The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Broadcast content proves to be a challenge

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 28, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Broadcast content proves to be a challenge

By M. Dinesh Varma

CHENNAI, MARCH 27. Even as more city colleges prepare to launch FM community radio stations, the focus is shifting to the task of generating quality content amid a dearth of expertise to fully exploit the potential of the medium.

Encouraged by a more friendly policy of the Union Government allowing reputed educational institutions and organisations to obtain broadcast licences, at least ten colleges in the city have applied for a licence to start their own FM stations. However, only two institutions are currently on air with their educational programmes.

While Anna FM completed the first anniversary of its 90.4 Mhz radio station recently, MOP Vaishnav College for Women last week launched its dedicated 91.2 Mhz FM station. R. Sreedhar, Director of Educational Multimedia Research Centre, feels that it is only a matter of time before the community radio concept catches on in a big way. Though the Central Government has issued 50 letters of intents and granted licenses to 10 educational institutions to start campus community radio, they are yet to start the operations due to various reasons.

When the Anna FM was launched in February 2004, there was just an hour's programme daily. Now, the radio has eight hours of programmes. Apart from community development programmes, the institution has adopted a community in Kannigapuram near Velachery and has helped them to earn livelihoods by making palm products. In fact, the Anna University is recognised as a centre for training community radio station managers in Asia and Africa by UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning.

S. Neelakantan, broadcast media consultant, says that there is still a lack of clarity about the concept of community radio among several institutions eager to launch FM stations of their own. "There is also lack of perception on what should constitute the broadcast content. Some have built studios and left things at that," he said.

It costs between Rs. 10 lakhs and Rs. 20 lakhs to set up a broadcast facility, depending on the level of studio sophistication desired. Licences are issued for broadcast using FM transmitters of 50 watts or less with a range of 10-15 km.

The experience of institutions in the country that have launched FM is that only a few are able to put together more than an hour of programming. At other times, the facility remains idle resulting in loss of `radio hours'.

Experts point to a dearth of technical and editorial expertise to guide these ventures. At the curriculum level, broadcast journalism is focused more on television than radio, they point out.

Institutions are also worried over the recurring expenses involved in sustaining the broadcast without any elbowroom for earning revenue. Though the Union Government is considering allowing stations to air a stipulated quotient of commercials per hour of educative programming, there has been no final word on this.

While several factors stall the progress of community radio, there is no doubting the medium's revolutionary potential. "Community stations can combine educational content with social awareness modules on issues such as public hygiene or HIV/AIDS.

They can also provide an alternative communication backbone during a calamity," says Mr. Neelakantan. Institutions can even form a consortium where there is sharing of faculty expertise in different disciplines.

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