Radio Radiating

 

Neha negi

When Guglielmo Marconi invented radio, he wouldn’t have dreamed in his wildest dreams the purposes this device was going to serve in years to come. From being a mere instrument to break important news segments and acting as spy-communication channel among secret societies in the years of the great wars, radio has sure come a long way. It has now shockingly transformed into a medium where people can whine to agony-aunts and agony-uncles about their love lives and receive didactic assistance for fighting predicaments on issues ranging from how to put on make-up correctly to how they can ensure a smooth, long life of the carburetor of their Harley Davidson.

 

Radio is no longer a medium to be easily ignored. Gone are the days when people would rather consider it a blab. It is, in fact considered a frivolously serious medium of mass communication. Especially the FM channels of today; it can be said that they are on a secret mission to mould the society without even letting people know that they are coaxing their philosophical notions and opinions. These channels are influenced by public opinion and in turn influence the same.

 

There are 10 FM channels today in Delhi which are Radio City (91.1 FM), Big (92.7FM), Red (93.5FM), Radio One (94.3 FM), Delhi’s Hit (95 FM), Radio Mirchi (98.3 FM), Rainbow (102.6 FM), Gold (106.4 FM), Fever (104 FM), Meow (104.8 FM). Except for Rainbow and Gold, which are mouthpieces of the Government; all others have private ownership.

 

These are more popular among the masses because of the clarity of sound of Frequency Modulated stations, a virtue most Amplitude Modulated (AM) stations and Short Wave (SW) or Medium Short Wave (MSW) stations miss. With most cell phones of today having in-built radio features in them, FM radio can be accessed from anywhere and can be taken anywhere. “Long hours of commuting would have been a pain if it weren’t for these FM channels, they make the strenuous bus journey bearable,” quotes Kanchan, a daily commuter.

 

      The popularity of these radio channels can be determined by the number of callers that phone-in to express their opinions on the issues at hand. Sometimes the callers have to wait and hold on for hours on the phone for their turn, and they happily do that just for the thrill of being on radio, on air!! “Whether I am doing by everyday chores or just sitting idle, I never switch the radio off”, says Alka Sharma, a housewife, “because of my son’s board exams we have wrapped up the TV, so radio is my only medium for entertainment when I am alone at home”, she adds. Radio is also very helpful for drivers of call-centre cabs, who have to drive all through the night and in the wee hours of the morning. “It helps us not to fall asleep” jokes Shankar, a cabby.

 

There are different patterns of programmes that are aired, which vary on factors like the time-slot and the target audience. Early in the morning (around 4 A.M.-6 A.M.) most stations play spiritual music, even ‘Bhajans’. Then, some contemporary music in the hours that follow, because that is when most of the people travel. After that, in the noon slot, most stations focus on women-centric programmes and that is the time when most ‘phone-in’ programmes are aired. In the evening the focus again shifts to new beats because most youngsters tune-in to radio around this time. Late at night, agony-aunts and agony-uncles rule the radio sets of Delhi; be it Love-Guru of radio city, Dr. Love of Radio Mirchi or Radio Host, Anil of Meow FM which is the latest FM radio station in Delhi.

 

A lot of people religiously tune in to these programmes but the basic reason people swear-by for their affection towards radio is ‘Music’; and when it comes to radio the most preferred channels are “Delhi’s Hitz 95 FM” and “Fever 104 FM”, though Meow is fast becoming the favorite of many. But, still many people still are loyal to the earliest FM channel that is “Rainbow”.

 

FM has indubitably become a very important part of the urbane-hip life people lead in the city. Its popularity is spreading like a wild and people not following it are certainly missing out on a lot.

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