[cr-india] Bangalore's 1st community FM radio station unveiled

[sakthi vel]

The Jain Group of Institutions (JGI) chairman Chainraj
Jain today announced the launch of Bangalore’s first
community FM radio station – Radio Active 107.8 (RA). 

The station was inaugurated by Rashtriya Vigyan Evan
Prodhyogiki Sanchar Parishad (RVEPSP) scientist
Ujjwala Tirkey. JGI is the promoter of the station. 

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) which
had earlier been allocated 107.8, will start
broadcasting from 107.2 this evening. Radio Active
107.8 is Karnataka’s second community radio station,
the first one being operated by the Agricultural
University at Dharwad which kicked off some time ago. 

The station will focus on issues concerning health,
environment, development, scientific awareness, women
welfare and social issues, in turn seeking to inform
and educate while entertaining the public.

Content will be generated partly by students, partly
by work with other institutions and colleges, as well
as be sourced from NGOs’ such as Voice. Since
community radios by colleges and educational
institutions are allowed to pay far lower subscription
rates to the Indian Phonographic Association (IPA),
some film music, mainly local will also be played on
the station.

College students from RJI’s post graduate department
of communication course will work as RJs. Currently,
28 have been shortlisted for the job. Initially the
station will air eight hours of programming in two
sessions of four hours each – the second session being
a repeat of the first. College students and RJ
Ramakant and Priyanka kicked off the first show, the
former in Kannada and the latter in English.

The station will broadcast through a BEL 50 watt
transmitter which has a range of about 15-20 km line
of sight radius, according to JGI sources.

At present there are 28 community radio stations
(including RA) in India, with Tamil Nadu’s Anna
University being the first one to start broadcasting a
few years ago. Tamil Nadu (including Pondicherry)
takes the lead with 11 community radios in operation,
followed by Delhi and UP with 4 each, Karnataka, AP
and Rajasthan with 2 each and Kerala with 1 are some
of the other states in which some cities have
community radio broadcasts. Orissa has recently been
granted a license, according to Commonwealth
Educational Media Center for Asia director Dr. P
Sreedher. 

In Bangalore, eight licenses (including JGI) have been
granted, with Bangalore University having been
allotted the frequency about two years ago, but only
JGI has started broadcasting, informed Sreedher. 

National Law College, PES, an institute for the blind
in Bangalore, and other educational institutions are
among the others that have been granted a community
radio broadcast license.

Though NGOs’ can start community radios with the
recent changes in the law, none have been granted a
license as yet, according to Sreedher. The Parliament
has approved five minutes per hour advertisement
revenues for community radio stations under certain
conditions. The matter is probably pending with the
governments legal department for whetting, said
Sreedher.
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Source: http://indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k7/june/june344.php

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