BBC Hindi shortwave broadcasts to go off air on 31st Jan

BBC Hindi announced on 13th Dec, 2019 that all shortwave broadcasts will be off air by 31st Jan, 2020 and going forward focus will be on digital.

Last broadcast of BBC Hindi morning program 'Namaskar Bharat' at 0100 UTC (0630 IST) will be on 27th December, 2019.

Similarly last evening transmission of BBC Hindi at 1400 UTC (1930 IST) will be on 31st January, 2020.

BBC Hindi will continue investing in newer digital platforms.

BBC to drop Hindi & Urdu on shortwave ?

Going by the indication BBC is surely going to drop Hindi & Urdu shortwave transmissions by the end of October'13 (or end of March 2014 ?).

Here's an informative article by Manu Moudgil which talks about major policy shift by BBC, few other articles appeared earlier also in the regional press. As per sources same situation pertains with Urdu service.

More at ...... http://tinyurl.com/ctbaal2

BBC Hindi additional txn's re-instated !

As of 27th March 2012, BBC Hindi txns which were cut back on 31st March 2011 have been re-instated after one year !

Schedule :

0100-0130 UTC – 1413, 9440, 9915, 11995, 15510 kHz

0230-0300 UTC – 1413, 9410, 11975, 15510, 17510 kHz

1400-1430 UTC – 1413, 7565, 9410, 9510, 11795, 15470 kHz (ex 1400-1500 UTC)

1600-1630 UTC – 1413, 7565, 9605, 9675, 13695, 15710 kHz

BBC Hindi to re-instate morning txn's

BBC Hindi is going to re-instate morning SW txn's at 0100 UTC & 0230 UTC, Program titled "Namaskar Bharat" will start on 27th March 2012. Neil Curry, Head of business development, Asia Pacific region will be in India to see the start of morning txn.

BBC World Service's Hindi short-wave service saved from closure

Foreign secretary agrees to give an extra £2.2m annually for three years from the Foreign Office budget

The BBC World Service's Hindi short-wave broadcasts have been saved from the axe after the foreign secretary, William Hague, agreed to give extra money to the highly regarded international broadcaster.

Related stories :

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=47341&c=1

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8591312/BBC-World-Service-receives-2.2m-funding-boost.html

More at :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/22/bbc-world-service-hindi

(Thanks to Naleen Kumar for the links)

BBC will restart morning Hindi broadcast

BBC Hindi will survive funding cuts: Patten

From Prasun Sonwalkar Oxford, Jun 17 (PTI) Terming the BBC Hindi Service as "very important", Lord Chris Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust and chancellor of the University of Oxford, today said the service will survive the major funding cuts that had severely affected its future.Patten, who recently took over as chairman of the BBC Trust, told PTI here that due to the importance of the Hindi Service and increasingly deeper relations India, he was making all efforts to ensure its survival amidst funding cuts.

Read the PTI story here :
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/bbc-hindi-will-survive-funding-cuts-patten/729400.html

(Naleen Kumar)

FAC conclusion on BBC Hindi: Responses from Govt and the BBC

Naleen Kumar at British Parliament

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmfaff/1058/1058.pdf

Govt's response:
The Government has a strong bilateral relationship with India, and we are committed to make it even stronger, wider and deeper. Since the Prime Minister’s visit and the Summit with Indian Prime Minister Singh in July 2010, we have set in train an ambitious agenda of practical co-operation.
Under the terms of the agreement set out above between the BBC and the FCO, the World Service has editorial and managerial independence within an overall strategic framework, agreed with the Foreign Secretary. On this basis, while we retain a strong interest, decisions about changes to methods of broadcast within specific countries remain the responsibility of the World Service.
The BBC World Service told us that they made a decision to cease short wave broadcast in view of a falling short wave audience, and their broader decision to move away from short wave transmission. We were not formally consulted on this decision and we believe that the case they advanced for closure was not compelling. We welcome the World Service’s decision to identify savings from within its budgets to give the service the chance to explore a new operating model. We very much hope that the reprieve will continue, either through a new model of funding, or from the BBC identifying funds from their own resources.

BBC's Response:
The BBC remains committed to providing news to India but to secure its long term relevance needs to respond to rapid and significant changes in the media market. TV is now the key medium for news, and is already in six in ten households. FM deregulation has led to a steep decline in shortwave listening, despite the ban on news from any provider except the state broadcaster (All India Radio). Mobile phones are now ubiquitous in India, with 0.5 billion subscribers, and internet availability continues to grow. These changes have created commercial opportunities which have drawn a plethora of new competitors meeting the Indian preference for localised content.
This is the background which has seen the BBC Hindi audience in India decline by almost half in only three years, from 17.8m weekly listeners in 2008 to 9.7m in 2010—still significant in numerical terms, but representing only 1.3% reach among Hindi-speaking adults. As shortwave listening continues to decline in India, it is to be expected that the BBC shortwave audience will decline further.
As the Committee has noted, the BBC has announced the retention of one hour of Hindi shortwave for one year, in response to audience concern, and while it explores whether sustainable commercial funding can be found for the longer term. The BBC has noted the Committee’s recommendation regarding longer term support for an unreduced service. The original decision to cease Hindi short wave broadcasting was a difficult choice and sooner than we would have liked, however one that we believed was necessary given the resources available at the time. The BBC is examining whether any further retention is possible within the funding constraints.

(Naleen Kumar)

Reduced BBC Hindi service will affect millions, critics say

BBC Hindi, the shortwave radio service that since 1940 has brought global news and current affairs to some of India's poorest and most remote regions, scaled back its transmission yesterday in a move that the author Vikram Seth said was contributing to "a great loss of goodwill and increase of mistrust in India". Read the full story here :

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/reduced-bbc-hindi-service-will-affect-millions-critics-say-2254781.html

UK Parliamentary debate on BBC Hindi closure

BBC Hindi story on parliamentary debate
http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/news/2011/03/110315_bbchindi_parliament_rp.shtml

Link of the House of Commons debate on BBC Hindi
http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9424000/9424046.stm

Patrick French for BBC Hindi and Nepali radio

http://www.theindiasite.com/bbc-world-service-cuts-five-points-to-take-away-from-the-house-of-commons-meeting-by-patrick-french/

World Service statement on BBC Hindi

On 26 January the BBC announced the closure of its news and current affairs radio output in Hindi, as part of the outcome of its Spending Review 2010 settlement.

Since the announcement, there has been much public discussion of the potential for retaining some of this service and the BBC has been approached by a number of commercial parties with alternative funding proposals.

In order to explore these proposals further, BBC World Service has decided to retain an evening news and current affairs radio broadcast (1 hour) in Hindi for our Indian audiences for an interim period. This broadcast will be available on all platforms – via SW, online and mobile.

If sustainable commercial funding for this service cannot be found during the 2011/12 financial year, we regret that it will then have to close by March 2012.

(BBC World Service Publicity)

BBC World Service to retain Hindi broadcast

Good news for shortwave enthusiasts !!!!!

World Service to retain Hindi broadcast while it seeks commerical funding

http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/world-service-to-retain-hindi-broadcast-while-it-seeks-commerical-funding/s2/a543103/

Related news :

BBC World Service considers U-turn over Hindi cuts

Corporation seeks commercial funding as veteran journalist Sir Mark Tully leads campaign to keep broadcasts on short wave

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/07/bbc-world-service-hindi

British Parliament will discuss discontinuation of BBC Hindi radio on 14th March

British Parliament will discuss discontinuation of BBC Hindi radio on 14th March

http://services.parliament.uk/calendar/#/calendar/Commons/MainChamber/2011/3/14/events.html

Before that case of Hindi radio will be discussed on 9th March during theForeign Affairs Committe investigation on the World Service cuts

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/foreign-affairs-committee/inquiries1/implications-of-bbc-world-service-cuts/

(Thanks to Naleen Kumar for the links)

Beheading Britain, shafting Southasia

By Daniel Lak

Mourning recent cuts to the BBC World Service

Read the detailed story here :
http://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/4311.html

(Thanks to Naleen Kumar for the link)

The last broadcasts to a wider world

Regarded as a treasure by millions in often desolate regions, the BBC's World Service is facing the cold winds of cutbacks and changing ambitions, writes MARK HENNESSY, London Editor

More at :

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0226/1224290904711.html

BBC Hindi still offers vital service

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/19/bbc-hindi-offers-vital-service

BBC veteran Tully slams end of Hindi radio service

Mark Tully, the veteran BBC reporter whose dispatches have been followed by generations of Indians, on Thursday led an angry attack on the corporation's axing of its Hindi-language radio service.

Read the AFP story here : http://tinyurl.com/4pfyzqv

The Wave Silenced

The BBC Hindi radio, a constant for the last seven decades, is set to go off air
Namrata Joshi

Read the Outlook story here :

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?270321

Radio silence in Khandwa

BBC Hindi will no longer be heard in the north Indian heartland from March. Achala Sharma, former head of the service, remembers how a British broadcaster brought the world to the towns and villages of India.

Read the 'Indian Express' story here :
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/radio-silence-in-khandwa/746519/0