[HCDX] 79 and still making waves: AIR Chennai.

[sakthi vel <ardicdxclub@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

79 and still making waves: AIR Chennai.

All India Radio, Chennai is turning 79 this July.
GEETA PADMANABHAN talks about how it has reached out
to scores of people, bringing them hours of listening
pleasure through its varied programmes. 	

THE YEAR 1987. The height of the IPKF operations in
Sri Lanka. In his hastily made bunker, an Indian
soldier clings to his pocket transistor for
consolation. "Food and water are luxuries here," he
wrote to Shanthi Tanikachalam whose voice has launched
a million radio listeners, "but your five-minute news
broadcast helps me keep in touch with the world." 

"AIR has been my constant companion for the past 20
years," says an 80-year-old former A-Grade artiste. "I
switch on Madras A at 7a.m. for general information.
Then on, it is music, news, concerts, plays... My set
goes off air only when I am in bed." She would like
the Sanskrit slot on Monday afternoons to be extended.


"FM 1's Western music is really cool," smiles
Annapurna, about to enter college. "My friends and I
are 7 to 11 p.m. addicts." She remembers a blind
classmate being very well-informed because of the time
he spent listening to AIR. To scores of pushcart
vendors, wayside mechanics, presswallas, cobblers,
construction workers, car radio owners, travellers and
those who tune in for weather reports, employment
news, blood group appeals and missing persons info,
the news that AIR is 79 (July 23, 1927 to 2006) comes
as a surprise. 

"Only 79?" asks a watchman shouting above the film
music blaring from his Philips set. "I thought AIR
came with the British." Indeed. From air time on a 40
W assembled Tx (later a Marconi 200 Tx set) heard by a
wonderstruck populace on July 31, 1924, to the
high-tech transmission through a computer hard disc,
the sound waves of Chennai have travelled far into
history. 

Rao Bahadur C.V. Krishnaswami Chetty, an electrical
engineer with the Madras Corporation , DJ and amateur
radio enthusiast, organised the Madras Presidency
Radio Club (MPRC), and with help from friends ushered
in broadcasting in India precisely two years after the
Marconi Co. went on air in England in 1922. The Indian
Broadcasting Company was given broadcasting
responsibility and Lord Irwin inaugurated the first
radio station in Bombay on July 23, 1927. 

In October, the MPRC folded signalling the end of
amateur broadcasting. The Tx was gifted to the
Corporation of Madras and after two-and-a-half-years
of paper pushing, Chennai again made history by airing
the first municipal radio broadcasts in the country on
April 1, 1930. When it comes to broadcasting, Chennai
certainly can give itself airs! The Corporation Radio
and later AIR saw broadcasting as a public service.
Good music for the public, talks for corporation
school students and health programmes were the initial
objectives. Rural sanitation, agricultural yield,
bee-keeping, women's co-operatives, eradication of
untouchability... AIR Chennai (AIRC) has promoted them
all. 

Rajaji wanted broadcasts in parks as a means to
enforce prohibition. Members of `Vadya Vrinda',
perhaps AIRC's oldest programme extant, are proud of
their heritage. "It is an Indian blend of Hindustani
and Carnatic music set to Western orchestration," say
the artistes. This ensemble of fine players presents
"thematic music where a composer's creativity meets a
player's prowess. In concert with the Delhi group, we
have performed at the Mughal Gardens, to foreign
delegates, at the Sangeet Natak Academy and played a
special composition by Lalgudi Jayaraman for the
Millennium Show." 

"No other institution does so much to preserve and
spread our culture as AIR," they insist. Its archival
section is legendary. "Musicians are recognised by the
grade AIR awards when they go for public performances.
Performing on AIR is a matter of prestige." "For a
genuine singer devoted to nurturing art, AIR affords
the best forum," says Sita Rajan, who first stepped
into the studio in 1958. She compered Radio Anna's
(Ra. Ayyasami) Muthukuviyal, took part in G.
Karthikeyan's Siruvar Kalai Poonga, M.Y Kama Sastri's
recordings of children's songs and Keevalur Subramanya
Pillai's Isaipayirchi. "I always had a part in the
Children's Programme AIR organised on November 14 at
the Children's Theatre." Her love affair with AIR
continued in college when she lent her voice to radio
plays. In 1967, she became a bona fide performer after
winning a vocal contest. Grade A came in 1977, and she
has been featured on musicology programmes such as
Padalum Porulum and Surabhi. "We artistes believed in
AIR's sense of fair play .We had regular contracts and
were recommended for Sangeeth Sammelans. Many
performers began their careers here." 

The AIRC's pioneering spirit echoes in its
state-of-the-art equipment. Its techno-savvy control
room would have won a nod from CVK Chetty. Recordings
feed directly into the hard disk and can be broadcast
repeatedly on all its five channels without
trading-off quality. "We made the software for this,"
beams Senthur Pandian in charge of the room. "It is
advanced and allows no speed variation. Even our
portable system is computerised." He recalls how a
motor snagged while taping a PM's public speech, and
how he simply trailed the tape on the ground and got
the recording going. "No more such problems," he says.
You can phone in to book your favourite film/album
number on the Dial Radio-on-Demand service of AIR. A
friendly voice will tell you when it will be played.
If you are news hungry, press 467 1111 on your
hand-held and get the latest read out to you in Tamil.


"We had 700 to 800 calls an hour for election results
from all over the world," says a newscaster of this
computerised service. "People in the Gulf can already
listen to Chennai A on TV," says Superintendent
Engineer J. Venkatraman, giving a demo of this digital
sky radio link via satellite. "Your cable TV operator
can download the station and beam it to you." How does
AIR gauge its popularity? "Through interaction with
listeners for one," says Deputy Director General, B.
K. Kumar. "In May, our mail box received nearly 13,000
letters. Our FM programmes (film
music/talkshow/phone-in) are a rage. There has been a
20 per cent growth in our ad revenues and AIRC
exceeded the target for 2001. The total annual earning
from sponsored slots has touched Rs. two crores. In
the suburbs, you'll hear AIR broadcasts in every
street in the afternoons. People listen to the radio
commentary while watching cricket matches in the
stadium. 

"We know people are listening when we make a mistake. 

A music aficionado called in from Besant Nagar to
complain that an Uthukkadu Venkatasubbaiar song was
attributed to someone else even before the programme
got over." 

"No other station has eight daily hours of interactive
programmes," says Kamalakkannan of the hugely popular
Thiraimalai. Call us at 498 3830 and 498 5725 to rap
with your favourite stars on our chat show." 

"BBC, HBO, Sony, 10 Sports, all advertise on radio,"
says Srinivasa Raghavan, who heads the Vividh Bharati
section. "Star Vijay and KTV did a month-long campaign
on AIR before their launch. Private channels advertise
their popular programmes on AIR. Apollo Hospitals give
health tips to listeners twice a week. These people
will not pay for broadcasting time unless they are
sure of its reach." 

"We bring you details of State Government schemes
along with ads from undertakings like the Power
Finance Corporation," adds Kumar. 

"An advertiser can zoom in on a limited audience
through our district level radio stations. Our ads are
clean and without gender bias. AIR news is authentic,
balanced and devoid of shrill overtones. It is a
tradition we are proud of." 

But veteran listeners worry over AIRC allowing ads on
all its channels, and veteran artistes mourn the
diminishing opportunities to perform. 

"Prasar Bharathi has slashed fund allotment by 50 per
cent," says R. Balasubramanyam, Deputy Director,
Co-ordination. "We have to earn, grow and pay artistes
better compensation. Which other medium finds a slot
for Gandhi Anjali? Our sponsor time is negligible. As
for the artistes we are under no obligation unless
they are on the staff." 

A study on FM channels (under K. K. Sundaram, Deputy
Director, Audience Research Cell), done between
October 2001 and January 2002, shows their increasing
popularity. But this is a film-based reality. Can AIRC
go back to being a truly public service? 

A panel of 20 eminent people has recommended younger
programmers, cross-media publicity, information from
the Internet, storytelling (folklore, sci-fi),
interviews with visiting experts in all fields,
reports on outdoor occurrences, inviting ordinary
people to write for productions and airing stage plays
among other things to mark up AIR schedules. AIRC, no
doubt, is listening.

Photo Note:
 
East Nook ? The building where the studios of AIR
Madras were originally located from June 1938 to July
1953 when AIR Madras' own studios were built in
Mylapore overlooking the sea. The East Nook no longer
exists. A multi-storeyed cement concrete structure has
come up there. ? A file photo from The Hindu.

Compiled with the help of The Hindu by.
Jaisakthivel.T,
President of Ardic Dx Club
11-1-2006

Address for Communication:

T.Jaisakthivel
No: 3, First Floor,
21, Nathens Arcade,
Malaviya Avenue,
L.B Road, Chennai-600041,
Tamil Nadu,
India.
URL: www.dxersguide.blogspot.com
Group: www.group.yahoo.com/groups/sarvadesavanoli
E-Mail: ardicdxclub@xxxxxxxxxxx
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