Radio is hot. Review on Five Best Radio Programs

Radio was never a habit. My late grandpa(GP) actually introduced me to radio. He owned a number of radio sets during his lifetime(not more than five though). BBC World programming was something he never missed. In fact his day would start with urdu news(he knew urdu – reading and writing), followed by hindi and english. All through the day I would see him jumping from one frequency to the other. He might forget whether he had lunch or not, but he would never forget the frequency  where his favorite programme(it was more like a ritual) would play.

Though we had TV in house, my grandpa would never watch it unless there was a cricket match between India and Pakistan. His love for radio was genuine and he would offer some weird explanations every time he settled for television instead of radio.

GP being my best friend, I would spend most of time with him. Which meant I was listening to a lot of radio. This happened till I reached the age of 10-12. In fact soon after GP passed away I stopped listening to radio. No one else in the family actually liked radio. So from 1997 to 2000 I had never ever tuned in to the radio.

Today, radio has become a an extremely important source of information and entertainment. I mostly tune in to the FM – radiocity, Mirchi and 102.6.(93.5 Red FM is strictly a no-no for me. The programming is crap). These days I  tune in to 102.6 more often than any other radio station.

Let me explain why?

I tune in to radio mostly during when I am driving. When I am at home I listen to radio only on Sundays and that too for a very less time. The reason why I tune in to 102.6 fm(Rainbow) quite often is simple. Rainbow offers some really good programming for a niche audience during the morning hours. The Rjs are good and the music great.

My Favorite radio programmes

#Matchless music hour

Station – 102.6

Timing – Monday to Friday, 9-10 AM

Rjs – keeps changing - Kiran, Jobin, Pia, Ginnie, Megha and others.

What is great about the show? 102.6 FM is the only radio station that airs english music. Matchless music hour is a 100 percent english show and the music is great. Preceding Matchless music hour 102.6 fm has two shows called Take off(at 8 AM) and Time out(at 8.30 Am). These two shows are like curtain raisers for the matchless music hour.

#Puraani Jeans and Yaadien

These are two different shows sharing the same time slot of 9 PM. PJ is a Mirchi show while Yaadein is with Radiocity. I tune into these two shows quite often. The Rjs(i am not sure what their names are) play hindi film music from the past. The music is really good and the best way to settle down into the night.

#Good Morning Delhi

Hosted by Ulta pulta Nitin(FYI Nitin is actually and alias of Jonathan Brady who also happens to host Brand Equity on Times Now). Its a good show. Nitin talks a lot and keeps his listeners informed. The music is good. The programming is innovative. Nitin keeps inviting celebrities to his show and that makes it even more popular with the office wallah types driving.

There are other shows but I am unable to remember the names. All I can say is that except these shows I pick everything else in random.

Since the topic of this review also covers the changes that I would like to see in the radio programmes, I put down some of my views.

For any radio station engaging the audience is very important. I find Rainbow doing really bad in this department. Till date they ask the listeners to send in their feedback through snail mail! Now I love the shows hosted by Ginnie Mahajan, Pia and Jobin, but do not have the patience to send a snail mail. Email or sms seems like a better option. This is where private radio station score a point.

No radio station should take the listeners for granted. Red fm is one station which did the same. Its programming is crappy and one does not even feel like laughing at some of its so called funny jokes.

Soon listeners in India will have the advantage of choosing from around 60-70 frequencies. The scene is just hotting up. More or less each radio station will be playing the same kind of music. Programming will set them apart! Interactive stations, with catchy station names and taglines are the ones that will create a large brand recall. The scene is just hotting up.