BBC Asian Network

The BBC Asian Network emerged out of the long-standing trajectory of BBC radio programming for Britain’s growing South Asian community which can be traced back to the 1940s. Initially much of this output was on the World Service broadcast to India and Pakistan.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that that BBC local radio saw a need to provide programmes for the growing British South Asian population. In 1977 BBC Radio Leicester launched Six Fifteen, a daily community-focused programme which at its peak reached some 67 per cent of the local South Asian community. Between 1977 and 1988 BBC Leicester and BBC West Midlands continued to extend their output.

In the late 1980s plans emerged for BBC West Midlands and BBC Leicester to pool resources. A fledgling version of the Asian Network was launched on 30 October 1989 on medium-wave transmitter, bringing together BBC Leicester and BBC West Midlands to provide dedicated programming totalling some seventy hours per week. Content was also syndicated from the World Service and news bulletins in Hindi, Urdu and Bengali from the World Service were also broadcast.

In 1995 this was further extended, and on 4 November 1996 the BBC Asian Network was launched on the AM frequency in the Midlands as a 24-hour regional broadcaster with its own editorial team and staff. Between 1996 and 1998 the Asian Network further expanded its reach, with news reporting teams in London, Leeds, Manchester and the Midlands.

In November 1999 the Asian Network became nationally available through Sky Digital’s satellite television service and on 28 October 2002 it launched as a digital radio station across the whole of the United Kingdom, gaining a much wider platform, with programmes produced in London, Birmingham and Leicester. A key output of the station between 2004 and 2010 was the continuing radio drama series Silver Street.

Its output consists of a mix of music and talks programmes in English as well as South Asian languages, reaching a weekly audience of around half a million people. During cuts at the BBC in 2010, the station was threatened with closure due to low audience numbers, but a successful campaign meant that it received a reprieve and continues to broadcast today, though with a much reduced budget.