Bangladesh Betar

Bangladesh Betar
The Radio Bangladesh
Type	National public broadcaster
Country	Bangladesh
Founded	26 August 1927
Headquarters	Agargaon, Dhaka
Broadcast area	National ; Worldwide
Owner	Government of Bangladesh
Launch date	16 December 1939
Affiliation(s)	World Radio Network
Official website	www.betar.gov.bd

Bangladesh Betar (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ বেতার) or BB is the state-owned radio broadcaster of Bangladesh established after Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971. It was also known as Radio Bangladesh between 1975 and 1996.

History[]

Radio transmission in the region now forming Bangladesh started in Dhaka on 16 December 1939, as part of All India Radio. Initially, the station was located in Nazimuddin Road, old Dhaka. Its maximum transmission range was 45 kilometre. Leila Arjumand Banu performed on the first day of broadcasting. In 1954, broadcasting started in Rajshahi. On 8 September 1960, the radio station was moved to a modern office in Shahbag with six professional studios and renamed to Radio Pakistan. More regional stations were opened in Sylhet in 1961, Savar in 1963, Rangpur in 1967 and in Khulna in 1970.^[1]

It played an important role during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. On 26 March 1971, the broadcasting centre of Radio Pakistan was used to transmit a declaration of independence, which was picked up by a Japanese ship in Chittagong Harbor and retransmitted. During the war, the Pakistan Army took over the radio station in Dhaka and the Bangladeshis operated Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra (Independent Bengal Radio Station) clandestinely.^[2] Because of heavy shelling, the station had to be relocated several times, and ultimately moved to Calcutta on 25 May, from where it would broadcast until the end of the war. On 6 December, it was renamed Bangladesh Betar. Its current headquarters were completed in 1983 at National Broadcasting House, Agargaon.^[3]

Stations[]

Schedule MW

Center	Frequency (kHz)	Meter	Power (kW)	Broadcast Time(Local)
Dhaka-ka	693	432.90	1000	06:30-12:10 and 14:30-23:30
Dhaka-kha	819^[4]	476.19	100	00:00-03:00, 06:30-07:45 and 09:00-23:10
Dhaka-Ga	1170	256.41	20	15:00-17:00
Chittagong	873	343.64	100	06:30-10:00 and 12:00-23:10
Rajshahi	1080	277.77	10	06:30-10:00 and 12:00-23:10
Rajshahi	846	354.60	100	06:30-10:00 and 12:00-23:10
Khulna	558	537.63	100	06:30-10:00 and 12:00-23:10
Rangpur	1053	284.90	10	06:30-10:00 and 14:00-23:10
Sylhet	963	311.52	20	06:30-10:00 and 14:00-23:10
Barisal	1287	233.10	10	10:45-17:15
Thakurgaon	999	300.30	10	15:50-23:10
Rangamati	1161	258.39	10	11:30-16:30
Cox's Bazar	1314	228.31	10	11:45-16:45
Bandarban	1431	209.64	10	11:30-16:30
Comilla	1413	212.31	10	16:00-23:10

Schedule FM

Center	Frequency (MHz)	Meter	Power (KW)	Broadcast Time(Local)
FM100, Dhaka	100.0	3.00	3	13:00-16:00
FM, Dhaka	97.6	3.07	5	06:30-12:00; 14:15-23:15
Traffic Broadcasting, Dhaka	88.8	3.38	10	08:00-20:00
FM 90.0, Traffic Channel	90.0	3.33	10	08:00-20:00
FM 95.0 (Home Service)	95.0	17:30-22:00
FM, Chittagong	105.5	2.85	2	06:30-10:00; 19:00-23:10
FM, Khulna	102.0	2.94	1	06:30-10:00; 19:00-23:10
FM, Rajshahi	104.0	2.88	5	06:30-10:00; 19:00-23:10
FM, Rajshahi	105.0	2.86	1	06:30-10:00; 19:00-23:10
FM, Rangpur	105.0	2.86	1	06:30-10:00; 19:00-23:10
FM, Comilla	103.6 & 101.2	2.96	2	06:30-10:00; 17:00-23:10
FM, Thakurgoan	92.0	3.26	5	16:00-23:10