FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: All India Radio-Panaji has drawn up the programming schedule for Akashvani-Panaji, the new ‘merged’ FM channel that will replace its iconic FM Rainbow brand from October 1- and it has left its Radio Jockeys and listeners aghast.
The Western music and Konkani programming, which made the channel wildly popular amongst the Goan diaspora, have been slashed from three transmissions a day to just one transmission, scheduled in the afternoon.
As a result, 90 ‘duties’, or work slots for casual RJs and announcers based in Goa will now be downsized to 30 slots a month, while music-loving listeners who tune in expecting to be serenaded with beloved Konkani and English classics will be subject to a barrage of the same news in all four languages, including Marathi and Hindi.
Last week, O Heraldo had reported AIR’s impending merger of programming of FM Rainbow (105.4 MHz) with its Primary Channel (PC) Mhadei (1287 kHz), due to the declining listenership of medium wave, a frequency that most new radios and car stereos no longer tap into.
“When we heard about this programming merger, already implemented in a few other cities, we expected it to be implemented in 50-50 proportion, or at least 70-30. How is it a merger when nearly 90% of the programmes are from Mhadei Channel- outdated, dry content and news highlights repeated in four languages? The new programming schedule is bereft of thought or creativity, a hack job done without taking the pulse of the audience into consideration” said an announcer, who wished to remain unnamed.
Massive chunks of the English and Konkani programming on FM Rainbow’s prime morning slots- from 8 to 9 am and 10 to 11 am respectively, have been done away with on the new schedule. “Replacing musical entertainment- the reason most urban radio listeners tune into AIR- with repetitive news broadcasts is a surefire way to annoy and drive away the audience base built over the past 30 years. Is this where they are headed? They have pushed all popular programmes- including the Konkani music request show to 10 pm- the graveyard shift,” said a dejected RJ, who has been receiving texts and questions from listeners in Goa and overseas, all day.
“I implore the Chief Minister to intervene and help us save the vibrant Western and Konkani music shows that form the identity of FM Rainbow,” said the RJ. In response to the flak, programming head Sanjay Punalekar said,
“These days 10 pm is not too late, private channels relay their programmes even at 11 pm. Those working in the IT field, work till late night. We have no other time for this. However, we have kept a phone-in the programme in the afternoon. Programmes are the same, only timing has changed.” Punalekar added that RJs and casual staff across the country have been affected by the merger. “We cannot do anything. We have given them the option of working overnight. We cannot say anything when policy has been framed,” he added.
Goan millennials who grew up listening to FM Rainbow took to the internet to express their disappointment on Sunday, posting nostalgia-driven memes about the closure of the channel. An online signature petition floated by listener Priya Naik, ‘Keep FM Rainbow Goa on AIR’, has garnered 3,853 signatures in two days.
“Living outside Goa, this channel has been my only true connection to my homeland and its wonderful and diverse culture and music. This is the only Goan radio channel that has been connecting Goans to Goa. Losing this channel to the merger with Mhadei is a tremendous loss to Goans around the world,” she said.
Joed Almeida, an RJ with a private FM channel, said, “I grew up listening to FM Rainbow, and tune in faithfully even now. This change in programming will kill the entire flavour of this iconic channel. We have to do something about this,” he said.
