Ofcom awards new Asian community radio licences

Ofcom has awarded two new community radio stations licences to two Asian broadcasters.

The first station called Akash Radio will be headed by Gurmail S Sahota. It will primarily concentrate on Punjabi-speaking content to the Punjabi community in Leeds.

The second is Bradford Asian Radio, which will be controlled by Syed Hassan. The station will focus on speech-dominated service in Urdu, Panjabi, Mirpuri, Bengali, Hindi and English.

Community radio services are provided on a not-for-profit basis focusing on the delivery of specific social benefits to a particular geographical community or a community of interest. Both stations have been give five-year licences to broadcast in a limited transmission area.