The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (); also known as ''Radio Pakistan'', serves as the national

public broadcaster Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

for

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

in Pakistan. 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. Select programming is also available through WRN. PBC offers programming in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and English on its national radio broadcasts, while offering programming in 23 different

regional languages * A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area. Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lang ...

on its domestic radio service. Its external services are broadcast eight hours daily in 10 different foreign languages, covering the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, the Far East Asia and parts of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. PBC has employed commercial advertising on its broadcasts to supplement its federal funding since its inception.

Mandate

The ''Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Act, 1973.'' 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 Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...

, 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: *Secretary Ministry of Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage *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 Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and English, while Abdullah Jan Maghmoom made the announcement from

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

. The announcement was heard as follows:

The English translation of this announcement is as follows:

Greetings Pakistan 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.

Overview

According to one of the pioneers of Radio Pakistan,

Agha Nasir Agha Nasir (9 February 1937 – 12 July 2016), was a Pakistani director, producer, broadcaster and TV playwright. He started his career at Radio Pakistan in 1955. He later directed TV films and worked in the Pakistani television industry fo ...

(9 February 1937 – 12 July 2016), three radio stations at

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

(established in 1939),

(1937) and Peshawar Radio Station (1935) existed at the time of

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...

on 14 August 1947. There was no radio station in the capital of Pakistan,

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in 1947. On a high priority basis, a major program of expansion saw new stations opened at

and

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

in 1948, and a new broadcasting house at Karachi in 1950. This was followed by new stations at

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

(1951),

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

(1956), a second station at Rawalpindi (1960) and a Receiving Centre at Peshawar (1960). In 1970, training facilities were opened in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

and a station opened at

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

. A 1973 law, signed by

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

(

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and later

Prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

) regulated

Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (); also known as ''Radio Pakistan'', serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in P ...

(PBC) as "to publish, circulate, distribute and regulate (reliable and trusted) news and information in any part of the world in any manner that may be deemed fit". Its one core mission states: "education, news and information to be brought to public awareness the whole range of significant activity.". 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 Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

(1977) and

Skardu Skardu (, Tibetan script: སྐར་མདོ, ) is a city located in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

(1977) in the far north and

Turbat Turbat (Urdu and ) is a city in the southern region of Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is the administrative centre of Kech District. Turbat is the second-largest city in Balochistan after Quetta and the 35th largest city in the coun ...

(1981) in the far southwest. From 1981 to 1982 stations and transmitters were also established at

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; Urdu and , ), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 10th largest city of Pakistan and third or fourth largest in the province of Khy ...

Khuzdar Khuzdar ( Balochi, , ) also known as ''Hozdar'', is a city and the administrative headquarters of Khuzdar District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Khuzdar is surrounded by mountainous region of the southwestern portion of the country near ...

and

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

. Radio Pakistan opened a new broadcasting house in Khairpur on 7 May 1986, followed by relay stations in 1989 at

Sibi Sibi (; ;) is a city situated in the Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan Subdivisions of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. The city serves as the administrative headquarters of the Sibi District, district and Sibi Tehsil, tehsil of the same name ...

and on 21 March 1991 in

Abbottabad Abbottabad is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in the country and 6th largest in the province by population, and serves as the headquarter of its namesake tehsil and district ...

. The remoter parts of the country began to receive coverage with new stations opened in the 1990s at

Chitral Chitral () is a city situated on the Kunar River, Chitral River in northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before ...

Loralai Loralai (, ), also known as Bori (), is a Pakistani city that serves both as the division headquarter of Loralai Division and the district headquarter of Loralai District. It is located in the northeastern part of Balochistan province of Paki ...

and

Zhob Zhob (; ), formerly known as Fort Sandeman is a city and district headquarters of the Zhob District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Zhob is located on the banks of the Zhob river. It lies 337 kilometres away from Quetta, the capital ...

. 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

Gwadar Gwadar (, ) is a Port, port city on the southwestern coast of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, opposite Oman and has a populati ...

Mianwali Mianwali (Saraiki language, Saraiki, ) city in Mianwali Tehsil is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. The Largest cities of Pakistan, 81st most populous city of Pakistan, it is known for its diverse popu ...

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi language, Punjabi/; ; ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Central Punjab, central Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 11th most populous city and ...

Kohat Kohat (; ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century. With a population o ...

Bannu Bannu (, ), also called Bani Gul or Bani (, ) is a city located on the Kurram River in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the capital of Bannu Division. Bannu's residents are primarily members of the Banuchi tribe and speak Banuch ...

and Mithi. 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.

Languages

Radio Pakistan broadcasts are in 34 languages:

, Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Seraiki, Potowari,

Hindko Hindko (, , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Pun ...

, Kohistani,

Khowar Khowar (, ''Khōwār'', ), also known by its common exonym Chitrali, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic group, primarily spoken by the Kho (Chitrali) people, native to the Chitral region and surrounding areas of Pakistan. Khowar is th ...

, Kashmiri,

Gojri Gujari (also spelt Gojri, Gujri, or Gojari; ) is a Rajasthani Indo-Aryan language spoken by most of the Gujjar people in the northern parts of India and Pakistan, as well as in Afghanistan. In India, the language is spoken by 16.3 million p ...

Burushaski Burushaski (; , ) is a language isolate, spoken by the Burusho people, who predominantly reside in northern Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. There are also a few hundred speakers of this language in northern Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu ...

, Balti, Shina, Wakhi, Hazargi, Brahvi, English, Chinese,

Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Gujarati,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, Sinhala, Nepali, Russian, Turkish,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Radio Channels

News & Current Affairs Channel

News and Current Affairs Channel was launched by

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.

Frequencies Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

: * 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

Other

*FM 107 (Apna Karachi) *Ballay Ballay FM (Roshan Media) *FM 93 *Central Production Unit *Dhanak FM 94 *Saut ul Qur'an FM 93.4

References

External links

* *
Official PBC Radio Pakistan site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radio Pakistan 1947 establishments in Pakistan Radio networks Radio stations in Pakistan Government-owned companies of Pakistan State media Multilingual broadcasters Public broadcasting in Pakistan Radio stations established in 1947 Internet radio in Pakistan Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Pakistan) Defunct shortwave radio stations