The BBC Pashto TV programme BBC Naray Da Wakht (BBC World Right Now) will be part of the daily schedule of Pakistan’s new Pashto-language channel, Mashriq TV, which starts broadcasting this August.

Broadcast live from London in prime time – 18.30 Pakistan Standard Time – and presented by Sana Safi and Amanullah Atta, BBC Naray Da Wakht brings 24 minutes of key global and regional news reporting.  The Friday sports supplement, Lobay, includes in-depth coverage of sporting developments that are of special interest to regional audiences.

The move to bring BBC Naray Da Wakht to Pashto-speakers in Pakistan via Mashriq TV builds on the show’s success in Afghanistan where it has a weekly viewership of 1.6 million via Shamshad TV. It adds to the BBC’ presence in Pakistan where it reaches a weekly audience of 13.1 million people on TV, radio and digital platforms, in Urdu, Pashto and English (2015).

Based in Peshawar, Mashriq TV aims at reaching Pashto-speaking audiences in north-western Pakistan and Islamabad.  CEO, Mashriq TV, Syed Ayaz Badshah commented: “Launching a channel from Peshawar has been a great endeavour which we hope will help revive the entrepreneurial spirit in the region.  We welcome this rebroadcasting collaboration with the BBC and are looking forward to the daily broadcasts of the BBC Pashto programme – they set a high standard for our editorial team to live up to.”