12 August 2016
The BBC Pashto TV programme BBC Naray Da Wakht (BBC World Right Now) will be part of the daily schedule of Pakistan’s new Pashto-language channel, Mashriq TV, which starts broadcasting on Sunday 14 August.
Broadcast live from London in prime time – 18.30 Pakistan Standard Time – and presented by Sana Safi and Amanullah Atta, BBC Naray Da Wakht brings 24 minutes of key global and regional news reporting. The Friday sports supplement, Lobay, includes in-depth coverage of sporting developments that are of special interest to regional audiences.
The move to bring BBC Naray Da Wakht to Pashto-speakers in Pakistan via Mashriq TV builds on the show’s success in Afghanistan where it has a weekly viewership of 1.6 million via Shamshad TV. It adds to the BBC’ presence in Pakistan where it reaches a weekly audience of 13.1 million people on TV, radio and digital platforms, in Urdu, Pashto and English (2015).
BBC Afghan Editor, Meena Baktash, said: “We are proud that Mashriq TV will carry BBC Naray Da Wakht as part of its inaugural broadcast. A quarter of BBC Pashto’s global weekly audience of 6.7 million people is in Pakistan, and we hope that our programme’s daily broadcasts via Mashriq TV will make our content even more accessible to them. We are looking forward to this collaboration.”
Based in Peshawar, Mashriq TV aims at reaching Pashto-speaking audiences in north-western Pakistan and Islamabad. CEO, Mashriq TV, Syed Ayaz Badshah commented: “Launching a channel from Peshawar has been a great endeavour which we hope will help revive the entrepreneurial spirit in the region. We welcome this rebroadcasting collaboration with the BBC and are looking forward to the daily broadcasts of the BBC Pashto programme – they set a high standard for our editorial team to live up to.”
BBC Naray Da Wakht is also available on demand via the BBC Pashto channel on YouTube and the website bbcpashto.com. BBC Pashto is part of BBC World Service.
(Source: BBC press release)
8 August 2016
For the first time ever, BBC Burmese radio programmes will be rebroadcast by Myanmar’s state broadcaster, Myanmar Athan (Myanmar Radio) expanding the BBC Burmese service’s footprint in Myanmar further. Three programmes – the BBC Burmese youth show, Mobigeno, the technology and digital innovations programme, Cool Tech, and the programme introducing innovative farming methods, San Thit Tehtwin Lai Myay Ta Kwin, are now part of the Myanmar Athan programming aired on FM, medium- and shortwave.
Collaboration with Myanmar Athan further expands BBC Burmese availability in Myanmar. BBC Burmese is currently broadcast through major local broadcasters, on TV and radio. Its audio news bulletins are available on mobile phones in the country.
BBC Burmese Editor, Tin Htar Swe, commented: “Our collaboration with Myanmar Athan means that now, for the first time for BBC Burmese in Myanmar, our content will be available via a state broadcaster. In addition to medium- and shortwave availability, airing these programmes on FM will help us capture a new radio audience which will include a lot of young people who listen to FM on their mobile phones. This is great news for the BBC in Myanmar, further reinforcing our multiplatform presence in Myanmar.”
MRTV Director-General, U Myint Htwe, said: “In such a good time of openness, Myanmar Athan will be carrying BBC content for the first time, and I am really proud of it. By adding the BBC’s high-quality radio programmes to the schedule of Myanmar Athan, we are further diversifying our radio offer. I am looking forward to continuing MRTV’s cooperation with the BBC.”
The BBC Burmese 10-minute bi-weekly programmes will be re-broadcast by Myanmar Athan and repeated the following week at these times:
Mobigeno (Mobile Generation) – 15.15 Myanmar Time on Monday
Cool Tech – 14.20 on Tuesday
San Thit Tethwin Lai Myay Ta Kwin (Innovative Methods of Farming) – 11.45 on Thursday
The BBC Burmese radio programming is broadcast from London on shortwave and on Asiasat5 satellite television channel and streamed online via bbcburmese.com. In addition to availability on MNTV, BBC Burmese TV news bulletins are streamed live on the website bbcburmese.com at 20.45 local time (14.15 GMT) Monday to Friday. The BBC Burmese Facebook page has around 6.5 million fans while the BBC Burmese channel on Viber has around 200,000 followers (August 2016). BBC Burmese also connects with its audiences on Twitter.
BBC Burmese is part of BBC World Service. (Source: BBC press release)
4 August 2016
On the day of the Rio 2016 opening ceremony on Friday 5 August, BBC Brasil will start piloting its new daily Facebook Live, #BBCporaí, which will bring unique stories from the Olympic city. The programme will run live from 12.15 Brazil time (16.15 GMT) Monday to Friday throughout the Games on the BBC Brasil Facebook page as well as the website bbcbrasil.com. The inaugural edition of #BBCporaí will test the mood in Brazil as the country announces the start of the biggest global sports event.
#BBCporaí benefits from innovative software that allows real-time editing and multimedia inserts from BBC reporters as well as contributions from social-media audiences on platforms such as Skype and WhatsApp. #BBCporaí is presented from Rio de Janeiro by BBC Brasil’s Ricardo Senra, whose movements through the streets of the city will be filmed and broadcast live from 12.15, Monday to Friday. #BBCporaí seeks the widest possible audience engagement which will in fact define the running time of each edition.
“With #BBCporaí, we tried to create a format and a tone that we believe works best with our audiences connecting with us via social media,” says BBC Brasil Editor, Silvia Salek. “#BBCporaí is a pilot project based on the strategy that has helped BBC Brazil massively increase its reach. It’s all about making the most of our proximity to our audience via our social-media presence, understanding what they want and bringing high-quality content to as many people as possible.”
The impact of BBC Brasil has increased significantly over the last year. Its website bbcbrasil.com reached 20.1 million unique users in June 2016 (Source: ComScore). In addition to the website, the BBC Brasil content is available via its channels on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Instagram.
BBC Brasil is part of BBC World Service. (Source: BBC press release)
6 June 2016
To keep Afghan sports fans up to date with this summer’s busy international calendar and beyond, BBC Pashto TV’s sports coverage is getting a major boost with the launch of the weekly live Lobay (Sports) programme. From 10 June, the 10-minute programme will be included in the Friday edition of the daily Pashto TV programme, BBC Naray Da Wakht (BBC World Right Now), bringing in-depth coverage of sporting developments that are of special interest to Afghan audiences.
The first edition of Lobay comes just before the start of the 2016 UEFA European Championship and the Afghan national cricket team’s upcoming tour of the UK, Ireland and Holland. Lobay will feature key moments of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the England tours by the Sri Lanka and Pakistan cricket teams, and, of course, the main news from Rio 2016.
BBC Pashto TV Editor, Emal Pasarly, commented: “While we always cover sport stories from around the world, interest in sport is also growing among our Pashto-speaking audiences – especially with the Afghan national cricket and football teams doing well at regional and international levels. Lobay gives us an excellent format to deliver weekly analysis, opinions and in-depth reporting. I hope our audiences will make an appointment to watch this new, dynamic programme which is to be a permanent fixture in the BBC Pashto TV offer.”
Lobay is part of the Friday edition of the daily TV programme BBC Naray Da Wakht broadcast live from London in prime time (18.00 Kabul Time) on the Shamshad TV network and repeated on Shamshad TV at 23.00 Kabul Time. The programme is also available on demand via the BBC Pashto channel on YouTube and the website bbcpashto.com.
Two in five adult Afghans consume BBC content each week. BBC Pashto content reaches 6.7 million people in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the rest of the world every week (BBC Global Audience Measure 2016). BBC World Service – of which BBC Afghan service is part – is available to audiences in Afghanistan on multiple platforms in Pashto, Dari, Persian, Uzbek and English.
(Source: BBC press release)
9 February 2016
The Spanish-language edition of the BBC’s flagship digital technology programme, Click, is now available to viewers of the Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network (HITN) in the US. Later this year, the programme will also be broadcast on Uruguay’s state telecommunications company, Antel via its Vera+ platforms, and Mexico’s state broadcaster Sistema Publico de Radiodifusion del Estado Mexicano, SPR, via its ‘Una Voz con Todos’ digital television platform.
The first 24-part weekly series of Click in Spanish is a collaboration between the BBC’s Spanish-language service, BBC Mundo, BBC News and Argentine-based Non Stop Digital S.A. – and features regional as well as international reports from the world of digital technologies.
This is the first time that the BBC’s popular, comprehensive guide to the latest technology news, Click, is being made available for Spanish-speaking audiences. The 28-minute episodes, hosted by Argentinian presenter, Natalia Pupato, will bring the latest on new gadgets, games and apps around the world, with a special focus on stories from Latin America, delivered by BBC Mundo’s network of reporters.
BBC News Features Editor Carey Clark commented: “Click’s weekly exploration of the new frontiers of technology and innovation already makes it one of the most watched and trusted technology programmes in the world. We are all delighted that our new Spanish-language editions will open up the show to many more viewers.”
BBC World Service Head of Business Development, Europe and Latin America, Frederick Durman, said: “We are excited to be extending the reach of one of the BBC’s established brands amongst Spanish-speaking audiences, offering our technology reporting – this time with a Latino accent.”
HITN is the first US Latino-controlled, non-commercial, Spanish-language media company, delivering educational programming to more than 36 million homes in the US on satellite and cable, focusing on health, financial literacy and education. HITN Director of Programming, Florentina Almonte added: “As part of our ongoing mission to promote and present educational content, we are proud to offer our viewers the Spanish-language version of Click, an innovative series that covers new developments in digital technology and platforms. In this digital age, it is more important than ever for the public to stay up to date with the latest technological breakthroughs and trends.”
The inaugural edition of Click will be broadcast on HITN at 21.30 Eastern Time on 9 February (02.30 GMT on 10 February) through its network of cable systems covering all of the United States.
BBC Mundo is part of BBC World Service.
