‘Asian Network Gold’ to replace ‘Retro Selection’

The BBC Asian Network has confirmed that it will be replacing its long running show ‘Retro Selection’ with new show ‘Asian Network Gold’ on Sunday afternoons from later this month.

The new programme will be hosted by Sanjay Sharma who will focus on the best heritage music and gems from the station archives, including rare performances from ‘Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan’ and ‘Asian Magazine’.

An award-winning public speaker and with a deep knowledge of South-Asian film, music and current affairs, Sanjay has been at home on the Asian Network for more than a decade where he is the recognised specialist in heritage music with Hindi/Urdu and regional South-Asian hits from the 50�۪s to the present day.

“I’m delighted to be back on Asian Network and to be able to share our collection of classic Bollywood, Ghazals and other South-Asian golden hits with our listeners,” says Sanjay. “We have been digging in the Asian Network vinyl vaults and unearthed some real gems from the past that audiences won�۪t have heard before.”

The BBC has a long history of providing Asian music and entertainment, from the popular TV programme ‘Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan’ and BBC Radio Birmingham and Leicester programmes of the 1970’s, through to the emergence of BBC Asian Network in the late 1980’s. This new programme will connect directly with the popular ‘Asian Network Gold’ Red Button TV specials. Last year�۪s Red Button programme reaching an audience of 790,000.

BBC Asian Network Head of Programmes Mark Strippel said, “We’ll be taking the audience back to a golden age when the BBC was the only source of Asian entertainment on TV and Radio in Britain. Our listeners can expect to hear lots of exclusive BBC archive interviews and performances. Sanjay is a fantastic broadcaster and is one of the few people with the authority to provide a genuine narrative of South-Asian music across the decades.”

‘Asian Network Gold’ launches on Sunday 20th January and will air between 13:00 and 16:00.