Note to the Committee from BBC World Service
on BBC World Service in Afghanistan
RADIO
The BBC broadcasts programming in Persian (Dari)
and in Pashto specially tailored for Afghanistan. It is delivered
on a mixture of SW, MW and FM.
A central plank of the BBC's recent strategy
has been to increase its FM presence in the country. This expansion—with
19 FM relays now in operation and four more on the way—has
occurred as other international broadcasters have also moved to
secure their position in the evolving media environment, the most
significant competition here being the co-ordinated offer from
VOA/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Performance data show the
BBC remains in a strong position, with awareness almost universal,
trust ratings exceptionally high and the weekly radio reach standing
at 59%.
A framework for all the radio output is provided
by a new FM schedule that runs from 0500 to midnight local time,
with the remainder of the 24 hours filled by WS English programmes.
In each language, Dari and Pashto, the schedule
contains:
— two hours of prime news and current
affairs;
— two hours of development-focused
programming—such as educational drama and Afghan Woman's
Hour—provided by the World Service Trust (see World Service
Trust section below); and
— music programmes at off-peak listening
times.
Also in the schedule are:
— 30 minutes in Uzbek; and
— one hour of BBC Persian's (Farsi)
flagship news programme designed primarily for Iran.
In June a new 30 minute programme in Pashto
was launched for southern Afghanistan and the Pakistan border
areas (see paragraph on Stabilisation Aid Fund below).
There are currently 19 BBC FM relays broadcasting
a 24 hour mix of Dari, Pashto, Uzbek Farsi and English programming:
Kabul (x2), Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Bamian, Konduz, Faizabad
(currently off air), Pol-e Khomri, Heart, Gardez, Jabal us-Seraj,
Sheberghan, Maimana, Taloqan, Khost, Ghazni, Kandahar, Kunar,
and Helmand. A further FM is currently under construction in Farah
and relays are planned for Tarin Kowt, Qalat and Sharan (directly
funded by the Stabilisation Aid Fund/GCPP—see below).
In Kabul a 24-hour English relay is maintained,
BBC 101.6FM.
PERFORMANCE
The BBC has a large audience in Afghanistan,
reaching about 10 million listeners (59% of the adult population)
weekly in any language. 42% of the population listen to the BBC
in Persian/Dari and 29% in Pashto.
Short wave delivers the most listeners nationally.
However, this varies geographically—in Kabul, for instance,
over 80% of the BBC audience listen via FM.
The BBC has a very strong brand in Afghanistan—85%
of adults are aware of BBC radio and 73% have listened to it.
Of the stations measured, including domestic
stations, the BBC is the most listened-to.
TELEVISION
BBC World News is available in a growing number
of urban homes and other outlets, but English is not widespread
and World News is likely to remain a niche service.
BBC World Service will launch a Persian television
service to Iran later in 2008 which will also reach Afghanistan.
ONLINE
Sites are maintained in Pashto and Dari, but
internet availability and connectivity remain low.
STABILISATION AID
FUND PROJECT
FOR AFGHANISTAN
The Stabilisation Aid Fund (formerly Global
Conflict Prevention Pool) is directly funding a World Service
project to broaden existing reach and increase impact of BBC programming
in southern Afghanistan and tribal border areas of Pakistan. The
project will run until the end of March 2011 and consists of two
distinct work streams:
1. Bespoke programming:
Development and broadcast of a daily 30 minute
programme directly targeted at the predominantly Pashtun population
in southern Afghanistan and the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas of Pakistan (FATA).
The daily regionally-focused programme, which
went on air in June 2008, complements the existing national and
internationally-based Afghan output and consists of:
— news and current affairs packages
focussing on the Pashto-speaking southern and frontier areas,
dealing with issues related to security, reconstruction and politics;
— social and cultural features addressing
realities of life in the region; and
— moderated interactive segments.
2. FM expansion:
Provision of 3 BBC 24 hour FMs in the urban
areas of Tarin Kowt, Qalat and Sharan. The new FMs should be on-air
in September and October this year.
The expansion in FM coverage in these three
provinces will increase BBC presence in the South and give an
important distribution outlet for the new programme.
BBC WORLD SERVICE
TRUST
The World Service Trust's Afghan Education
Project (AEP) is the largest media-for-development organisation
in Afghanistan. Its programmes are broadcast in Dari and Pashto
on the BBC, and re-broadcast on local FM stations and the state-run
Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA). Donors include the
UK government's Afghan Drugs Inter-Departmental Unit (ADIDU) and
the Stabilisation Aid Fund (SAF)/Global Conflict Prevention Pool
(GCPP). Recent research indicates that more than 14 million people
listen to AEP's flagship radio programme, New Home New Life,
nearly 15 years after its launch. AEP is also currently developing
an urban radio drama for Afghan youth with funding from SAF/GCPP.
Afghan Woman's Hour provides topical
programming for women in rural Afghanistan. Almost half of the
potential audience have listened to the programme since its launch
in 2005. A journalism training programme for Afghan women is being
stepped up during 2008, and two training managers have been recruited.
22 July 2008
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