Asian Network
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| Broadcast area | United Kingdom - national |
|---|---|
| Slogan | BBC Asian Network – Bollywood, Bhangra, Asian Urban and underground. Home of Desi music, news and documentaries |
| Frequency |
MW: Various (Restricted Coverage) DAB: 12B Freeview: 709 Freesat: 709 Sky (UK only): 0119 Virgin Media: 912 |
| First air date | 1976 BBC Radio Leicester show 1988 as The Asian Network - BBC Radio Leicester & BBC WM 1996 as separate channel on AM 2002 Nationally on DAB |
| Format | Music, News & Entertainment |
| Audience share | 0.3% (December 2012, ) |
| Owner | BBC |
| Webcast |
HTTP Streams HLS Streams
MPEG DASH Streams |
| Website | |
HTTP Streams
HLS Streams
MPEG DASH Streams
BBC Asian Network is a British radio station whose output is targeted to serve people of South Asian descent (Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis), or with an interest in South Asian affairs. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, The Mailbox and London, Broadcasting House. Its 'parent' station is BBC Radio 2 at Western House and it is part of the BBC Audio and Music division.
BBC Asian Network broadcasts mainly in English, but also have programmes in five south Asian languages – Hindi/Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati and the Mirpuri dialect of the Potwari language and despite the name, is targeted at those of South Asian descent, or with an interest in South Asian affairs; with the majority of Asia not catered for. The station's output consists largely of music and talk programmes, although there is a daily documentary series Asian Network Reports. Over mid-2009, the Asian network provided coverage at melas across the UK as part of the 'Summer Of Melas'.
In March 2010 the station, which has the highest per-listener budget of all UK radio stations, was threatened with closure, along with BBC 6 Music. A year later, following consultation the BBC Trust announced it was reconsidering its plan to close the station in favour of reducing its budget. It was eventually decided not to close the station and by October 2014 the station had finally exceeded the target of 600,000 listeners which BBC Trust had set in 2011.
BBC television had broadcast an Asian news programme, Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan, since 1968 from its studios in Birmingham; this series followed a traditional news and current affairs format.
In 1977 BBC Radio Leicester, responding to the growth of the size of the South Asian population in Leicester, introduced a daily show aimed primarily at that community in the city. At one point the audience consisted of 67 per cent of the South Asian community in Leicester. In 1979, BBC WM, the BBC radio station for the Midlands, followed Leicester's lead and introduced a similar daily show.
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