 The current logo of Radio Pakistan | |
Native name | شرکت نشریات پاکستان |
|---|---|
| Company type | Statutory corporation |
| Industry | Mass media |
| Predecessor |
|
| Founded | Radio Pakistan: 14 August 1947; 78 years ago (1947-08-14) inLahore,Punjab,Pakistan PBC: 20 December 1972; 52 years ago (1972-12-20) inIslamabad,Pakistan |
| Headquarters | Islamabad Lahore Faisalabad |
Area served |
|
Key people | Saeed Ahmed Sheikh (Director General) |
| Products | |
| Services | |
| Owner | Government of Pakistan(MoIB) |
| Website | radio |
ThePakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Urdu:شرکت نشریات پاکستان); also known asRadio Pakistan, serves as the nationalpublic broadcaster forradio in Pakistan.[1] Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 August 1947, following Pakistan's independence from Britain. On 20 December 1972 its character was changed to a statutory body governed by a board of directors and led by a Director General. Radio is broadcast through FM, AM and shortwave radio frequencies.[2] Select programming is also available throughWRN.[3]
PBC offers programming inUrdu andEnglish on its national radio broadcasts, while offering programming in 23 differentregional languages on its domestic radio service.[4] Its external services are broadcast eight hours daily in 10 different foreign languages, covering theMiddle East,Central Asia,South Asia, theFar East Asia and parts ofEastern Europe.[4][5] PBC has employed commercial advertising on its broadcasts to supplement its federal funding since its inception.
ThePakistan Broadcasting Corporation Act, 1973.[6] was enacted...
...to provide for the establishment of a broadcasting corporation, to ensure effective operation and growth of broadcasting as a function-oriented public service medium, general improvement in the quality of programmes, speedy, implementation of projects and better utilisation of talent, and for matters connected therewith;
The functions of the corporation as outlined in the act are:
In accordance with PBC's Act subsequent amendment through a Presidential Ordinance in 2024, a board of directors is responsible for the management of the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation. The general management of PBC is in the hands of a director general, who now is appointed by the Federal Government on the recommendation of Board. In total, the board is made up of 18 members, out of which 11 are Independent Directors hailing from private sector and 7 ex-officio members including the director general. The composition of the Board is as follows:
Radio Pakistan was originally known as thePakistan Broadcasting Service at the time of its inception on 14 August 1947. It had the honour of publicly announcing Pakistan'sindependence from Britain on 13 August 1947 at 11:59 pm. Mustafa Ali Hamdani made the announcement fromLahore inUrdu andEnglish,[7] while Abdullah Jan Maghmoom made the announcement fromPeshawar inPashto.[8]
The announcement was heard as follows:[9]
السلام علیکم۔
پاکستان براڈکاسٹنگ سروس۔ ہم لاہور سے بول رہے ہیں۔ تیرا اور چودہ اگست، سنہ سینتالیس عیسوی کی درمیانی رات۔ بارہ بجے ہیں۔ طلوع صبح آزادی۔
The English translation of this announcement is as follows:
Greetings.Pakistan Broadcasting Service. We are speaking from Lahore. The night between the thirteenth and fourteenth of August, year forty-seven AD. It is twelve o'clock. Dawn of Freedom.
According to one of the pioneers of Radio Pakistan,Agha Nasir (9 February 1937 – 12 July 2016), three radio stations atDhaka (established in 1939),Lahore (1937) andPeshawar Radio Station (1935) existed at the time ofindependence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947. There was no radio station in the capital of Pakistan,Karachi in 1947.[7][10] On a high priority basis, a major program of expansion saw new stations opened atKarachi andRawalpindi in 1948, and a new broadcasting house at Karachi in 1950. This was followed by new stations atHyderabad (1951),Quetta (1956), a second station at Rawalpindi (1960) and a Receiving Centre at Peshawar (1960). In 1970, training facilities were opened inIslamabad and a station opened atMultan.[10]
A 1973 law, signed byZulfikar Ali Bhutto (President and laterPrime minister) regulatedPakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) as "to publish, circulate, distribute and regulate (reliable and trusted) news and information in any part of the world in any manner that may be deemed fit".[11]
Its one core mission states: "education, news and information to be brought to public awareness the whole range of significant activity.".[12] It was converted into Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation on 20 December 1972 as a statutory body governed by the board of directors and Director General. The Radio Pakistan World Service was established on 21 April 1973. The service reached the remotest parts of Pakistan with stations atGilgit (1977) andSkardu (1977) in the far north andTurbat (1981) in the far southwest. From 1981 to 1982 stations and transmitters were also established atDera Ismail Khan,Khuzdar andFaisalabad. Radio Pakistan opened a new broadcasting house inKhairpur on 7 May 1986, followed by relay stations in 1989 atSibi and on 21 March 1991 inAbbottabad.[10]
The remoter parts of the country began to receive coverage with new stations opened in the 1990s atChitral,Loralai andZhob. In 1997, the Federal Minister of Information inaugurated the computerisation of the PBC news processing system and availability of the news bulletins on the Internet in text and audio form. FM 101 Channel of PBC was launched on 1 October 1998 having stations at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi and now this channel have nine stations throughout Pakistan and is the biggest FM Radio network of Pakistan. In October 1998, Radio Pakistan startedFM transmission and over the period 2002–2005, new FM stations were opened atIslamabad,Gwadar,Mianwali,Sargodha,Kohat,Bannu and Mithi.[13]
In the last two and a half years, three new networks have been launched by PBC. On 28 August 2008, PBC launched National Broadcasting Service (NBS) the first dedicated Current Affairs Channel. It is a combination of 5 (100 KW) AM transmitters permanently linked together to broadcast a single national program beamed across Pakistan. Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Quetta and Karachi are the main stations generating the national programming. It is a 17 hours programming on major national and international issues, target audience and literary and cultural programs. PBC launched a new Community FM channel after February 2009 Station Directors Conference. The network is called FM-93 Network with 22 stations across Pakistan. Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Abbottabad, Chitral, Bannu, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Sargodha, Mianwali, Faisalabad, Lahore, Multan, Larkana, Khairpur, Bhit Shah, Hyderabad, Mithi, Karachi and Gwadar transmit the FM 93 network. On 14 November, PBC launched its first English Music Channel in Islamabad called Planet 94. The network operates on FM 94. The second and third stations of the English channel are soon to start their transmissions from Lahore and Karachi.
Radio Pakistan broadcasts are in 34 languages:Urdu,Punjabi,Sindhi,Balochi,Seraiki,Potowari,Pashto,Hindko,Kohistani,Khowar,Kashmiri,Gojri,Burushaski,Balti,Shina,Wakhi,Hazargi,Brahvi, English, Chinese,Dari,Persian,Hindi,Gujarati,Tamil,Sinhala,Nepali, Russian,Turkish,Arabic, andBengali.[10]
News and Current Affairs Channel was launched byPakistan Broadcasting Corporation in November 2000 and was converted into National Broadcasting Service in 2008. It broadcasts 16 hours of programmes from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM (PKT) daily from Islamabad and 8 hours daily from the Provincial Headquarters.[14]Frequencies:
FM-107 / Ballay Ballay FM (Roshan Media) was established in 2002
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| National Heritage and Culture Depts. |
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| International | |
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| National | |
