The Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS), the country’s national broadcaster, has launched an online radio service. BBS Radio introduced the Internet service on Thursday to mark the 28th birthday of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.The online service is available for 15 hours a day, from 0000-1500 UTC. It can be accessed via the BBS website: www.bbs.com.bt.
Launched in 1973, BBS Radio broadcasts on FM in the national language, Dzongkha, as well as Sharchop, Lhotsham and English. Its shortwave service can be heard as far afield as Europe and New Zealand.
BBS also runs a television service, introduced in 1999, which broadcasts for four hours daily in Dzongkha and English in the capital, Thimphu. It reaches other urban areas through cable services.
(Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)
Andy Sennitt comments: The live stream was working fine when I checked at 1200 UTC. It’s only 32 kbps, so not extremely high quality, but bearing in mind that not so many years ago this station was considered an exotic catch on shortwave, it’s amazing to think that it can now be heard at the click of a mouse anywhere in the world.
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 14:59
BBS has actually been available online before, on a feed provided by local ISP Druknet if I recall correctly - however this disappeared about three years ago.
A private Bhutanese FM station, Radio Valley, is available on a live stream from its website at http://www.radiovalley.bt
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 17:38
It does run windows media server but the live stream today Sunday the 25th at 1730 kept rebuffering and when I did get audio it sound like a test tone.
(server crash I suspect)
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 17:46
Well, it would be a test tone, as they are not broadcasting anything between 1500 and 2400 UTC
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 19:48
Indeed, I heard it close at 1500 today with no ceremony whatsoever - merely a ‘goodbye’.
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 21:29
It’s an embedded thing that wants to launch Windows Media Player. Attempts to otherwise access the presumed stream URL http://202.144.155.13:10000 lead only to 400 - Bad request. As if Redmond (the one near Seattle of course) rules the world…