British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Urdu on Saturday announced that its popular radio broadcast of news and current affairs programme Sairbeen would be wrapped up by the year’s end.
The decision to end the media outlet’s shortwave broadcasts was taken “to better serve the BBC’s listeners, readers and viewers in Pakistan and to achieve the objective of proper utilisation of our resources”, a BBC Urdu report said.
The media outlet added that it would now prioritise digital media platforms and television, however, although broadcasts of Sairbeen on shortwave and mediumwave radio will end, those of Global Newsbeat and FM bulletins, which the BBC broadcasts in partnership with its FM partners, will continue.
An effort will also continue to “cast BBC Urdu’s radio content according to the interests of the youth”, the report added.
Sairbeen will continue to be aired via BBC Urdu television during weekdays and the programme will also be available on the outlet’s digital platforms.
The report further adds that a BBC public survey in 2018 revealed that the number of listeners of radio on shortwave had vastly fallen in Pakistan due to rapidly increasing TV audiences and widespread access to digital media.
BBC Urdu head Mehwish Hussain has expressed that she would like to tap into the young generation as well as women with news as much as possible. “We will continue to provide news on the subjects for which our listeners trust us and on which the local media is unable to report. However, this news will no longer be broadcast on shortwave and mediumwave,” she said.
