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BBC Urdu radio now available on mobile

The move is part of BBC Urdu's commitment to serve audiences on platforms of their choice and is in response to the ever-increasing popularity of news consumption via mobile phones.

BBC Urdu has strengthened its mobile offer by making its flagship radio programme, Sairbeen, available as a free app via the audio-sharing channel, AudioBoo.

BBC Urdu radio now available on mobile
The move is part of BBC Urdu's commitment to serve audiences on platforms of their choice and is in response to the ever-increasing popularity of news consumption via mobile phones. The launch of Sairbeen on AudioBoo - which has special apps for a range of smartphones and allows users to access it with average speed on mobile internet - has the potential to considerably expand the listenership base.

According to the BBC's newly released Global Audience Estimate, audiences of BBC World Service - of which BBC Urdu is part - are young and mobile. Mobile audiences deliver around a third of the traffic to the BBC Urdu website bbcurdu.com. BBC Urdu's monthly mobile unique views (UV) is 697,000 and total traffic to the BBC Urdu website is 2.3 million UVs.

Speaking about the initiative, Aamer Ahmed Khan, West and Central Asia hub editor, BBC Urdu and BBC World Service, says, "We have been listening to our audiences - especially those connecting with us via social media - who said that they wanted access to our radio programmes via mobile-phone apps. Now, thanks to our presence on AudioBoo, anyone with a smartphone can tune into Sairbeen everyday. They can also use the app to connect with BBC Urdu, sharing their thoughts and experiences. It's an excellent development, which will certainly boost our radio audience.

Susie Warhurst, content editor, AudioBoo, says, "We are absolutely delighted that BBC Urdu is joining AudioBoo to share their world-class journalism with an even wider audience. News and current affairs audio from around the globe is at the heart of AudioBoo's heritage and its future growth. We're very proud this new partnership brings even more breaking news and in-depth analysis to our users."

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