India tunes in again

You wake up, turn the knob, carry the contraption to the bathroom and place it on the closed toilet seat. You shower to your favourite chartbuster.

You wake up, turn the knob, carry the contraption to the bathroom and place it on the closed toilet seat. You shower to your favourite chartbuster. You dress for work, and surf through stations and while you8217;re stuck in a traffic snarl, you even SMS the punch line for an open-ended joke that might win you a goody bag. There8217;s a name for you, it8217;s Radio Junkie. And if you8217;re wondering when and how you got addicted, read on.

In the beginning, it was just the music, coming to you from a National or Phillips radio before the major names entered the market. Time happened, the devices got slicker and today, some of them share pocket space with your wallet, comb or house keys. Remember the time when radio in India meant just AIR FM? Sure you do, but boy are you glad that all these corporates came in and rescued you as well as the music!

8220;It8217;s the radio jockeys, man,8221; says Kunal Malhotra, a young media professional. Radio jockeys are your new best friends, helping you make excuses for being late at work, telling you where the traffic is at its murderous worst, cracking the corniest jokes and of course, playing the latest chartbusters.

8220;People tune in because they want to listen to music. In addition, they also want information but that has to be made available in a fun way,8221; says RJ Harssh, who co-hosts Radio City 91.1 FM8217;s popular morning show, Whatte Fun Mornings, with RJ Archanaa in Mumbai.

The first notable sign of the revolution were seen nearly four years ago, when certain inexpensive cell phone models brought out by Nokia included a radio as part of their 8216;media8217; services. The older generation remembers radio shows primarily for the film music and some old classics of the West. Today, there are two kinds of radio: the desi formula that consists of a little gupshup, thode games, and bahut saara music. And there8217;s Worldspace Satellite Radio, which is seriously just about the music, no frills.

But if you thought television is threatening to eclipse every other medium, relax, radio honchos aren8217;t worried. 8220;TV is a distant medium, print is for the masses and the radio is for me. That8217;s the relationship the people have with radio, it8217;s a personal, localised connect,8221; says Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City and President, Association of Radio Operators of India. She8217;s right. In the past few years the country has opened up to interacting live and on air. RJs are interpreters of maladies, offering possible solutions and playing music for those who8217;re awaiting their turn. Meow, India8217;s first women8217;s-only radio station, even has a show that discusses sex on air and a caller helpline for women facing violence. But the scene wasn8217;t so 8220;happening8221; before. Since the 1999 decision of the Central Government, liberalising regulations for setting up private radio stations, a good deal of activity has been happening on the ground. More than a dozen private radio stations have started operations at big and small centres including the four metros, with Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata having got wired up in the last five years.

In 2005, the Indian Government floated the second round of bids for the setting up of private FM stations at 70 additional cities throughout the country and from the 338 licences that were offered in 91 cities, 280 were picked up. The numbers are talking. Whoever said video killed the radio star?