VOA Partners with Pakistan Radio Network

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Voice of America and Pakistan's Radio News Network (RNN) are teaming up on a new hour-long radio program that focuses on current events and social issues in both countries.

The weekly co-production Sada e Jahan (Voice of the World) airs on RNN's FM stations located throughout Pakistan on Sundays at 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. local time. The debut episode will hit the airwaves this Sunday, Dec. 22.

The program opens with analysis of the latest news, and features reports produced by VOA in Washington and RNN in Islamabad on social issues, health, and lifestyle. Each show includes three to four segments produced by VOA and three to four produced by RNN.

"This is a true co-production in every sense of the word," said VOA Urdu co-host Sarah Zaman. "By combining reporting from the U.S. and Pakistan, we're giving our audience different perspectives on issues that matter most to them." Zaman is joined by co-host Nighat Aman in Islamabad.

"We are pleased to partner with RNN on this program," says VOA Urdu Service Chief Faiz Rehman, "and we look forward to working more with them in the future."

Zaman said the show's lineup is designed to present listeners with complementary reports on similar topics and trends in the U.S. and Pakistan. The first episode of Sada e Jahan includes a segment on the revival of the Pakistani film industry (produced by RNN) and interviews with Pakistani filmmakers visiting the United States (produced by VOA).

Along with the two Sunday broadcasts, RNN re-airs the program at 11 a.m. the following Monday. VOA carries Sada e Jahan on its own medium wave frequency every Sunday at 2 a.m. Pakistan time.

Radio News Network is an independent radio news provider and one of the country's leading broadcast news agencies, with FM stations in Islamabad, Abbottabad (northeastern Pakistan) and Vehari (southern Punjab).

This marks the second time VOA Urdu has joined forces with an FM radio network in Pakistan. This July, the Voice of America and Sunrise FM 97 in Islamabad launched the co-production Atif with Sunrise, an entertainment program. With the addition of RNN, VOA Urdu now has four radio and five television affiliates in Pakistan.

 

(VOA Press Release)

New timings for VOA Urdu Service

Effective 1st November Pakistan will go back to normal time ie. UTC+5.00 hrs and VOA URDU SERVICE will use the following schedule:

MW 972 1539 kHz is available at 1400-0200 hrs instead of 1300-0100 hrs.

SW service 0100-0200 UTC (ex 0000-0100) on 9520 (Sri Lanka) 9765 (Thailand) kHz.

SW service 1400-1500 UTC (ex 1300-1400) on 7440 (Thailand) 9390(Germany) kHz.

(Alok Dasgupta, Kolkata via http://dxasia.info/news/ )

VOA Boosts Broadcasts Across Pakistan on AM and FM Stations

Washington, D.C., October 13, 2009 - The Voice of America (VOA) is expanding its reach across Pakistan. A new arrangement with Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) now allows VOA to broadcast Pashto language programs on medium-wave (AM) radio and Urdu broadcasts on FM stations for the first time."We're delighted Pakistan's Cabinet has ratified our agreement with PBC," said VOA Director Danforth W. Austin. "This arrangement will allow millions of people in all parts of Pakistan to listen to the VOA's popular news and information programs.

"VOA's Deewa Radio, a Pashto language service for people in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, is now available on medium wave (AM) at 540 kHz from a transmitter in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.From 1800 to 2200 daily, Deewa Radio's AM signal will broadcast news and current affairs programming plus call-in shows on politics, literature and poetry. Deewa, which began in 2006, continues to broadcast nine hours of radio programming daily on shortwave, FM (transmitters located in Afghanistan) and Internet (www.VOANews.com/Deewa/).For the first time, VOA's Urdu language program Radio Aap Ki Dunyaa (Your World) (www.VOANews.com/Urdu) will be heard on the FM band. A 30-minute morning program at 0900 and a 30-minute evening program at 1800 will air on 11 FM stations across Pakistan, including Islamabad and Lahore.VOA's audience is strong in Pakistan, with almost 12 percent of the population listening to or watching Urdu programs. Beyond the Headlines is a 30-minute television program that airs on Geo News, Pakistan's leading cable and satellite TV news channel

(VOA Press Release)

New Frequency for VOA Urdu

Sun, 27 Sep 2009
Effective 28th September VOA Urdu service is moving on to 6100 kHz at 0000-0100 hrs replacing 9515 kHz due to propagation from Sri Lanka relay station.

(Alok Dasgupta, Kolkata via http://dxasia.info/news/)

New Frequency for VOA Urdu

Sun, 27 Sep 2009
Effective 28th September VOA Urdu service is moving on to 6100 kHz at 0000-0100 hrs replacing 9515 kHz due to propagation from Sri Lanka relay station.

(Alok Dasgupta via http://dxasia.info/news)

Special VOA series marks Sept 11 Anniversary

Washington, D.C., September 10th, 2009 – To mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Voice of America’s (VOA) Spanish Service is airing online stories that examine how people are coping after eight years. "9-11 had a tremendous impact all over the world, including Latin and Central America," said Alberto Mascaro, Director of VOA Spanish. "Our series is designed to educate our viewers and listeners about the long-term legacy of the attacks on New York and Washington." Nearly 3,000 died in the attacks. To report the series, "9/11: Eight Years Later," VOA sent a team of producers to New York to look at the city which experienced the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.The stories include, "Music and 9/11," which profiles commemorative songs composed and performed by some of the world’s most popular musicians, and "Living With Post-Traumatic Stress" – a report on the enduring psychological scars left on those who survived.The series also looks at conspiracy theories fueled by September 11th, and how the event forever changed New York City’s architectural landscape. The project is posted on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and invites viewers to comment on the stories. "9/11: Eight Years Later" can be viewed at http://www1.voanews.com/spanish/news/specialreports/Septiembre_11

Other VOA divisions are also producing special reports. VOA’s South Asia Division is marking the anniversary with call-in shows, panel discussions and personal stories in Pashto, Dari, Hindi and Urdu.

VOA Urdu service restores all SW frequencies

Fri, 09 Jan 2009

VOA Urdu Service has restored all SW frequencies effective 9th January after a gap of 9 days in parallel to 972 and 1539 kHz MW :

0100-0200 UTC on 9520 9820 kHz
1400-1500 UTC on 7440 9390 kHz

(Alok Dasgupta via http://dxasia.info/news)

VOA Urdu service dropped SW frequencies

from DXAsia News
Effective 31st December 2008 VOA Urdu service has dropped all SW services to South Asia at 0100-0200 (9520 9820 kHz) and 1400-1500 (7440 9390 kHz) hrs. Only MW 972 and 1539 kHz are available at 1400-0200 hrs. There are many listeners in India and Bangladesh who are listening to this Urdu service on SW and many more especially after the closure of VOA Hindi service.

(Alok Dasgupta via http://dxasia.info/news/ )

Pakistan is changing back to normal time effective 2nd Nov 2008

Oct 28, 2008 (14 hours ago)
from DXAsia News
Due to the local time (UTC + 5.00 hrs) change in Pakistan the following
changes are effective 2nd November 2008 for VOA URDU SERVICE :
MW 972 1539 kHz is available at 1400-0200 hrs instead of 1300-0100 hrs.
SW service 0100-0200 (ex 0000-0100) on 9520 9820 kHz.
SW service 1400-1500 (ex 1300-1400) on 7440 9390 kHz.

(Alok Dasgupta, Kolkata via http://dxasia.info/news/20081028)

Frequency change for VOA Urdu Service

Starting 19th September VOA Urdu is moving on to 9515 kHz replacing 11755 kHz from Sri Lanka relay at 0000-0100 hrs UTC to South Asia and parallel 7135 kHz from Kuwait relay.

(Alok Dasgupta via http://dxasia.info)