Radio Ga-Ga
I have become a regular listener of the Radio since my car came along (and since my return to Mumbai where the choice is wider). But I feel unsatisfied. The listening experience much to be desired.There are various aspects to this. Audio quality, which can be described as fuzzy at best, is one. And no, this is not a result of my music player. The quality varies as you change locations and depending on whether your antenna is out or not.
Next are the RJs (Radio Jockeys). There are a few good ones like Jaggu and Tarana (Good Morning Mumbai, Go 92.5FM), Roshan Abbas (Radio City 91.0FM) but not many other. Malini (Horn OK, Please; Go 92.5FM) is all right but makes far too many mistakes to take her seriously. Red FM 93.5 is also worth a listen if purely Hindi stuff (and mostly old) is what you prefer.
The problem with some (actually most, but I'll be polite!) of the other RJs is that they are too full of themselves. Most insist on laughing at their own jokes and have given themselves ridiculous nicknames like "Natkhat Neeta" or "Chulbuli Chhaya" (Chaya and Neeta are both from 93.9FM, Radio Mirchi, Pune). The trend is the same in Mumbai as well.
Another problem with Radio is the over abundance of countdown shows. I mean how many number one songs can a city have? Apparently, five!
Lack of research on what they talk about and sounding obnoxious are the least of all problems. I think the guy's name is Abbas (Go 92.5FM) and he is so irritating, that i HAVE to switch channels the moment he's on (even in ads).
Coming to ads, the less said the better. There have been some good 'uns but mostly, they're crap. My favourite, though, are the mutual fund and insurance ones where they say "Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. Please read offer document carefully before investing" in about 0.6 seconds. It's incomprehensible yet funny! Another all-time worst ad is the "One hour champi"! Yes, champi! Parachute coconut hair oil is the culprit. Believe it, I took about 2 months to figure out that the voice said "...doosri ko runner-up bhi nahi diya". Anyways, that's what I think they are saying. Still not sure!
The good of Radio are the traffic updates. I have saved myself from traffic jams on at least two occasions till date when I heard an update and changed my route.
Radio is a vibrant medium and a lot of fun with the right RJs. But currently, we are stuck with the not-so-great ones and it's not such fun. What's worse is the repetition of songs.
Kajra Re (Bunty and Babli), I'm so lonely (Akon), Kaal Dhamaal (Kaal), B-n-B (Bunty and Babli) are just some of the songs I hear on my to office and on my way back home. They grow on you after a while, but soon thereafter, you grow out of them.
Why is this the case? Why are the playlists so limited? Are the songs so costly? But then again, isn't that what's gonna catch the listener? Hope someone responsible hears us!
posted by Scribbler @ 5:46 am
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