Radio Pakistan: 14 August 1947; 77 years ago (1947-08-14) in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan PBC: 20 December 1972; 51 years ago (1972-12-20) in Islamabad, Pakistan
The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Urdu: شرکت نشریات پاکستان); also known as Radio Pakistan, serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan.[1] Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. Originally the network was established on 14 August 1947, following Pakistan's independence from Britain but on 20 December 1972 it was changed to a statutory body governed by the board of directors and a Director General. Radio is broadcast through FM, AM and shortwave radio frequencies.[2] Select programming is also available through WRN.[3]
PBC offers programming in Urdu and English on its national radio broadcasts, while offering programming in 23 different regional languages on its domestic radio service.[4] Its external services are broadcast eight hours daily in 10 different foreign languages, covering the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, the Far East Asia and parts of Eastern Europe.[4][5] PBC has employed commercial advertising on its broadcasts to supplement its federal funding since its inception.
Mandate
The Pakistan 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:
to be made available throughout Pakistan for the purposes of disseminating information, education and entertainment,
to reflect Pakistan and its regions to national and regional audiences,
to actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression and Islamic Ideology,
to be in all languages, reflecting the different needs and circumstances of each official language community,
to strive for national unity, principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice.
Management
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:
One eminent media personality from each province, one each from Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan and two others appointed by the Government of Pakistan (4).
Additional Foreign Secretary
Additional Secretary Finance
Director General, ISPR
Managing Director, PTVC
Director General, PBC
Representative of the Interior Division
History
Radio Pakistan was originally known as the Pakistan Broadcasting Service at the time of its inception on 14 August 1947. It had the honour of publicly announcing Pakistan's independence from Britain on 13 August 1947 at 11:59 pm. Mustafa Ali Hamdani made the announcement from Lahore in Urdu and English,[7] while Abdullah Jan Maghmoom made the announcement from Peshawar in Pashto.[8]
السلام علیکم
پاکستان براڈ کاسٹنگ 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:
GreetingsPakistan Broadcasting Service. We are speaking from Lahore. The night between the thirteenth and fourteenth of August, year forty-seven. It is twelve o'clock. Dawn of Freedom.
Mustafa Ali Hamdani
Overview
According to one of the pioneers of Radio Pakistan, Agha Nasir (9 February 1937 – 12 July 2016), three radio stations at Dhaka (established in 1939), Lahore (1937) and Peshawar Radio Station (1935) existed at the time of independence 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 at Karachi and Rawalpindi in 1948, and a new broadcasting house at Karachi in 1950. This was followed by new stations at Hyderabad (1951), Quetta (1956), a second station at Rawalpindi (1960) and a Receiving Centre at Peshawar (1960). In 1970, training facilities were opened in Islamabad and a station opened at Multan.[10]
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 at Gilgit (1977) and Skardu (1977) in the far north and Turbat (1981) in the far southwest. From 1981 to 1982 stations and transmitters were also established at Dera Ismail Khan, Khuzdar and Faisalabad. Radio Pakistan opened a new broadcasting house in Khairpur on 7 May 1986, followed by relay stations in 1989 at Sibi and on 21 March 1991 in Abbottabad.[10]
The remoter parts of the country began to receive coverage with new stations opened in the 1990s at Chitral, Loralai and Zhob. 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 started FM transmission and over the period 2002–2005, new FM stations were opened at Islamabad, 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.
News and Current Affairs Channel was launched by Pakistan 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:
Islamabad – 1152 kHz
Lahore – 1332 kHz
Karachi – 639 kHz
Quetta – 756 kHz
Peshawar 1170 kHz
3999.75 MHz on Satellite Pak Sat1R
FM 107 (Apna Karachi)
FM-107 / Ballay Ballay FM (Roshan Media) was established in 2002
^"Ministry of Information, PBC". Ministry of Information and Mass-media Broadcasting. Government of Pakistan. Archived from the original on 20 July 2005. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
^E-Government. "The PBC Act of 1973". Government of Pakistan website. Directorate for Public Relations and International Press Release (PBC Law Ordnance). Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
