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BBC Asian Network

BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network logo
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
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BBC Asian Network is a British radio station whose output is targeted to serve people of South Asian descent (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans), 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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