USA: VOA expands Pakistan programming

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) --

The Voice of America says it is expanding its reach across Pakistan through a new arrangement with the Pakistan Broadcasting Corp.

In a release Tuesday, the VOA says the agreement allows it to broadcast Pashto language programs on medium-wave (AM) radio and Urdu broadcasts on FM stations for the first time.

"We're delighted Pakistan's Cabinet has ratified our agreement with PBC," VOA Director Danforth Austin said. "This arrangement will allow millions of people in all parts of Pakistan to listen to the VOA's popular news and information programs."

VOA's Deewa Radio, a Pashto language service for people in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, will now available on medium wave from a transmitter in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, as well as shortwave, FM from Afghanistan and on the Internet.

Meanwhile, VOA's Urdu language program Radio Aap Ki Dunyaa will now be heard on the FM band on 11 stations across Pakistan, including Islamabad and Lahore.

VOA is the U.S. government's broadcasting arm.

Source: Times of the Internet

http://www.timesoftheinternet.com/118747.html