Radio
Broadcasting
All India Radio (AIR), officially known since 1956 as Ākāshvāṇī (literally,
"Voice from the Sky"), is the national public radio
broadcaster of India and
a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1930, it is the sister service of Prasar
Bharati's Doordarshan, the national public television broadcaster. AIR
has covered more than 99% of the Indian Population as per the latest information
given by Minister of Information and Broadcast. All India Radio is one of the
largest radio networks in the world. Its headquarters is at the Akashvani
Bhavan in New Delhi. Akashvani Bhavan houses the Drama Section, the
FM Section and the National Service.Doordarshan Kendra
(Delhi) offices are also located on the sixth floor at
Akashvani Bhavan.
In British India,
broadcasting began in July 1923 with programmes by the Radio Club of Mumbai and
other radio clubs. According to an agreement of 23 July 1927, the private
Indian Broadcasting Company LTD (IBC) was authorized to operate two radio
stations; the Mumbai station began on 23 July 1927, and the Calcutta station
followed on 26 August 1927. On 1 March 1930, however, the company went into
liquidation. The government took over the broadcasting facilities, beginning
the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on 1 April 1930 (on an
experimental basis for two years, and permanently in May 1932). On 8 June 1936;
the ISBS was renamed All India Radio.
On 1 October 1939 the
External Service began with a broadcast in Pushtu;
it was intended to counter radio propaganda from
Germany directed to Afghanistan, Iran and the Arab nations. When India became
independent in 1947, the AIR network had only six stations (in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Lucknow,
and Tiruchirappalli); three radio stations at Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi fell
in the share of Pakistan. the total number of radio sets at that time was about
275,000 in India. On 3 October 1957 the Vividh
BharatiService was launched, to compete with Radio Ceylon.
Television broadcasting began in Delhi in 1959 as part of AIR, but was split
off from the radio network as Doordarshan on
1 April 1976. FM broadcasting began on 23 July 1977 in Chennai,
and was expanded during the 1990s.
One
of the most famous services is Vividh Bharati (All India Variety Programme) which
offers programmes such as news, film music; comedy shows etc. in several cities
of India.
Now,
let us find out how AIR operates.
AIR
has a three-tier system of broadcasting, namely, national, regional and
local.
The National channel of All India Radio
started functioning on May 18, 1988. It caters to the information, education
and entertainment needs of the people, through its transmitters at Nagpur,
Mogra and Delhi beaming from dusk to dawn. It transmits centrally originated
news bulletins in Hindi and English, plays, sports, music, newsreel, spoken
word and other topical programmes, to nearly 76% of the country’s population
fully reflecting the broad spectrum of national life.
The
languages of broadcast are Hindi, English and Urdu apart from some music from
other Indian languages.
The
Regional Stations in different States form the middle tier of
broadcasting. This also includes the North-eastern service at Shillong which
disseminates the vibrant and radiant cultural heritage of the north-eastern
region of the country.
Local
Radio is comparatively a new concept of broadcasting in India. Each
of these local radio stations serving a small area provides utility services
and reaches right into the heart of the community.
FM
Channels
What
do you understand by FM?
FM
stands for Frequency Modulation which is a broadcasting technology or method in
radio.
You
may have all listened to one or more FM channels. The FM service of AIR has two
channels FM Rainbow and FM Gold.
There
are 12 FM Rainbow channels and 4 FM Gold Channels. The programme content of
these channels is mainly popular Indian and Western music, presented in a style
which is highly popular with the urban youth.
News
bulletins and current affairs programmes are also broadcast from these channels.
There
are also other AIR stations on the F.M. mode. There are several private FM
channels which can be heard all over the country.
Let
us learn about them.
Private
radio stations ( FM channels)
Radio
Mirchi, Radio Mango, Big FM, Times FM ……The list is becoming longer. You must
have heard about one or more of them. But have you wondered what they are?
These
are private or commercial radio stations which have been given a license to broadcast
programmes on radio.
Most
of them cater to the younger generation by providing a mix of music and fun.
Community
Radio is a type of radio service that caters to the interests of a
limited area or a community which is homogenous. It broadcasts programmes that
are popular and relevant to the local audience. A community radio license is
required to operate a community radio station.
These
stations are expected to produce programmes as far as possible in the local language
or dialect.
Although
the stress is on developmental programmes, entertainment is not banned on these
radio stations.
Anna
FM is India’s first campus community radio operating from Anna University in
Chennai, Tamilnadu. This was launched on 1 February 2004.
How
does a radio studio look like? Let us see. There is a table and a microphone.
The room has just one door, which is not very easy to open, as it is very
heavy. Before one enters this room, there is a small enclosed place, which has
another heavy door. This empty space is called a sound lock, which prevents unnecessary
outside sounds from entering the studio. Note that we have used the term
‘unnecessary outside sounds’.
A
studio is so designed without any interference to ensure that outside noises
are not recorded and you hear the voice of the speakers clearly. For this,
besides the sound lock and heavy doors, you will find the ceiling and walls
with perforated woollen panels. Of course the studio is nice and cool with
proper air-conditioning. There will at least be two studios in a station. You
have just learnt about one of them. Now you will learn about the second one. This
may be smaller in size with the same type of doors, walls and ceilings. Here
you will find the announcer or the anchor person sitting on a revolving chair
with a microphone in front of the table. There will be a computer, CD players,
tape decks and a mixer .This is the actual broadcast studio from where
presenters make announcements. This may be called an announcer’s booth or
a transmission studio.
Station
Director
The
Station Director is in charge of the radio station and also the head of the programme
wing. In some stations they are called managers.
Station
Engineer
The
Station Engineer heads the engineering wing and is responsible for all the technical
work at the radio station.
In
addition there is a group of technicians and engineers, working quietly behind the
scene. They operate and maintain broadcast equipment and oversee the control room.
They are responsible for the technical quality of the broadcasts.
Programme
personnel
These
are persons who are engaged in planning, production, preparation and presentation
of radio programmes. They are known as progamme executives or producers. They
are part of the pogramme broadcast process.
Transmission
staff
Persons
who are responsible for a smooth and trouble free transmission process are
known as transmission executives.
Radio
Announcer
The
radio announcer presents the programmes and is responsible for making them interesting.
The announcer has to convey feelings through his voice only. If the announcer
is dull, his description will also be dull.
Artists
In
addition to the above staff, there are also music artists such as vocalists and
instrumentalists who form part of the programme staff. They are all eminent performers
in their own fields and graded according to their experience.
Characteristics
of Radio
Concepts
of radio broadcast
Common terms used in radio
broadcast
Listener, broadcaster,
broadcasting, pre-recorded programme, script,
tuning
into radio
Objectives
of radio
to inform
to educate inter related
to entertain
Charactersitics
of radio
radio makes pictures
fast medium
simple medium
inexpensive medium
portable medium
Limitations
of radio
one chance medium
lacks visual images
messages on radio are
easily forgotten
not
useful for those with hearing disabilities
A
Radio format can be split into three parts: They
are:-
(a)
Spoken Word or Human Voice
(b)
Music
(c)
Sound Effects
Factors
to be taken into account for making a radio programme
Area population, sex
ratio, languages spoken, number of schools and colleges, health facilities,
religions, climate, types of crops, transport facilities, main occupation of
people
Radio
Formats
SPOKEN
WORD
1.
Announcements :
These are specifically written clear messages to inform. They can be of
different types. For example station/programme identification. These mention
the station you are tuned into, the frequency, the time and the programme/song
you are going to listen to. As mentioned already you find in today’s commercial
radio channels, these announcements have become informal and resemble ordinary
conversation. There can be more than one presenter in some programmes like
magazines.
2.
Radio talk : The
radio talk probably is the oldest format on radio. There has been a tradition
in India and Britain to invite experts or prominent persons to speak for 10 or
15 minutes on a specific topic. These talks have to go through a process of
being changed into radio’s spoken word style. Over the years, these long radio
talks have become unpopular. Instead, today, shorter duration talks are
broadcast. Of course, you can listen to these talks only on public service
broadcasting stations.
3.
Radio interviews: Have
you ever interviewed anyone? Probably yes. In the media, be it the newspaper,
magazine, radio or television, journalists use this technique of asking
questions to get information. There can be different types of interviews in
terms of their duration, content and purpose. Firstly, there are full-fledged
interview programmes. The duration of these may vary from 10 minutes to 30
minutes or even 60 minutes depending up on the topic, and the person being
interviewed. Most of such interviews are personality based. You might have
heard of long interviews with well-known people in the field of public life,
literature, science, sports, films etc. Secondly, there are interviews which
are used in various radio programmes like documentaries. Here the interviews
are short, questions specific and not many. The purpose is to get a very brief,
to the point answer. Thirdly there are a lot of interviews or interview based
programmes in news and current affairs programmes. Have you heard such
interviews on radio? With phone-in-programmes becoming popular, you might have
heard live interviews with listeners. These interviews have been made
interactive. There is another type of interview based programme. Here generally
just one or two questions are put across to ordinary people or people with
knowledge on some current topic to measure public opinion. For example when the
general budget or the railway budget is presented in the parliament, people representing
radio go out and ask the general public about their opinion. Their names and
identity may not be asked. Such programmes are called ‘vox pop’ which is a
Latin phrase meaning‘voice of people’. You have to be very inquisitive and hard
working to be a radio interviewer with good general awareness and communication
skills.
4.
Radio discussions :- When
you have a problem in your family or with your friends, don’t you say “let us
discuss?” Yes we do. Through a discussion we can find out a solution to
problems. In any discussion there are more than 2 or 3 people and then ideas
can be pooled to come to some conclusion. In radio, this technique is used to
let people have different points of view on matters of public concern. Radio
discussions are produced when there are social or economic issues which may be
controversial. So when different experts meet and discuss such issues, people
understand various points of view. Generally, these discussions on radio are of
longer duration-say 15 to 30 minutes. Two or three people who are known for
their views and a well-informed senior person or journalist who acts as a
moderator take part and discuss a particular topic for about 30 minutes. The
moderator conducts the discussion, introduces the topic and the participants
and ensures that everyone gets enough time to speak and all issues are
discussed.
5.
Radio
documentaries/features: If you see a film in a
movie hall, it is generally a feature film, which is story based and not real.
But there are also documentary films which are based on real people and issues.
A lot of programmes you see on television are educational and public service
documentaries. Radio also has this format. Unlike documentary films, radio
documentaries have only sound – i.e. the human voice, music and sound effects.
So a radio documentary is a programme based on real sounds and real people and
their views and experiences. Radio documentaries are based on facts presented
in an attractive manner or dramatically. Radio documentaries are radio’s own
creative format. The producer of a documentary needs to be very creative to use
human voice, script, music and sound effects very effectively. Radio
documentaries are also called radio features.
6.
Radio drama: A
Radio drama or a radio play is like any other play staged in a theatre or a
hall. The only difference is that while a stage play has actors, stage, sets,
curtains, properties movement and live action, a radio play has only 3
components. They are the human voice, music and sound effects. Radio of course
uses its greatest strength for producing radio plays and that is the power of
imagination and suggestivity. For example, if you want to have a scene in a
radio play of a north Indian marriage, you don’t have all physical arrangements
made. All that you have to do is to use a bright tune on the shehnai and
excited voices of people to create in a listeners’ imagination, a wedding
scene. The voice of the actors, music and sound effects can create any
situation in a radio play.
7.
Running commentaries: If
you can’t go to see a football or cricket match in a stadium, you may watch it
on television. But for that you have to be at home or at some place where there
is a television. But if you are travelling or outside, then you may listen to
radio for a running commentary of the match. A commentator would give you all
the details of the match such as the number of players, the score, position of
the players in the field etc. So by listening to the running commentary, you
get a feeling of being in the stadium and watching the match. The commentator
needs good communication skills, a good voice and knowledge about what is going
on. Running commentaries on radio can be on various sports events or on
ceremonial occasions like the Republic Day Parade or events like festivals,
melas, rath yatras, swearing in ceremony of ministers, last journey (funeral
procession) of national leaders etc. Today radio running commentaries
especially of cricket and other sports can be heard on your mobile phones.
8.
Magazine programmes : You
are familiar with magazines which are a form of print media. They are published
weekly, bi-weekly, fortnightly or monthly. There are general magazines and
magazines for specific readers. These magazines could be for children, women,
youth or on health, sports, science or music. If you open any one of these
magazines, you will find articles, reviews, features, photo features etc. Radio
also has magazine programmes like those in the print media. A radio magazine is
broadcast at a particular time on a particular day of a week or a month. That
means it has periodicity. Similarly it has plenty of variety in contents. Some
or many formats of radio are included in a radio magazine. These may be talks,
discussions, interviews, reviews, music etc. Likewise, the duration of each
programme or item in a magazine programme also vary. Another characteristic of
a radio magazine is that it has a signature tune. A signature tune is an
attractive piece of music which is specific to a programme. It can be like the
masthead (title) of a magazine. A magazine programme also has a name and one or
two presenters or anchor persons who link the whole programme. In the
beginning, the titles of the day’s programme will be given by the presenters
after the signature tune. They also give continuity and link the whole
magazine. Magazine programmes are generally broadcast for a special or specific
audience. As the name suggests, a specific audience refers to listeners with specific
needs as mentioned in the beginning.
9.
NEWS: Among
all the spoken word formats on radio, news is the most popular. News bulletins
and news programmes are broadcast every hour by radio stations. In India, only
All India Radio is allowed to broadcast news. Duration of news bulletins vary
from 5 minute to 30 minutes. The longer news bulletins have interviews,
features, reviews and comments from experts.
MUSIC
: When we say radio, the first thing that comes to our mind is
music. So music is the main stay in radio. There is no radio without music.
Music is used in different ways on radio. There are programmes of music and
music is also used in different programmes. These include signature tunes,
music used as effects in radio plays and features. India has a great heritage
of music and radio in India reflects that. Let us understand the different
types of music.
Classical
Music
There
are 3 types of classical music in India. They are:-
Hindustani classical
Carnatic classical
Western classical
There
are also vocal and instrumental music forms. There are also light classical music
forms like, Thumri and Dadra. Insturmental music forms include string (sitar, sarod
etc.) wind (like flutes, shehnai) and percussion (drum) instruments.You might have
heard such music on radio. You may know of a large variety of devotional and
folk music in your area and across the country. Which are broadcast on radio.
But
which is the most popular form of music? You would most probably say ‘film music.’
While there are film songs in different languages, the one with a national appeal
and popularity is Hindi film songs. On most radio stations, be it public service
or commercial, Hindi films songs are heard everywhere. Light western and pop
music are also popular among some groups of listeners and there is a large
section of young people listening to western pop music.
SOUND EFFECTS
Let
us see how sound can be used in radio formats.
Sound can play a major
role in evoking interest.
Sound can be used for
comic effects to evoke laughter
Sound
can be used to create certain moods or enhance them.
India
has taken giant leaps in the field of information technology and radio as a medium,
has taken a lead in applying information technology in its broadcasts. Let us
discuss some of these formats:
1.
Phone in programme – In this age of technological development, phone-in is the
most important format. This is called interactive programming where the listener
and the presenter talk to each other. Their talk goes on air instantly.
The
listener has the satisfaction that his voice is being listened to and replied immediately.
Other listeners also listen to him. Such presentations need advance publicity
so that the listeners get ready to air their grievances/queries or requests.
They
dial up the announced telephone number at a stipulated time and get their problems
discussed with experts in the studio. Initially this format was introduced for
playing the listeners’ request based film songs. Now it is being used for health
related programmes, rural broadcasts, complaints against the government/ administrative
machinery etc. Radio bridge : Radio bridge means connecting different
stations throughout the length and breadth of the country. In this technique,
for example, an expert sitting at Chennai can interact with the common man in
the studio in Delhi. This format was first used by All India Radio during
elections.
3.
Radio on internet: Radio on internet is a growing phenomenon with thousands of
radio stations operating through computer modems. It is altogether a new format
that removes the restrictions of frequency or license. It is relatively cheap
to set up. It has certain advantages as well as disadvantages. Now all the
national and international radio stations like BBC, Voice of America, and All
India Radio are available on internet. It is now possible to listen to the programmes
from a radio station while working on the computer. All India Radio started its
services on internet on 1st May 1998. With this, it was possible to extend the
coverage of programmes to all parts of the world including USA and Canada.
