DW Bengali to be heard on FM in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi radio listeners in six cities including the capital will soon be able to listen to Deutsche Welle (DW) Bengali service’s broadcast on FM. The German broadcaster and state-owned Bangladesh Betar signed an agreement today to put the new arrangement in place. The deal will enable DW to broadcast on FM through Bangladesh Betar in six cities: Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Rangpur.

“We have worked on many fronts with Bangladesh Betar for more than 30 years and are sure that this agreement will be beneficial to both parties,” Gerda Meuer, managing director of DW-AKADEMIE said at a press conference in Dhaka to announce the deal.

DW Bengali, which also airs programmes other than news, is likely to start broadcasting in the six cities as soon as possible through transmitters of Bangladesh Betar, said Angelika Nevel, DW’s head of distribution for Asia. Usually FM covers a 30-35 mile radius. Since Bangladesh is a flatland, it may cover another 10-12 miles, she added.

DW Bengali service chief Abdullah Al Farooq told the gathering that they were always trying to provide the listeners something more than daily happenings. “We will air current affairs as well as talk shows,” he added.

Under the agreement, Bangladesh’s state-owned radio will broadcast DW programmes in half hour slots twice a day at 8am and 8pm, said Mahbubul Alam, director of Bangladesh Betar. Dhaka listeners can tune in to DW Bengali Service at FM 97.6 while the services will be available at FM 105.4, 105 and 102 in Chittagong, Sylhet and Khulna respectively. Audiences in the northern cities of Rajshahi and Rangpur will be able to listen to DW broadcasting at FM 105 and 105.4 respectively.

(Source: BDNews24.com)