Budget request for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), includes an increase of 1.5 percent from the FY 2010 funding level. The request reflects the continued critical role of BBG broadcasts in support of US foreign policy goals.The FY 2011 budget supports key new initiatives:
Upgrading the BBG’s global satellite distribution capacity, infrastructure, and network control centre
Expanding FM, digital, and new media opportunities
Improving digital workflows and expanding distribution to mobile devices
Adding 24/7 FM transmitters in Afghanistan to carry Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA) Pashto and Dari programming
Creating Radio Free Asia (RFA) video programming in Burmese,Tibetan, Mandarin, and Vietnamese
Diversifying distribution of VOA content in Africa
Addressing critical personnel and capital needs in RFE/RL bureaus
The proposed budget also continues funding for ongoing programming to critical audiences, including:
24-hour streams for VOA Persian News Network television and RFE/RL Radio Farda to Iran
Alhurra, including Al Youm, the daily three-hour Alhurra Television programme broadcast live from the Middle East
Radio Sawa to the Middle East
Afia Darfur to Sudan and Eastern Chad
VOA and RFE/RL Pashto programming to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region
RFE/RL and VOA Dari and Pashto programming to Afghanistan
VOA Urdu radio and television broadcasts to Pakistan
VOA Somali to Somalia
a 10-hour coordinated RFA and VOA stream to North Korea
a 30-minute, five-day-a-week VOA Spanish television programme for Venezuela
The FY 2011 budget request balances competing policy priorities with available budget resources. The request proposes to reduce contracting costs and other Agency support expenses through efficiencies. The request also includes several programme adjustments, including the closure of selected language services and programmes, operational efficiencies in broadcast services, and realignment of transmission networks.
(Source: BBG Press Release/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
