EXCLUSIVE: Panjab Radio to go UK-wide on DAB
Popular independent digital Punjabi music station, Panjab Radio, is set to go national on DAB digital radio, in December, BizAsia.co.uk can exclusively reveal.
Panjab Radio currently broadcasts in three separate regions ��� Greater London, West Midlands and West Yorkshire and will become only the second Asian radio station after the BBC Asian Network (Sunrise Radio is available in only parts of the UK) to be available fully throughout the UK. It also relays its service on Sky Digital channel 0130.
“We�۪re a unique station that serves a unique audience,” said the station�۪s Managing Director, Surjit Ghuman. “This is the biggest step for our radio station since its launch and we believe the time is right for us to launch in the UK. We�۪re grateful to those who�۪ve supported this initiative and to the thousands of individual listeners”
Surjit added, “It�۪s a significant expansion for Panjab Radio which has come a long way since its launch as a satellite station in September 2000, when it was only available on Sky, and in November 2003 in London, West Yorkshire and November 2007 in the West Midlands Panjab Radio was launched on DAB. Panjab Radio will be available to more than 90% of the population from Newcastle to Exeter and Southampton to Glasgow.”
Panjab Radio’s output consists of music, news and speech programming mainly in Panjabi and English. Music mix includes a fusion of modern and traditional Panjabi music. Other speech content includes lifestyle, entertainment and news/current affairs features. The station aims to be inclusive to all people in the UK for whom Punjabi language or music is important, and has programmes with general appeal to Punjabi speakers of all faiths.
Panjab Radio celebrated nine years on-air in September, this year. It has been riding high after recently subscribing to radio audience measuring body ��� RAJAR. It has outperformed rival Punjabi stations by grabbing a weekly reach of 61,000 in Q2/09. For Q3/09, Panjab Radio weekly reach peaked at 56,000.
Panjab Radio launches on national DAB digital radio on Tuesday 1st December. The station will make an announcement at 07:00 on Monday.
