Waves in the AIR

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Waves in the AIR

Sunday, 29 December 2019 | Laxmi Shankar Vajpayee

Waves in the AIR

Since the 1920s, All India Radio has grown in the right direction. Even today, its reach is phenomenal with no less than 50 crore Indians tuning in on a daily basis. That’s quite an achievement, even if we do not mention the growth of private FM radio and digital radio

Broadcasting in India started in 1927. Since then, the scenario has completely changed. Earlier, we used to have big radio sets which are now found in the museums. During my childhood, not many had radio sets. We used to go to our neighbour’s to listen to sports commentaries. Those were the days of the captive audience.

Delivering a talk on radio was considered a matter of privilege and pride,big authors, writers and intellectuals used to have a major highlight in their resumes under the section of radio talker. But the introduction of transistors changed the way.

If we talk about contemporary times, we see there is a change in the technological and listening patterns. We have radio apps and people listen to the commentaries on their mobiles. But if we talk about programming earlier, we used to have radio talks of 15 minutes. There were more talks, interviews and drama back then. There was a time when drama was in full swing. We used to have a show called Hawa Mahal which millions of people heard daily. Earlier, we used to have really long drama which extended over hours but no longer so. They have been replaced by docu-drama.

This interconnectedness is the biggest revolution in the radio industry.  Earlier radio was one-way traffic where the broadcast contents reached millions of ears but only a few people sent a feedback via letters and they all were piled up in sacks. We were able to reply to few as responding to all letters was not possible.

We used to get complains and requests to respond to their letters. Now, we see that this space has become more interactive. We expanded our horizon from the four walls of the studio and started interacting with the outside world. We started with letters and have now progressed to mails, messages and calls. We also have the dial-out options where the hosts themselves call people.

 The biggest turn came with the introduction of phone calling in the programme and radio bridge. Earlier, in the radio bridge, we used to connect through STDs across different States.

It used to be expensive and required a lot of rehearsal. Now, with the help of satellites, we can connect to multiple stations simultaneously. Through phonic programmes, we have reached the masses. Take an example. A poor farmer whose reach to an AIIMS Professor sounded impossible is today, directly speaking with the doctor who gives them appointments and calls them and asks them to just mention the name of the radio channel. A lot of significant social changes that happened across the country have been made by these phonic programmes.

The All India Radio (AIR) has always stressed on appropriate language, right pronounceability and original music. We have never used duplicate music. If anybody did, the punushment was quick and swift. With the rise of private FMs, we see different content.

There is a stark distinction between AIR and private FM. The policy of  AIR is public service broadcasting, information, education and entertainment. There is change in priority in FM and Vividh Bharti, where entertainment is of slightly greater importance. But there is no FM channel where we do not find phonic channels.

In the FM Rainbow we see programmes for pets, carrier guidance, legal guidance. But their main motive is to earn revenue. We see the usage of politically incorrect language and content. This is one side to it, but it is an undeniable fact that we have seen innovative formats too.

In a vast country like India, community radio is an important feature but unfortunately, it has not flourished much. Even smaller countries like Nepal have around one lakh community radios.

In the US, there are millions of such radio stations. In India, we have campus radio but not community. If we have more community radio stations it will spread awareness, promote unity and provide employment opportunities to people.

All India Radio has reached its saturation, FM is almost there in all the cities, digital radio is making its presence felt. There was a time when people used to leave our country and go because the writers who used to write in regional languages like Gujarati and Punjabi did not have a forum for publication.

Now, that I have travelled across multiple countries, I can say that there is no place in England, Canada and America where you do not find an FM channel in Hindi. Regional writing is included in mainstream media. We can proudly say that in England we have Tejender Sharma, in America, we have Shushant Dev and in Canada, Shailja Saxena. We have an annual event where listeners across the country gather. There are thousands who prefer to listen to the radio over watching TV.

There is a listener Javendra Kumar Dhruve who has the bio-data of each and every announcer and programme officer of AIR. He regularly posts on their birthdays and other events. He has data which we might not find even in Akash Vani Bhawan. We do not have a monopoly of any show, nor does Doordarshan or any other channel. It all depends on the content. The positive thing is that with the rise of private FMs, there is a lot more serious content coming in. Whether it is the Anu Kapoor Show or Nilesh Mishra Ki Kahani, the focus is on content.

From 1920 it has been 99 years and a lot of changes through which Radio has evolved. The AIR has updated with time. The most amazing news is that almost 99.6 per cent of the population is covered by AIR.

On any given day, more than 50 crore people listen to the radio in any part of the country. If anybody needs blood and it is announced in FM Gold or FM Rainbow, within minutes there is a flood of blood doners. That’s quite an achievement. There are 900 TV channels but none provides free classical, folk or live music.

The major contribution of AIR has been to protect the nation’s culture and diversity.

The AIR is the only medium which caters to the needs of all ages — from five-year-old to 90-year-old. Even in this digital base, AIR has maintained its utility base and kept its connection with the people.

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