tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050626583756839152023-06-20T05:48:11.049-07:00The World of RadioThis is basically an anti-establishment critical view of the Indian Radio World which is plagued by the Herd Mentality crippling innovation and evolution of creativity that is so omnipresent in our bloodTrivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905062658375683915.post-50616581256079619342015-03-01T03:34:00.000-08:002015-03-01T03:36:15.634-08:00Kumkaran had a competition in me!3 years is a fair enough slumber to be woken up from, reading the previous post I realise that I wrote it when I had just started my most recent car lease and now its coming to an end, so its not actually radio that brings me back here its rather a new car lease! So any suggestions, looks like this time I should fall for a petrol car.<br />
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Did Budget stump you? or as I claimed on my show just before the budget, that I just don't know anything about it, you too live in "ignorance is bliss" world. [post budget would have loved to add that I am better off that way(sigh)]<br />
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Okay so lets quickly come back to radio, the industry is on a lovely southward slide. I meet(virtually) people who think radio industry is a money making elaborate secret yet to be discovered. I mean do you think we are fools here, having worked 18 years in this field and thankfully are well connected to source enough funds to start our own channel and make money for ourselves rather than be the philanthropist that industrialist expect us to be. Yes we are fools but just emotional fools, so even if there is a formula which we are still hiding , chances of us giving it away for few lakhs is not happening.<br />
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People expect not just us to be fools but even expect the government to be so, who have framed the guidelines around it, folks think they can start Community FM Stations and run it as if it was a commercial FM station. I mean do you know that worldspace, the giant that it was and so loved by audiences was killed because of commercial FM stations did not allow them to be terrestrial and mobile, the way FM is. So get real, there is enough safe divide between various forms of Radio.<br />
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Anyway coming back to FM Radio, nothing exciting has been happening except the fact on the personal front, AIR, last June went on to implement a very controversial decision of theirs in recent times which restricted the Radio Jockeys above the age of 35 to remain on the panel and keep doing radio shows on FM, namely FM Rainbow and FM Gold. It naturally brought a lot of bad press and so it was soon claimed to have been withdrawn though ground reality was another story. Hyderabad in a carefully chosen path went through a long drawn process and finally resumed giving shows to RJs above 35 like yours truly. As on the RJ front, RJ Prateeka is not to be heard, RJ Sameer the other RJ that I quite use to like to listen to, moved out of RedFM and focussed his energy elsewhere. I tried to devout more time to the "<a href="http://www.hyderabadart.in/" target="_blank">The Radio Hyderabad</a>" where besides trying to help people land their foot in the industry by grooming them tried to put together a pirate online radio station.<br />
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RJ Priyanka a dear friend of mine and someone who very closely resembles on air to RJ Prateeka is currently doing that evening show on RedFM, I recommend RJ Kaushik and RJ Sangmithra for your Western Music dose(they each host 9am-12 on Mondays and Tuesdays on 101.9 FM in Hyderabad respectively) besides yours truly. I am struggling to be regular but trying to find my foot on the slot on Saturdays, should be alternate Saturdays to start with(Sorry Yasam for making a dent in your slot or maybe you are too busy so in effect its a favour who knows :P).<br />
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Do listen and let me know how you find my recommendations and feel free to rip me off, infact listen to my show and tell me one blunder that I committed, shame me publicly or else those who read the blog and fail to mention I will go ahead and give you a blah in return for failing to catch it. Feel free to forward the adverts, trust me that's absolutely fine with me :)<br />
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Happy Listening <a href="https://www.blogger.com/[http://ncrcalling.com/radio/FM-2015-02-28_05h11m45s-Budget.mp3">[http://ncrcalling.com/radio/FM-2015-02-28_05h11m45s-Budget.mp3</a> ]Trivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905062658375683915.post-20894999285402774562012-05-24T02:46:00.000-07:002012-05-24T02:46:44.102-07:00Radio Mirchi is Number 1 in Hyderabad
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is it petrol or is that Gold that they are dispensing at the
Gas stations, well those days are back when its easy to comprehend why Oil was ever called Black Gold. Those theories seem no longer misplaced
which describe why Middle east had to bear one of the biggest war of recent
times. Thankfully I didn’t fall for Petrol car when I had to go for a new car
few days back and I feel so relieved even though I know Diesel Price is due to
be revised soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What has been the newest around radio, well for the first
time since IPL started, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Times Entertainment has tied up with Gold FM
for the running commentary of IPL Finals and Semi Finals matches. It may be
recalled that a consortium of Times Internet Ltd and Nimbus Communication Ltd
acquired IPL global Internet, mobile and audio rights, along with
television rights in specific territories outside India for four years on a
successful bid of Rs 261.6 crore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other big news was around a big ask by the radio
industry, settlement on the Copyright Bill. There has been too much arm
twisting by the Music companies of late when it comes to what, when and how
often one can play the music released by them. With the Copyright Act(Amendment)
Bill 2012 now passed by the Parliament, it’s clear that the song writers,
artists and performers can claim royalty for their creations. It declares
authors as the owners of the copyright which cannot be assigned to the
producers (read music companies) and therefore Broadcasters need to pay royalty
to the owners of the copyright each time a work of art is broadcast(Read
music).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another point to note especially
keeping Hyderabad music scene in mind, one is banned from bringing out cover
versions for 5 years from the first recording of the original creation. This
now means if you are a band who does cover versions you are much safer to bring
out a cover version of songs which are at least 5 years old. Though the rate of
royalty percentage is still under discussion but the way I see is that, cover
versions may attract lower royalty percentage and therefore there is a risk,
that most stations start playing more cover versions. This also means, that
fresh songs come on radio much faster as radio stations can directly pay the
artists rather than taking permission from the music companies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lets quickly come to the RAM news, well for the second time
RAM has released what they call the sweeps for the 9 cities. Remember RAM was
first started off with Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai and then expanded to Kolkata
and since last year September they have been releasing RAM sweeps for
additional 9 cities, namely Lucknow, Kanpur, Jaipur, Nagpur, Chennai,
Hyderabad, Pune, Indore, and Ahemdabad. From the last sweep which was released
for the weeks 27-34 in October 2011 it was Red FM which was the leader in
Hyderabad with 28% Listenership. But the one released last week for the Week
6-13 of 2012 it seems Mirchi has taken over as the Number 1 station in
Hyderabad and that too with 35% listenership, it sure is massive rise for
Mirchi in Hyderabad. Is it that Red FM went on a slide because they embraced
Multi lingual programming?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The good news for Hyderabad is that people are sticking to a
particular station for longer duration; the time they spent at a radio station
before changing the channel has doubled during day hours for both weekday and Weekends.
The number of listeners listening to the radio (any station) has decreased
during morning hours but has increased substantially for evening and late night
hours. The number of people listening to the radio at home has decreased by 6%
but that has been well compensated by the addition of listeners in the
cars/travel/conveyance. Overall the growth in listenership has been about 30 %.
Most of the new listeners are those working in executive positions and those
working in clerical/supervisory position with atleast graduation as a minimum
degree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Quickly moving to the India Radio Forum Awards 2012, RJ Sheker
from Big 92.7 FM Hyderabad won the Best Breakfast Show and RJ Bezawada Basha of
Radio Mirchi Vijaywada (Mirchi Gold) won the RJ of the Year 2012 award.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As of RAM ratings for Delhi, Fever FM continues to be Number
1 radio station in Delhi with 18.4% Listenership and is number 8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
in Bangalore, 4th in Mumbai and 5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> in Kolkata. Gold FM remains at
Number 2 with 17.7% listenership in Delhi, Number 3 in Mumbai and Number 9 in
Kolkata. Radio Mirchi is Number 3 in Delhi with 16% listenership and is number
1 in Kolkata and Mumbai and Number 2 in Bangalore. Radio City is Number 4 with
12.3% listenership in Delhi, Number 1 in Bangalore and Number 2 in Mumbai. Red
FM is number 5 in Delhi with 12.2% listenership, number 4 in Bangalore and 6 in
Mumbai and Kolkatta. Big FM is number 6 in Delhi with 8.5%, number 3 in
Bangalore, 5 in Mumbai and 2 in Kolkatta. Radio one is Number 7 in delhi with
4.6% and number 7 in Bangalore and Kolkatta and Number 9 in Mumbai. Oye FM is
Number 8 in Delhi with 4% listenership and is number 10 in Mumbai and number 8
in kolkatta. Rainbow FM is number 9 in delhi with 2.2% and is number 5 in
Bangalore, number 8 in Mumbai and number 10 in kolkatta. Hits FM is number 10
in Delhi with 2% listenership.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t expect many changes in the RAM Ratings except that
Musical chair would once again be played out between Fever FM and Gold FM in
Delhi. As for Rainbow FM I don’t expect any drastic improvement but the fact
that Prasar Bharati has employed a PR agency to help them build their brand
should offer some change in their programming. Radio One has kind of settled in
their number 7 position across cities with their International flavor. As for
International stations I scanned HumFM in Dubai after a long time and did not
find their morning jock creating any impact. Prateeka on RedFM is her usual self but seems like stuck with nothing new . When it comes to evening shows I feel that there is nothing like RJ
Naved of Radio<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mirchi Delhi, he surely
has come a long way from a nobody whose only claim to fame earlier was that he
was picked from a RJ Hunt. And no he is not the same RJ Naved who is rumored to
be the architect of Present UP Chief Minister’s sweep in the recent elections.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let me also put my thanks to my dear dear friend RJ Narendra
Joshi of Rainbow India FM of Delhi who dropped in the studios on my show to
tell us all that he is the only and India’s first writer to be audio
transcribing movies for the visually challenged people. Some of the movies that
he audio transcribed are Peepli Live, DhobiGhat and Black. So until I write again keep guesing whats that I am going to be doing on my show called Hyperabad on Twin Cities Rainbow FM 101.9</span></div>
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Trivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905062658375683915.post-1109295015279320922012-04-15T20:22:00.000-07:002012-04-19T20:19:07.035-07:00Radio Roundup - April 2012<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">How days fly especially when you have a schedule to manage
and you are born with lazy bones, if that’s too hard to picture then just
imagine me, I am whole of it. :p <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>alright
it’s time to come up with another post on the blog . So whole lot of happenings
and prominently among them is the Shutting down of a Television Channel, yes
the Indian entertainment channel. “Imagine” was launched by NDTV and later
Turner Corp took it over and brought to us many of the “swamvars”, to be honest
few of us use to look forward to them what if the latest one was that of Veena
Malik we still were looking forward to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So all this while we have only heard about the Radio
Channels shutting down their shops, the first of the private radio stations (back
then they were more precisely only radio production houses) had to shut shops
not because they had bad product or had financial trouble running it but thanks
to the Supreme Court. Both Radio Midday and Times FM were asked to vacate the
slots they owned on the state run FM channels and Government was asked to come
up with a policy and hence came the auctioning of FM Radio Licenses. Then the
stations started bleeding, Radio Mirchi shut shop in Pune, Win FM shut shop in
Mumbai, Go 92.5 got ready to shut and numerous other small time players decided
to give up their frequencies. Eventually only 21 out of total of auctioned 37 remained
operational. This brought about a change in the licensing fee structure and with
few other changes came the second round of FM License Auction. This time radio
stations didn’t shut shop in fact Radio Mirchi re- launched their Pune station
and by now Go FM turned into Radio One but they still didn’t stop bleeding. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Phase 2 out of 338 auctioned only 230 got
operational, though few were asked to return their licenses as they ended up
successfully bidding more than 15% of the total licenses which was put up as a
cap. With the third round just about nearby stations are hoping that there be
some crisp guidelines on the Music royalty to be paid by the stations plus
allowing stations to broadcast news and sports. Compare this state with that of
TV Channels, they have no content restriction, you don’t have to go t through
auctioning of the “Frequency” to start broadcasting TV programs, you have a
better product with visuals, you have less operating cost per viewer and high
potential income on the advertising revenue, unlimited viewership and if you
want you can also have subscription fee to cover your distribution costs. And
even then you shut shop! Wow Radio you surely rock the boat much better and in
difficult waters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Its IPL Season and like flies to the sweets, everyone is
after to suck the nectar, as if there is some. Overnight Radio Jockeys are expected
to become Cricket connoisseur cum soothsayers cum experts and few of them do
become making me feel are they misplaced as RJs or damn cricket is in our blood
and hence being “authority” on it comes so easy!. But then if it’s so common as
in our blood then who is going to listen to them, for everyone including
listeners have it in them. Sorry let me change IPL from being like sweets to
like cleavage branding women, for whom men have to fall to. By the way happy
belated world cleavage day, thanks to Poonam Pandey for letting us know. And yeah I guess I am looking forward to her picking a favorite this season from the IPL lot and the “gift”
which she would send him across.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I happen to tune into radioone Mumbai breakfast show and
immediately realized what’s it with stations having “distorted” mike settings,
first it was <a href="https://twitter.com/rjprateeka" target="_blank">prateeka</a> @ Red FM Hyderabad and then just as I ended up preaching
about that I realized my own settings were distorted on my next show and then
came <a href="http://twitter.com/HrishiKay" target="_blank">RJ Hrishi’s</a>. Anyway like they say , s*** happens and I better agree to it
since I wasn’t any better but dude at least Hrishi and me are veterans, Hrishi
much more since his was the first voice that went on air on a privatized FM
Stereo on 15<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Aug 1993 on 102.6 FM in delhi, mine was 4 years later
becoming the first voice to go on air from Bangalore FM airwaves on 31<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
December 1997 on 101.3 FM Metro (back then the station wasn’t even named and
there were no regular shows, this being the only show it would air on an annual
basis as there was a court litigation preventing us from broadcasting
regularly), to be precise it was me and Anita Naidu who went on air together.
Anita Naidu now happens to be the Head Programming of Radio One at Mumbai, the
world seems so small! And if you still have doubts, let me tell you Hrishi and
me studied together at Lucknow Army Public School, with he in the commerce
section and me in sciences. Still think the world isn’t small, alright then me
and Anita Naidu use to listen to the same radio show called “Heartbeat” done by
Deepa Sreekumar at Radio Midday, where we also use to drool over Nikhil
Chinnappa’s radio show, yeah back then he was a RJ, VJing hadn’t happen to him
yet. Aah too much of trivia! time to return to present times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well I would call it IPL fever which has displaced Gold FM
from being number 1 in Delhi, after all they don’t air IPL. So Fever FM is
currently Number 1 and in my opinion should remain there until the end of IPL.
Fever is now Number 1 in Delhi with 18.9 % (4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> in Mumbai, 5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
in Kolkata and 8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> in Bangalore)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>of listeners in12+ Category, Gold FM is number 2 with 18.7% (number 3 in
Mumbai and number 9 in Kolkata), Mirchi is number 3 with 15.7% (number 2 in
Mumbai with 15%, also number 2 in Bangalore with 21.8% and number 1 in Kolkata
with 23.2%) RadioCity is Number 4 with 12.4% (RC is number 1 in Mumbai with
15.4%, number 1 also in Bangalore with 25.8%), Red FM is number 5 with 12%,
BigFM is number 6 with 7.8%(Number 3 in Bangalore with 18%, is number 2 in Kolkata with 17%) , Radioone is number 7 with 4.4%, OyeFM is number 8 with
4.2% , Rainbow FM is number 9 with 2.2% and Hits FM is number 10 with 1.9%.
Gold FM’s show aired between 10-11AM is still the country’s number 1 show with
maximum listeners tuning in, a total of 6 Lakhs 53 thousand! Massive figure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">More on Radio sometime soon, keep dropping by and enjoy my latest Hyperabad show in Enclosures :)</span></div>Trivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905062658375683915.post-66280929560372994472012-03-29T07:39:00.000-07:002012-03-29T20:39:49.486-07:00First post on Hyderabad FM Radio Review<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can very well hang my head in shame when it comes to my
sincerity in writing this blog, damn I don’t even know why I write this or why
cant I get my head and fingers together to write few paragraphs on this blog,
the blog which is my own!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lets quickly get back to business, its another matter of
shame that there are very few blogs which are there on radio or damn! it could
even be greater shame that there might be plentiful but its me who is not aware
of them :p<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So radio is moving on, like a pendulum its swinging from one
side to another and I don’t know if you feel about it the same. Let me share my
perspective on why I say that. So I moved to Hyderabad almost a year <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>back, and there was one station and RJ which I
instantly fell for, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hook line and sinker!,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>even though she would host an all telugu
show. Telugu is a language which I know nothing of, though I do understand a
bit here and there of other south Indian languages, so considering that ,
falling for that station and RJ meant <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>she was really good. Time moved on and slowly
she moved on as well to doing a bilingual and trilingual show though still it
was more of telugu but I started understanding her conversations and jock talks
plus the music became bilingual, which started making me more at ease. For me
she was one of the best Jock that I had heard in recent times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However just as I was listening to that channel few days
back with her being on the mike I realized that the station had lost its USP,
the sound was no longer “crisp”, high energy became more of “shouting”, the
sweetness of high frequency voice became more of a shrill and in an attempt to
sound “uber cool” her ride on the songs started becoming irritating for
they would land right on to the vocals of the song. I must say it takes a lot
of flak and self-restraint and bulldozing in the mind to stay away from riding
on a song, for trust me its such a high when you do it, its like zipping on a
road with you in the cockpit piloting an airplane, its painful for the rest
both on the airplane and outside, but you get the juice of your life. However
if you can manage purely out of intuition to land where the vocals end and
finish off your yapp where the next vocals start then it becomes equally
pleasurable for your listeners as well but does that happen? In this jock’s
case naah, not on the days and times when I tuned in so what did I do, I just
moved on to the next channel or the narcissist king that I am I moved on to
playing my own on air recording which is equally good in fueling for my high.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I must admit that I haven’t kept myself updated on the
recent developments on the On air playback softwares but I doubt if there is a
software which tells you in the song where all you as a jock can ride on with
your yapp, though RCS does tell you when the vocal in the song is beginning so
most of the jocks try to zip on the song at the beginning but never in the
middle, for the system doesn’t tell you when you must stop. This station
unfortunately doesn’t just have this problem alone, looks like the one who
stiches their sound is also loading himself with a lot of ear wax for the sound
fabric is also bad, someone should fine tune frequency response of her mike,
you cant listen to someone shouting at you and that too when you set the
expectation of being a music station but end up becoming a talk station during
this show. Remember barring the on air talent everything else is achievable
with the technology and there is no doubt that she is oodles of talent, one of the few real high energy jock,s she can
very well stand in the league of Nikhil Chinnappa and Nitin(Jonathan) when it
comes to firing maximum number of words per seconds so people that be out there
,please do something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wish I started scanning the channels in Hyderabad for the good
thing is most of the stations are returning to playing bilingual which I think is
because they want to once again be in preparation for the next wave of FM
Stations due for auction by second half of this year. Radio-one has once again
shown the path, they have been the most daring stations right from their days
of Radio Midday and even when they were Go 92.5 they led the path until the
time when they were on the verge of extinction due to loses and had to listen
to their investors and change to one of the masses station. Radio one recently
again went all international and I wish Anil, Anita, Anjaan and loads of my
other friends from the gang of real radio enthusiasts as I call them, for not
just success but whole lot of innovation and market leadership.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Quickly summing up the positions, Gold FM still is number 1
in delhi with 19.1% of listenership, second is Fever FM with 18.9%, third is
Mirchi with 15.2%. Radio City is fourth with 12.4%, fifth is RedFM <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with12.1% <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and sixth is Big FM with 7.5%. Radio One is
Seventh with 4.7%, Eight is Oye FM with 3.9% and Ninth is Rainbow with 2.4%.
Hits the only other English station is tenth with 2.1% listenership in the 12+
category as per RAM data for the period mid feb to mid march 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">10-11AM slot of Gold FM is the most popular show in terms of
listeners tuning into. Gold FM is third in Mumbai with 13.9% listenership and 9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
in Kolkata with 3.3% Listenership<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>.
Rainbow is 5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> in Bangalore with 6.3% listenership, 10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
in Kolkatta with 2.4% listenership and 9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> in Mumbai with 4.2%
listenership.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<em>If you have nothing better to listen to on the radio, you can bore yourself by listening into my latest show </em><a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncrcalling.com%2Fradio%2FFM-2012-03-26_16h01m04s.mp3&h=DAQHyQjSPAQHKCDmbpLTZwAGbE7a3xqMx8KNSjE0fpZWP6w" target="_blank"><em>here</em></a>Trivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905062658375683915.post-87775488341089154562011-04-20T01:42:00.000-07:002011-04-20T03:20:48.694-07:00Look who is the new Number 1 FM Radio Station in DelhiRadio is a very very very personal publicly available companion. A companion whom inspite of dating for the whole life without a formal legal marriage one doesn’t get threatened, or get to face the pangs of illness and thereby nurturing or get to have to take to shopping. Best is you don’t get those nasty looks from the society who think if you are not marrying the one whom you date, then you should be being shot in the public for propagating a culture devoid of moral values.<br /><br />Also I am not getting into the details of the stupidity which our society displays by accusing you for those un-moralistic acts when the truth is that, its our innocent radio which probably might have been giving the winds to your oh so lovey dovey associations. Thanks to such stupidity else radio would have been dead long ago. The same radio which in India has grown from This is All India Radio, the news read by… to, AIR FM Stereo all the time in Shibani’s voice. The private stations well they started on a high except perhaps maybe Radio Midday and Times FM which technically being dead can be safely omitted for the sake of KISS(Keep it simple samjhe? )<br /><br />Okay go ahead and loathe me for giving that extra respect to the set of radio stations (run by AIR) which appears to you in your imagination as the one with ragged clothes(not jeans else you would have drooled over it), dirt all over which needs a good wipe by you to figure out what is there really. And not to mention with voices which appear to you as those coming from the long dug and long covered graves , after all, the Jocks out there have to rotate themselves a good 270 degrees if not full 360 degrees to push all those buttons and levers and kick the butts of the analogue machines which include even the spool tape machines, all this, while they are happily chatting to glory with you. Mind you this is the real reason of why sometimes they appear to be sounding as if they are dying or rising from the death.<br /><br />Okay so that’s not why I decided to write this today, I mean those reasons stick to being truth like that mole sticks to your skin, lifelong and even beyond and therefore even now, the real reason, the reason of now, has been the RAM rumblings of late. Aha let me enjoy the tease, yes I better after all that’s what one should do when you are the winner and had been called under dogs for ages.<br /><br />I mean not long ago Mirchi came out with campaign of how everyone believes and understands that radio means them, and no one else, so you be at whatever position it doesn’t matter, and this was to counter the then rising threat from Fever FM. And this came out from the radio station which not only had the first mover advantage (as a Private player) but also remained an undisputed and unchallenged Number one for then 6 years and now for almost almost 8 years before they got displaced. Yes Mirchi this year got displaced by Fever FM in the Week 9 (ending 5th March 2011) which became the New Number One in Delhi.<br /><br />Everyone said it had to have happened, notwithstanding Naved’s relentless raising the bar performance with the Drive down show called Sunset Samosa, unfortunately no statistics can capture his performance and so truly RAM could never do that. But since I am writing this article based on RAM ratings, I should stay away from critiquing RAM atleast in this very post :D.<br /><br />Fever came with a calculated game plan , a plan atleast 4 years late. They had a worldwide reputation (Virgin Radio had) of rising to Number 1 in flat 90 days but here it took them years, but man they did it and was it not so obvious that they would? They worked hard towards their plan and finally got to Number 1. I personally don’t like their dual jock humour show (is it breakfast show or still a noon show? ) the reason being they too shamelessly copied (which I am told these days is the number 1 skill needed to be successful) our Hasto Ke Ghar Baste kind of humour but that aside they kept their focus on listeners and did it publicly and over a period of time. Their commitment was all out for everyone to see and I am glad it paid off. But then that’s not what I am trying to write this article for, so lets get on to what I want to write here.<br /><br />What no one knew and anticipated was how the ICC World Cup will throw their plans and hard work out of the window. Hehehe O man hail the ICC World Cup, it threw Fever to Number 3 and took Mirchi to Number 2 and brought a Station at Number One which never had a plan to become Number one, never cared where it was on the charts and doesn’t even now care or appreciate that it is the Number one station of the National Capital Region and mind you NCR is not the national capital region just based on its classification by Government (for whatever reasons) but it leads the country as the city with maximum number of active listeners year after year. This city boasts of some really great Jocks and therefore its an achievement which should be toasted, cheered, displayed, flaunted and if I was at the helm of affairs at this station I would have ATLEAST got a promo made which would have subtly mocked at all the other radio stations(subtly coz okay because damn it’s a Public Broadcasting Station)<br /><br />Yes FM Gold 104.6 in Delhi is the NEW NUMBER ONE station in the ALL 12+ TG Group. 2 Weeks back it jointly became Number 1 and as a gesture of being considerate, let Mirchi share that spot then and now its solo number one for the week ending 26th March 2011. Cricket fever will stay for one more week and then things should change but the fact is that at this moment a Public Broadcasting FM Station is Number one!. And in the world where we salute the rising sun(shining sun to be precise) I hail FM Gold and want to congratulate all the folks who are associated with this station and whoever ever worked or contributed to its success and achievement. I know the people at the helm of the station wouldn’t even note this achievement of the station and to them I want to tell, that by celebrating this success they will be celebrating their listeners participation, association and loyalty and so they better do else they will be failing in their commitment to the public of this nation (this is my opinion).<br /><br />Mirchi and Fever I am hoping this will take you back to the drawing board and bring you back to the ground minus all the pride and perhaps false ego if there was one, and maybe maybe have you bring out some of the Natural programing in your offering.<br /><br />And for all those who can’t take a new Number 1 especially the ones who were displaced and are going to say well Sports is something which they are NOT allowed to carry yet and therefore in a nation where Cricket is Religion this was bound to happen. To them I want to ask, well what do you have to say about 10-11am Slot of Gold FM which has the maximum number of listeners as per RAM? No cricket was aired between 10-11am, damn this slot has 7.33 Lakhs listeners as per last RAM Ratings and is the number one show at least for the past 3 weeks. All this when my memory fails me to recollect when in the past a show garnered more than 7 Lakh listeners in a RAM Report. So its better to just accept that there is some ‘Gold’ in FM Gold which is shining and its not just Cricket which is giving it that shine.<br /><br />Cheers!Trivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905062658375683915.post-88017845211975403452009-04-19T19:32:00.000-07:002009-04-22T02:04:19.616-07:00RAM Week 14, 2009And it is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Monday</span>, time to discuss the new ratings released for the week gone by a fortnight ago. No Surprises or major movement this one week however some interesting turns do peep out and like I was mentioning the time ahead is interesting; Interesting because there is a major tussle with what listeners are going to chose among 2 of their all time favorite passions. And if you are wondering what are they well, politics and cricket they both are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">junoon</span> and sometimes I wonder if we are really that <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">passionate</span> about them, then why <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">don't</span> we better them, why <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">don't</span> we participate, contribute. What is it about us that makes us so lazy?, when will we have a perfect Cricket team and the team of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">MPs</span>. Well the good news is that of late more often I get to hear that India is just right there up, at the top on cricket and with the kind of '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Pappu</span>' Campaign on voting I guess there is some shakeups and betterment which could be expected in the more than usual voter turnout this year.<br /><br />Okay but lets come back to RAM, I do have a nasty <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">habit</span> of digressing as if I am the official <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">spokesperson</span> on every darn subject and matter (though how I wish I was ;) ) . Alright <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Mirchi</span> continues to be on top and I often wonder <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">isn't</span> it so boring to just stay where you are? (what if it is the top where you are), especially when they say that, up at the top its so lonely and threatening. Anyway the kind of 6 years spent at the top I am sure they have gotten used to, well Private radio stations in Delhi are completing their 6 ( or 7 years ? ) and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Mirchi</span> has been on top all the way.<br />Fever continues to be Number 2 refusing to let Gold FM take away that position but man Gold is right there with the feet up in air only to land on that podium spot any moment. Fever is riding high thanks to Delhi Daredevils sponsorship (and as we see now Delhi Daredevils are registering wins, so it will continue to pay off well) and Gold FM is starting to get roaring, thanks to Elections getting into action time. Just for folks who love numbers, Fever registered 16.9% <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">listenership</span> and Gold FM registered, well 16.8% .<br />Radio City and Red FM are neck to neck and are yet again tied up at Number 4, and for some reason I would prefer Red over City, maybe maybe because i have old memories for Red or maybe because Jose(<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">mumbai</span> based jock) and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Sachin</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Swati</span>, still manage to catch my attention.<br />Number 5 is Radio One with 6.6% <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">listenership</span> and is on the decline but still better than <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">mumbai</span> where it manages to get even lesser numbers, however Bangalore is their best bet where they last week got 13.3% and are at number 4 (and why they <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">shouldn't</span>, after all their PD is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Anil</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Machado</span>, someone with whom yours <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">truly</span> has spent hours at AIR studios planning radio shows and also the fact that their <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Programme</span> Manager and Jock, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Anjaan</span> moving to the final round of 'worlds best job' and is off to Australia for the final round and getting good media coverage and spotlight)<br />Number 6 is BIG FM, nothing worthy to talk about, Number 7 is Meow and must be happy to hit that milestone of 5% this week. Like I mentioned last week none of the bottom 3 have ever managed to hit 5% and its quite an achievement for them. Playing 2 <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Hindi</span> classics in an hour has hit HITS very badly as this is the first RAM ratings since they implemented that change and they are now <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">plummeted</span> to 2.6% where they are tied for the 8<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">th</span> position with Rainbow India FM. I can feel that this change at Hits is triggered by the recession and I mentioned to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Sarthak</span> the other day that we Jockeys are not any better than prostitutes where the larger part of society thinks we enjoy what we do however the truth is that its nothing less than a rape with every song that we play. Man when would we get to decide on what needs to go on air?<br /><br />Man Radio Jockeys are often used as a titillation the way Movie producers use 'item numbers' to sell their <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">awful</span> movies and I hear every second radio listeners wants to be a Radio Jockey!! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Bhagwan</span> tum <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">sabka</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">bhala</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">kare</span>! see you next <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Monday</span> :)Trivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905062658375683915.post-26945111257846674602009-04-15T23:20:00.000-07:002009-04-19T00:21:56.469-07:00<p align="justify"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>RAM WEEK 13, 2009</strong></span> </span></p><p align="justify"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Recession has hit everywhere including radio and it has been months since most of the stations have filled their vacancies। I guess the recession has hit blogging as well because this blog was to have been written on a weekly basis and here it is now left to a mere quaterly। 2009 still has a lot left in it and with the Sensex soaring on the first bull run, the winds of recession might just die out। </span></p><br /><p align="justify">Anyway the last quarter hasnt been much in terms of happening on the radio front except for whole lot of people moving out and for the first time one could say, not to greener pastures, infact the story has been sad as most of them are now left on their own without a radio job. Meow almost has revamped their RJ line up, Big lost a big chunk, Mirchi has some new voices and the list goes on. There are no salary increments in the radio industry and its a bliss to have your job intact. The last set of people who made the most just before the recession panic set in were Naved and Anant and Saurab, where Anant and Saurab, returned from BIG and Naved returned without even joining BIG ;) .</p><br /><p align="justify">However keeping the focus of this blog to just RAM and radio programming, there have been some surprises during the last quarter. Mirchi still continues to be Number one and its a mystery, the only deserving show appears to be Sunset Samosa and Naved has really upped the ante by putting in real good 'sizzlers', if I may call them, in his show.</p><br /><p align="justify">For once FM Gold has moved down the list and as far as I remmeber RAM has had fixed Number 1 and Number 2, however the week 12 sprung a surprise, for the first time shaking FM Gold and displacing it to the Number 3 position. Fever FM is the new number 2 and has maintained its position now for the second week running. It is going to be interesting to see how long Fever can occupy that position as with Elections round the corner Gold FM will see a surge with people wanting to know the latest political reviews and results which Gold is going to have an edge over. Fever though has already showed a drop of 4% in this week and now has 15.4% listeners listening to it as against FM Gold which currently has 14.4%; so the difference already has narrowed down. Interesting to note will be if and when the Number 1 position is shaken and by whom. My guess is, it will be Gold which could do it in near future and that could be a biased guess with me being a public broadcaster but just listen to any Gold presenter and Mirchi's Khoobsurat(Akriti I guess is her name) and you would understand where I am coming from.</p><br /><p align="justify">Fever indeed has come a long way, In week 1 as you would recall Fever was on number 5 and was calling for suggestions from their listeners to make changes in their programming. Radio City which was Number 3 in Week1 after their programming revamp, and Red FM, which was number 4 in Week1, both are now jointly at Number 4.</p><br /><p align="justify">Radio 1 which was Number 6 remains at the same position but due to the tie at Number 4 is cosmetically placed at Number 5. Big FM was number 7 and there is no change in its ranking. However the bottom 3 have had some shuffle. Between Week1 and now there have been major changes with Meow and Hits. Meow has increased their music air play and now airs 7 songs in an hour as against earlier of 3-4 and Hits is now playing 2 hindi classics in an hour. Its like dropping off their pants since Meow was a Talk station and with 7 songs its as good as a CHR and Hits was a niche Hits station and now they are a vanilla Hits station. This change has spiked up percentage points for Meow and Hits both, Meow is now breaking the 5% barrier which none of the bottom 3 have been able to do so far, Meow currently is at 4.5% and except for last week when it dropped, has been seeing a constant rise in percentage points. Hits is now teasingly displacing Rainbow from the Number 9 position, for this week Hits regained the number 9 position with 3.7% whereas Rainbow for the first time that I recall, has gone as low as 3%.</p><br /><p align="justify">I have often asked this question and stated that revamp in programming the way we do currently is good to spike up your listenership but is not good to sustain that surge; for there is nothing left for your old, die hard true listeners who, once the change in programming is through, leave for other stations and they go away with a bad taste, a feeling of being cheated. There is a huge space for the 'transition' agencies who would smoothen the implementation of change in programming. City revamped and saw a spike but then is lossing its steam, Radio 1 is the biggest example where in Mumbai they use to have a die hard listenership of about 5% when they were niche (Go)and after all of the innovative changes and a decent CHR implementation they are now at 6.4 %; so is it worth to lose your listeners (P1) only to get the newer ones?, the rentention of which is going to be a new challenge and with every new entrant in the already crowded space of CHR, that pie is anyway going to be slashed further?</p><br /><p align="justify">Isnt aa bull mujhe maar any different?</p>Trivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905062658375683915.post-5625190432508387622009-01-30T23:19:00.000-08:002009-01-30T23:54:39.097-08:00RAM - Week 1 2009<div style="text-align: justify;">Radio is strange, it is very difficult for Program Directors to determine what kicks in for their audiences and then sell that to the advertisers. After all Radio is commercial entity no matter however we choose to defy it and say it loud that anything 'that' close to ME cant be something where number and figures and money matters, but buddy face it! the world has gone commercial <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">aeons</span> ago.<br /></div><br />So there have been many different methods in the world of radio by which one gets independent figures however the one that has caught the fancy of commercial radio in India is RAM Ratings (Radio Audience Measurement) who release data every week for the week went by a fortnight ago.<br /><br />There are few stations who argue against it and few who favour it depending on which side of their bread gets buttered. So there have been many stories of how stupid this whole method is but then <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">isn't</span> the same about the programming that each of these stations churn out in the name of being 'different'. Well if you are reading this with genuine interest than I believe you agree that the ratings are there to stay and one has to follow them to survive in the market. So niche stations <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">don't</span> follow it as sanctum-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">sanctorium</span> and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">CHR</span> stations have no choice but to follow it for it offers a distinct differentiation in otherwise their 'run-of-the-mill' programming.<br /><br />Alright I am going to present my own perspective on it starting from the first week of this year and see where we and these stations head.<br /><br />Lets look first at Delhi where we have 8 private commercial stations which has 6 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">CHR</span> and 2 Niche and then 2 Public FM stations one is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">CHR</span> and the other has heady mix of Gold numbers and News and Sports.<br /><br />For the year 2008 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Mirchi</span> remained as undisputed Number 1 followed by Gold FM. The other positions were all too volatile with the bottom 3 being almost fixed with Meow FM at Number 10, Hits FM at number 9 and Rainbow FM at Number 8.<br /><br />In the year 2009 for the first week, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Mirchi</span> has remained as Number 1 followed by Gold FM. The third position is held by Radio City which has displaced Fever FM on the Number 3 position. We have a new number 4 as well in Red FM which was earlier the number 6. Fever FM has slipped 2 placed post their major campaign calling listeners to suggest changes, a clear indication that their Programming team has no clue what to do to gain market share. Remember Virgin radio which provides all programming and technical support to Fever,had in the past made their stations as Number 1s all over the world however India <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">hasn't</span> given them the similar treatment. Virgin in UK which is now under Times of India Management and changed their name too have lost a significant number of their listeners post the revamp there. Looks like revamp <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">isn't</span> the taste of the season, so advise to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">PDs</span> stick to your guns and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">don't</span> try to bring in change for change per <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">se</span> is welcome however I have rarely seen the execution of that change <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">conducive</span> of acceptance. And it is true for every field, all organisations bring in consultants to advise them of the changes but alas not as many to execute them. (By the way we are trying to develop that expertise <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">at least</span> in the radio sphere in India where we would execute changes for them).<br /><br />Anyway Number 7 in Delhi is Radio One who for substantial part of 2008 had been number 3 with their <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Fatafat</span> campaign, Big is Number 8 who also in the past had been number 3 now having badly lost out thanks to their <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">aristocratic</span> functioning where changes are pushed from the top without any thought to the local market and with their Prime time jocks having all departed. Rainbow is number 8, Hits Number 9 and Meow Number 10.<br /><br />Meow is in for some change, they are trying to go niche with bilingual, having replaced their Noon Jock who use to bring out their 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">th</span> most heard hour at their station. Pity that they had to make that change, their noon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">listenership</span> is bound to go down now. Hits and Rainbow are where they are, no changes in their approach or programming and are happy to be where they are.<br /><br />If you have been a radio listener in Delhi or still listen to radio feel free to post in your comments on how close it matches with your perception of their ratings in terms of popularity. Remember the above ratings are overall that is all secs and all age.Trivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905062658375683915.post-26276627319851371202008-08-10T07:11:00.000-07:002008-08-10T11:11:14.237-07:00The Advent of FM Broadcast in IndiaThe Nation with more than couple of billion ears still rely on audible invisible radio waves to feed it with news and entertainment. Most of these ears still have radio as the only source of entertainment, enriching their lives, fuelling dreams, cementing love and bonds, giving wings to learning and bringing the world as close to themselves as their own heartbeat, 24 by 7.<br /><br />If it wasn’t the advent of modern times where science unravels so many magic that mystery soon would be an extinct word, then radio would have been the most lethal and potent practice and Jocks those magician and witches touching lives of so many people in ways unimaginable. If it was me who learnt Spoken English (BBC - Professor Grammer and Pop Words), practiced written English (A Date with You(DelhiB), In the Mood(National Channel), HeartBeat(RadioMidday - Blore), Saturday Date(RadioMidday - Mumbai)) through radio then It was Ekam who sealed her first job because the interviewer and she both found liking to this one particular Radio Jockey and his favorite song(<em>read myself, song - Ek Din Fursat mein, Film: Zindagi Rocks</em>). There are numerous such stories and each one has its own unique story about how radio touched and embellished and enriched their lives.<br /><br />So how did radio start in India, well it would be enough if we start this track back from the time we started the FM Broadcast in India. AIR lists July 23, 1977 as the date when the First ever FM Broadcast happened in India and it was from the AIR studios on the Marina beach in Chennai. But this was purely a technological milestone as the programming wasn’t any different from what had been made available through the Medium Wave or Short Wave broadcast (AM Stations) . It took almost another 16 years for it to suddenly get younger and peppier and probably to also change its gender from being the sober, mature male-ish to a more amiable, affable and alluring female-ish. It was 15th August 1993 when first ever Private broadcast went on air from FM Studio in the Broadcasting house (old) off the Parliament Street in Delhi. That was probably the most important of all milestones for the youth of this billion plus country. It kicked in the whole new revolution, suddenly everyone was hooked to these invisible voices, Television took backseat, Radio Jockeys were the rockstars and India ushered into its Golden period of FM Radio Broadcast. <br /><br />Government was making money and TimesFM (now Radio Mirchi) and Radio1 and Radio Midday(now RadioOne)were producing some of the finest radio shows. The present middle age population of the metro in India owe their first crush to TimesFM and Radio1-RadioMidday for everyone fell for one of Yuri, Roshan Abbas, Rajat Kapoor, Sidharth Kannan, Shamshir Luthra, Meenakshi Rani, Shreja RamaChandran, Parvati Rathore, Jaggu, Tarana, Nikhil Chinappa, Malaika, Ravi Iyaar, Cyrus Broacha and so many others. They were the true stars, peoples star for they could afford to sit right in the middle of their fans without having to bother about being mishandled or losing their privacy. Then came the blow from the Supreme court where TimesFM and Radio1-RadioMidday were asked to vacate their slots from the then 5 Commercial FM stations operating in India (4 Metros + Panaji) called AIR FM - I. With it came an end to the Era of English/Western led Radio.<br /><br />Suddenly English JockLinks and Western Music wasnt worth for the radio broadcast and the local languages took over. Most of these jocks adapted local languages and joined AIR Payroll(contracts)until 1st July 2001, when in Bangalore, from their studios in Ambassador Towers, Radio City became the first ever 24 by 7 Private Radio Station to broadcast in India. Rohit Barker and Vera M became the first ever voices to bless this world with their antics and music. Once again Radio used English to communicate with listeners and non local music as the first presentation and it was well received by the listeners. This was to in times to come replicate to the rest of the country with Mirchi launching Indore as their first station and Red FM launching their first station in Mumbai. But very soon it was only Radio City(in Bangalore) and Go FM (in Mumbai) left as the nation's only English broadcasting stations with the rest hatching their chickens on the local language. Radio had moved from being a classy, niche, aspiring (a term I use to mirror the capability of radio to infuse and enthuse its listeners) to just being as one of the listeners and helped radio get its advertisers through mass numbers.<br /><br />GO FM bled and finally died for India wasn’t ready for niche radio yet and the advertisers wanted numbers and this was when the only way one could credibly table numbers was to take one walk down the street for there wasn’t much of a mechanism to present that statistics. Radio lost out on Infotainment and since then till date it has all been an entertainment channel. Round 2 of Private Radio Happened and Zee TV fronting dubious entity which had pushed up the license fee in round 1 wasn’t there to hack up license fee but Reliance led BIG added that mad fuel to the fire and the licenses weren’t coming down a bit. This added the much needed variety to the stations in round 2 but alas radio failed to offer any differentiation. Radio has been just a "one-of-them" and hasn’t yet been able to lead its listeners, failed to give meaningful dreams, that ability to associate a phase of their life with radio. Jockeys are just another voice, typecast, repeated, blared down the eardrum and are just short of becoming nuisance. Maybe, probably as a return of all good work that it did in the past radio is still heard but just heard and not listened to. I will dwell on what radio could do to be listened to in my later blogs.<br /><br /><em>(Names, Dates and facts are true and probably not registered anywhere except in the heart and mind of a true radio freak like myself, the opinions expressed here are completely mine)</em>Trivialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17537002788383651774noreply@blogger.com1