Category: World
Service
Date: 01.04.2005
Printable version
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World Service is stopping its hourly Urdu news bulletins on its
partner station FM 103 in the Pakistani cities of Karachi, Lahore, Multan
and Faisalabad, after authorities threatened the station with the cancellation
of its licence.
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The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) asked FM
103 to stop broadcasting the bulletins because, in its view, the station
was violating the rules under which its licence was issued.
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FM 103 has challenged the PEMRA order in the Lahore High Court and
14 April has been set as the date of the hearing.
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In a statement, Abbas Nasir, Head of Asia Pacific Region, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World
Service said: "We have broadcast nearly 6,000 bulletins over ten months
on FM 103 and the audience response has been overwhelming.
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"There has not been a single issue or complaint about our content
and we would like to thank our listeners for their support and attention."
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Abbas Nasir added that the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ are in talks with the Pakistani authorities
and hoped a resolution would be found soon so that listeners are not
deprived of news and information from the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ that is impartial, balanced,
fair and accurate.
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Notes to Editors
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ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World Service broadcasts programmes around the world in 43 languages
and is available on radio and online.Ìý
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It has a global audience of 146 million listeners and is available
globally on short wave; on FM in 140 capital cities; and selected programmes
are carried on around 2,000 FM and MW radio stations around the world.Ìý
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The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World Service websites receive around 280 million page impressions
every month.
