News channel to go on All India Radio

Tuesday October 9 2007 12:09 IST
Samiran Sarangi

BHUBANESWAR: The battle for airwaves is beginning to get hotter.
For all the cut-throat competition between the TV news channels, the All India Radio is gearing up to set on air a dedicated news channel. The enthusiasm for the project is drawn from the report of the Audience Research Bureau under Prasar Bharati, which has termed the venture viable after carrying out an extensive survey across the country.
“Radio is still the most preferred medium for millions as far as news is concerned. We want to cash in on people’s trust and also propel the growing interest in radio,” Director-General (News) P K Bandopadhayaya said.
The channel is expected to go on air during the 11th Plan Period. He was speaking to this paper on sidelines of a ‘Reorientation programme for part-time correspondents’ here on Monday.
Figures state that there are about 35 crore radio listeners in the country at present. Bandopadhayaya said, localising news content would be the other focus area of the public broadcaster during the 11th Plan period.
“We have realised that people are more interested in local news and relate to them easily than what’s happening in distant lands. Hence the news programmes are being structured accordingly,” he said.
AIR might also increase the duration of news-based programmes after conducting a feasibility study. On improving reception quality, DRM technology would be introduced in all the centres to improve the quality of sound and avoid overlapping of sound waves.
The ‘news-on-phone’ service of AIR would also be extended to all the 44 regional news units, including Cuttack. The service has apparently gained immense popularity since it was launched four years back. In places like Kerala, the service receives 30,000 to 40,000 requests every day. Any one can dial 1258 (Hindi) or 1259 (English) to get the latest news over phone.
About allowing private FM stations to broadcast news content, he said quoting Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi that a monitoring mechanism needs to be set up first before considering such a move.

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