VOA Broadcasting in Kurdish
VOA’s Kurdish service reaches its audience on radio, TV and the Internet. In addition to shortwave and AM, the programs air on FM affiliates in several cities in Iraq (Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk, Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra). VOA Kurdish also produces video reports that are streamed on both of its websites (Kurmanji and Sorani). The service’s audience consists of more than 30 million Kurds living in the Middle East and Eurasia and approximately one million Kurds living in Europe and North America. Audience research indicates that the broadcasts are popular among listeners in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Quick Facts
|
Established: April 1992 Target Area: Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria Audience: 4.1 million adults weekly. Nearly 6.4 million engagement actions and nearly 228 million video views through social media in FY2021.
Radio Programming: original audio 46 hours per week
TV Programming: original video 6 hours per week
Programs and additional features available at: and
Facebook:
Twitter:
Instagam:
YouTube: |
Programs and Features
TV
Kurd Connection – A 50-minute television/web program airing Sunday-Thursday through affiliate NRT in Northern Iraq and Kurdish service live FBs. It includes a roundup of news-related material, as well as American stories and other features of interest to the Kurdish region. The program is also distributed via the web and YouTube.
Washington Eye – A 40-minute weekly program airing on Wednesdays through affiliate NRT in northern Iraq. It presents Washington’s viewpoint on regional and global developments.
Heftreng “7 colors” -- A biweekly 30-minute magazine show in the Kurmanji dialect on international art and culture airs on Sundays through affiliate NRT2 in northern Iraq.
Zayeley Dahenan “Echo of Invectiveness” -- A biweekly 30-minute magazine program in the Sorani dialect on international art and culture airs on Sundays through affiliate NRT2 in northern Iraq.
Rawanga (View) -- A web and social media roundtable discussion on Iran and Kurds in that country .
Topic and Guest -- A web and social media roundtable discussion on Syria and Kurds in that country.
Radio
Replay of audio of “Kurd Connection” daily with extensive regional and international news, interviews with experts and newsmakers, stringer reports and discussions with Kurds in the greater Middle East and the diaspora.
Deng U Reng (Sound and Color) – Arts and culture feature in the Kurmanji dialect. This program goes to affiliate ‘Radio Badinan’ in Duhok Northern Iraq and affiliate Radio ARTA FM in northern Syria.