakfast Show, which aired for more than a decade, was cut as part of the schedule changes and broadcast its final show on 23 April 2023 and then subsequently replaced by a 30-minute programme.

That decision attracted a number of protests.

In early 2024 the morning programme - named North West Today - was extended to an hour each weekday from 08:00 to 09:00.

The communications regulator Ofcom previously found the corporation had breached its operating licence by cutting about 300 hours of news and current affairs on Radio Foyle, but then subsequently moved to approve them.

The BBC then formally moved to apply to the regulator to amend its operating licence to reflect changes it made to Radio Foyle's output.

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