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Best relegated to the
attic, that’s what people thought of the radio as television
made inroads to the drawing room. But the resilient medium
has made a remarkable comeback in recent times. Sonali Jha
Chatterjee reports
Ince upon a time there was the radio. All ears were glued
to it. Then along came the television. All ears and eyes now
turned to this medium. Poor radio seemed to be heading for
extinction. Amazingly, however, the radio seems to have made
a turnaround. Not a great one but nevertheless a steady turnaround.
Remember Vidya Balan’s heart-throbbing, “Good morning!”
call in Lage Raho Munnabhai that set Sanjay Dutt’s heart
racing? Or inimitable Robin Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam
? That’s the reach of the radio which is being rediscovered
by today’s generation.
More and more people are now tuning in to the FM channels
which are churning out what the listeners love to hear. According
to a survey by the Media Research Users Council, this year
alone there has been a 4 per cent growth in Mumbai and 9 per
cent growth in Delhi in the number of people who tuned in
to radio as compared to last year. Of 4,500 people surveyed,
more than 25 per cent Mumbaikars and 28 percent Delhiites
listened to the radio 7 days a week.
Today’s radio has made television a partner. Quite a
few shows on television are broadcast on the radio. Advertisers
have found radio to be a cheaper medium to sell products.
“Ads on radio impart a personal, friendly touch when
compared with the distant nature of TV,” says Martin
Bowley, chairman of the British Television Advertising Awards.
So what is it that would really give the radio the much needed
kickstart? Its content, say experts.
“Radio needs to get more professional and committed
presenters whose orbit of knowledge goes beyond Bollywood
and whose talents are not restricted only to wisecracks and
rhetoric”, says Pavan Kumar Varma, a senior Indian diplomat
and presently Minister of Culture and Director of the Nehru
Centre in London.
“Radio content must be made more relevant to its audience
to preserve the medium’s market share”, says Francis
Herman, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Limited’s Chief
Executive Officer while reviewing the past 100 years of radio.
“The traditional block programming format of radio stations
is no longer attractive to listeners and must be replaced
by shorter bursts of “relevant” information”,
he adds.
Experts feel that radio stations can no longer work in isolation
and must secure new alliances with telecommunication companies.
With the advancing popularity of television, pod casting,
internet and mobile phones, it is essential for the radio
to embrace newer technology. So one can look forward to live
audio streaming, radio on demand, television simulcasts, and
interactive radio with greater audience participation.
The situation that the radio faces in India though is not
what is happening the world over. According to Varma, radio
has held its own in the UK despite the formidable challenge
posed by television and many, if not more, people listen to
radio rather than watch television. Apart from news, radio
in the UK is so popular because of the sheer variety of programmes
it offers which includes current affairs, discussions, reviews,
music, dramatisations, live coverage and much more. The presenters
are celebrities in their own rights, with hugely committed
audiences. On the other hand, popular film music is the mainstay
of Indian radio programmes. Even the more recent private FM
stations, although zanier in their presentations, rely almost
wholly on Bollywood.
Radio's reach is probably wider than television's with All
India Radio reaching the remotest part of the country. It
is also presumed that more people own radios than television
sets, especially in India, since the transistor is so much
cheaper than the idiot box and has a wide reach in the rural
areas.
The entry of the satellite radio has led to the surge in
growth of radio stations. Of late, World Space, the satellite
radio has made its presence felt armed with over 40 premium
channels, each catering to a specific audience. There are
news channels, sports channels, music channels and those related
to the spiritual. World Space has to be subscribed to and
what is amazing is that people are readily turning subscribers.
Take Sharmistha Jha is an editor in the television and film
industry, she would rather listen to FM radio or World Space
playing in the background while at work or doing her chores.
Television impels you to be rooted at one place and that hampers
work, she says.
Nilanjana Banerjee who has recently joined the ABP group
of newspapers, which is set to launch its radio station early
next year, has no doubt about radio coming up in a big way.
Not only is the radio cheaper, it is also easy to carry around.
Having worked both for television and radio, she finds radio
more challenging than television because it offers no retakes.
She also feels that being recognised by your voice adds a
sense of mystery to it.
Location sound engineer, Girja Shankar Vohra finds that with
the increase in traffic and commuting time, the office-goer
needs the radio as a constant companion. So, there has been
a significant rise in the demand for radio. The sound quality
of the radio has also improved tremendously and so has the
content, he adds.
Nilanjan Banerjee, film and television director, agrees that
the radio is now trying its best to retain its listeners,
but accepts that the audio visual medium is much more powerful.
There is another side to the sudden revival of radio too.
Big corporate houses are setting up radio channels that help
propagate their ideologies, he adds.
With more and more corporate houses jumping into the radio
bandwagon, there is little doubt that this poor cousin of
the television is getting its much needed space in the spotlight.
As the radio helps the corporate houses build a bigger brand
name, the radio benefits by the added revenue coming in. Moreover,
man’s natural affinity for sound continues to work to
the radio’s advantage.
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