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Reinventing the radio
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The radio has made a comeback. Cable TV may have done its damage, but it is precisely the same entertainment biz that is driving the radio into every middle-class home, writes G.N. PRASHANTH.
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From AIR's priceless archival collection
HAS A new radio culture creptin to Bangalore's middle class in the new millennium? That is clearly the impression one gathers in conversations, car drives, and at coffee tables. People were listening to radio earlier all right, but they seem to be listening more keenly today. All India Radio's (AIR) FM Metro channel, Radio City 91 FM, and Radio Indigo vying for listeners is clearly symptomatic of a new urgency to produce infotainment for the radio.
While FM Metro, Radio City 91 FM, and Radio Indigo are similar in terms of genres, there is difference in the production, content and presentation of programmes. While FM Metro is indeed an entertainment channel, it is based on the premise of public service. "We cater to all age groups — children, youth, middle-aged people, and the older generation. There is a programme for each one of these groups. Our entertainment is largely family-based," points out AIR Bangalore Station Director, Jayalal.
The channel's programmes are also bilingual, with Kannada and English presentations. "Of the 17 hours on FM Metro, we ensure that there is thrust on Kannada. We air Kannada-based programmes for about 10 hours. Focus is on the local language and entertainment for the Kannada-speaking people who are the majority. That is our advantage. People are coming back to us even if there is the impression that other radio channels are popular," says Mr. Jayalal.
The Kannada programmes include chat shows, film songs, film-based programmes, old Kannada songs, full-length interviews of people who have made significant contributions to society, with focus on the contributions, and the like. Hindi and English programmes are aired over the remaining seven hours. While Hindi comprises popular film songs and the classics, English-based programmes offer Western music.
The channel has space for public service too even as its focus is entertainment. There is the hourly news, public announcements on policy, development, and health, and sponsored programmes.
Radio City, backed by Star, going by its programming, caters by and large to the English-speaking middle class. While there are Kannada programmes too, the representation for Kannada is significantly lower compared to FM Metro. The channel has the usual fare that includes chat shows, old Hindi film songs, interactive sessions on music, interviews with personalities, rock and pop, updates on the basics of the City, career tips and the like.
Radio Indigo is clear on its audience. The channel has the best of western/international music that includes rock, classical, blues, and jazz. There are interesting takes on bands, music personalities, best of top ten, on women and careers, travel, and sport. The thrust, however, is on Western music. While the station is based in Bangalore, it has listeners all over the country. It broadcasts on the Worldspace satellite platform and reaches audiences throughout Asia.
Radio Indigo is clear about the audience it is addressing: the English-speaking middle class, even if an international one. Says Jagadeesh, in charge of Business and Operations: "We have a niche and growing audience, and this is an audience that knows what it wants."
Unlike FM Metro, and even to a certain extent Radio City, Radio Indigo makes no gesture to a non-English-speaking audience. While AIR combines entertainment with public service, Radio City and Radio Indigo focus on entertainment. A close observation of the nomenclatures of the programmes offered by the three channels is reflective of not only the cultural markers they wish to cultivate but also of the audience in mind.
How these channels would stand up to competition among one another in the coming days would depend on how they would retain their existing audience, and how they would infiltrate, if they prefer to, an audience other than their own. This can be done by sticking to audience-specific content: contents that the audience has always been used to, or by cultivating new cultural idioms for the same audience or for a new audience they hope to draw. Bangalore is set for interesting dynamics in its radio culture with more stations expected to set up base and fight for space.
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Metro Plus
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