BBC Asian Network
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The BBC Asian Network is a BBC national radio station orientated towards British South Asian life, culture and music in the UK and other topics from a British South Asian perspective aimed at the under 35's from that community but aiming for a broader appeal among all interested in British South Asian life whether Asian or not regardless of age.
Based in St Nicholas Place, Leicester, England with programmes also coming from Mailbox studios at BBC Birmingham and occasionally BBC Television Centre, London; it broadcasts nationally on DAB and digital TV via satellite, cable and Freeview; locally on AM in parts of the Midlands 24 hours a day and sometimes in some other parts of England locally: [How to Listen].
In more recent years online streaming and Listen Again options have been introduced on the main site for many of the station's programmes, however due to the music content of shows on the BBC Asian Network podcasting programmes has so far not been a viable option for copyright reasons.
The [BBC Asian Life website] has developed as an online extension of the BBC Asian Network providing links to TV & radio programmes and web content relating to matters of interest to British South Asian communities.
History
Origins
In 1977 BBC Radio Leicester, in recognition of the growth of the importance and size of the South Asian population in Leicester, introduced a daily show aimed primarily at that community in the city; its popularity was remarkable, beyond anything anticipated, 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.By 1988, plans had been laid for shared South Asian programmes across the Midlands, on the AM frequencies of Radio Leicester and BBC WM, and on 30 October 1988 The Asian Network was launched on BBC WM and BBC Radio Leicester with a combined output of 70 hours per week.
In 1996 the station was relaunched as The BBC Asian Network with its own AM Frequencies in the Midlands.
BBC Asian Network goes National
By 2000, the station's output had shifted focus from the Midlands to the UK as a whole, and the station became a truly national network on Monday 28 October 2002 when it was relaunched for the DAB Digital Radio system.In January 2006, the BBC announced that they were investing an extra £1m in the BBC Asian Network, and increasing the number of full-time staff by 30% in a bid to make British South Asian interests 'a mainstream part of the corporation's output' .
2006 Schedule Changes
In April 2006 the first wave of schedule changes were introduced with further changes coming into effect on 14th & 21st May with weekend changes occurring from 17 June as outlined in the following BBC Press Office Links and also see Schedules link . Markie Mark became Head of Music at the BBC Asian Network:Programmes & Presenters
The BBC Asian Network features a generally regular schedule of programming in English and South Asian Languages. Many Programmes are named after the usual presenter, programmes are presented in English except where noted otherwise.Current Programmes sharing Presenter Names
Other Programmes
- Film Cafe every Saturday which consist of Film News presented by Raj & Pablo.
- Music Programmes on the BBC Asian Network - Music in various styles and in English and in various South Asian Languages
- Regional Language Programmes on the BBC Asian Network in Mirpuri, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi and in Hindi and Urdu
- Devotional MusicSounds on the BBC Asian Network - Devotional Music in various languages on weekdays and Devotional Sounds - Islam/Hindu/Sikh on weekends in various languages.
- Saturday Sport presented by Roann Ghosh (formerly Sanjeet on Saturday presented by Sanjeet Saund including music, entertainment and sport)
- Silver Street
- Weekend Breakfast consisting of News, Music and Entertainment with various presenters alternating including Tazeen Ahmed, Amanda Hussein and Shabnam Mahmood.
- The Wrap described as "a new type of Urban Journalism" presented by Rozina Sini every weekday.
Other Current Presenters
- Bobby Friction
- Roann Ghosh with Mayur Bhanji
- Gagan Grewal
- Anwarul Hoque
- Amanda Hussein
- DJ Kayper
- Shabnam Mahmood
- Markie Mark
- Daljit Neer
- Kanwal Qazi
- Changis Raja
- Sanjeet Saund
- Rozina Sini
- Meera Trevedi
Former Presenters
- Navinder Bhogal
- Ray Khan
- Anjum Rafiq - left the station on 25/02/2005 after being [arrested for possession of stolen goods], subsequently [convicted]
- Aasmah Mir - more noted as a BBC Radio 5 Live Live News Reader and presenter and columnist covered on some days one fortnight in April 2006 on what had been the Sonia Deol show from 09:00 to 12:00 during schedule changes and decided it was rather beyond her: [Sunday Herald article on being a 2nd generation Asian].
External links
- [BBC Asian Network] home page
- [Asian Network live stream] page
- [Real Stream] direct link
- [BBC Asian Network Schedule]
- [Origins of BBC Asian Network]
- [BBC Asian Network relaunched on DAB]
- [BBC Statements of programme Policy on BBC Asian Network 2006/07]
| BBC Radio stations |
|---|
| FM/AM: Radio 1 | Radio 2 | Radio 3 | Radio 4 | Radio Five Live |
| Digital: 6 Music | BBC 7 | 1Xtra | Five Live Sports Extra | Asian Network |
| Nations: Radio Scotland | Radio nan Gaidheal | Radio Wales | Radio Cymru | Radio Ulster | Radio Foyle |
| English Regions: BBC Local Radio |
| International: BBC World Service |
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