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Listen, the radio is rocking
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India may be leagues behind other countries like Australia when it comes to the radio industry. But right now it's in an energising phase, says radio guru Steve Ahern
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PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.
BIG COMEBACK The magic of radio is in its ability to evoke places and memories important to a person.
The renaissance of the radio is happening the world over — if India's going through its second wave with autorickshaws blaring fav tunes from the local FM all the time, beach-bumming Australians have been hit by the third wave of radio reawakening. "Radio in Australia is re-inventing itself to get into PDAs, computers and phones in our markets flooded with the Internet and wireless broadband," says Steve Ahern.
Steve is Head of Radio at the premier Australian Film Television and Radio School and was in Bangalore recently to talk at a seminar, Radio Rocks, for RadioCity. He was very charmed by the fact that most "trishaws" in the city have huge blaring speakers tucked behind seats. "What are those three-wheelers called?" he makes an excited enquiry of autorickshaws and puts it down on a piece of paper mumbling, "I must mention it in the seminar."
The 47-year-old veteran of the radio industry started volunteering at community radio networks at the age of 15. Since then, he's been a reporter, producer and announcer in commercial and community radio stations besides managing three of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's stations.
High over headsets
Getting those huge headsets on and being an RJ is perceived as one of the most exciting jobs for youngsters in the country, I mention, and Steve talks of how in Australia too the picture is very much the same. "Everyone jumps at the idea. They are like, `Why wouldn't you want that job?' You can talk all day, play your favourite music and go to all the happening parties in town!" Most of the students who come to their school, come hoping to become RJs.
What they don't realise, says Steve, is that for every glamorous RJ there are 10 other jobs behind — research, copywriting, production, programming, sales, advertising... So, along the duration of the course, nearly 50 per cent of these students decide they want to do other things and not be an RJ! "But radio never stops being fun, no matter how hard you work," concludes this veteran, who's authored the mother of all textbooks on the medium — Making Radio. But he does reiterate that though RJs become big stars, they come and go; but a station survives because of its entire package — music, technology, people, marketing, and its presence in the market.
"When I started working, radio was in its most exciting phase. It was highly competitive; there was a big buzz around it that was driving a new listenership. It made radio sexier for the new generation," smiles Steve.
And that's what's happening right now here in India, he believes. "Who do you wake up with every morning? An intimate friend and the radio!" he says, pointing to the kind of personal relationship one can develop with the medium.
So what indicators would he use to figure that radio is at a "happening" and "energised" phase in a particular community or country? "When kids who have iPods and cellphones buy those with FM radios! When autorickshaws play them! When people start talking about the radio announcers and what they said today. And when advertisers flock to the radio to sell because they realise the power of radio."
A city like Brisbane now has five ABC (government-run) radio stations, seven commercial FMs and a small number of community radio stations. "In Australia, community radio has been a part of the radio boom, with each kind of radio competing with the other; but everyone thinks of the good of the whole industry."
One of the reasons community radio may not have taken off in a country like India, he reckons, is that the industry may not have communicated well enough the benefits of community radio to the government that can provide grants. Moreover, community radio largely depends on volunteers who work unpaid. So a country with a good social security system, where people can donate time has a better chance.
Community radio
Australia is the leader in community radio with a history of over 30 years, followed by Britain where it is less than 10 years old. America has a tradition of the campus radio. "In India right now commercial radio is going to drive growth," says Steve.
So how ubiquitous is the radio in an Australian household? Steve does a quick count and lists almost eight per average home — one in the car (two cars per household), a kitchen radio, a clock radio in the master bedroom, one in the kids' room, on the phone, on the computer, maybe a pocket radio with each kid too... "That's a lot of radio," he cheerfully concludes. "When I got one for the bathroom, my wife finally put her foot down!"
The magic of radio is in its ability to evoke places, memories and immersions important to a person. "I still think of the song that was playing at the university when I first met my wife, or often recall the song I was listening to on the beach with my friends. That's on a personal level. And as a professional, I know that's the power of connecting today. The radio is at once contemporary, updates you on the latest score of your favourite sport, has an element of nostalgia. But it doesn't keep me stuck in the past. It also takes me to the latest song. It's a 360-degree perspective and it does it more conveniently than a TV."
BHUMIKA K.
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