BBC Bangla ( bn, বিবিসি বাংলা) is a

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...

service of the BBC World Service.

History

BBC Bangla was launched on 11 October 1941 with a 15-minute programme under the BBC World Service. BBC Bangla's headquarters used to be

Bush House Bush House is a Grade II listed building at the southern end of Kingsway between Aldwych and the Strand in London. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, funded, a ...

, but, since 2012, it has been broadcast from Broadcasting House in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

as well as from BBC bureaux in Dhaka and Kolkata. In September 2022, BBC Bangla announced its cessation of radio broadcasts due to financial reasons. On 30 September 2022, the BBC decided to stop radio broadcasting in ten languages, including Bengali. This was done as part of 382 job cuts at the BBC World Service to save £28.5 million. 31 December 2022, 81 years after its inception, BBC Bengali radio broadcasting officially closed with broadcast of the Parikrama programme. However, the company announced that it will continue its television and online programs.

Broadcasting

The programmes of BBC Bangla are broadcast on FM radio,

mediumwave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayti ...

and shortwave, their website and their

internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

and video services. BBC Bangla reaches 1,30,00,000

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

speaking people. Its radio and online services have listeners from many Bengali communities including those in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...

and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Programming

BBC Bangla mainly focuses on news-based daily programming and sports news. They also broadcast entertainment programmes, news analysis, and discussion about daily newspapers' lead stories. In addition they respond to and discuss messages and opinions from the audience.

Broadcasts on FM Radio

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

- FM 100 *

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

- FM 90.4 *

Barisal Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Di ...

- FM 105 *

Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...

- FM 103.6 * Cox's Bazar - FM 100.8 * Thakurgaon - FM 92 * Chittagong - FM 88.8 * Rangpur - FM 88.8 *

Rajshahi Rajshahi ( bn, রাজশাহী, ) is a metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous division and district. Located on the north bank of the P ...

- FM 88.8 * Sylhet - FM 88.8 * Khulna - FM 88.8

Bangladesh Songlap

BBC Bangladesh Songlap (

: বিবিসি বাংলাদেশ সংলাপ) was a live programme of the BBC Bangla service broadcast in association with Bangladeshi satellite channel

Channel i Channel i ( bn, চ্যানেল আই) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Impress Group. It was launched on 1 October 1999, as Bangladesh's first digital television channel. It is one of the ...

from 2005 to 2015 in three seasons. The main focus of this programme was questions from the general public to relevant authorities about important issues.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:BBC Bangla Radio stations established in 1941 Bangla British Bangladeshi mass media British Indian mass media