We have radio stations like NPR (National Public Radio) in the USA that produces and distributes thought-provoking programs related to current affairs. It engages in meaningful debates on all current topics. I always found that station to be most used by folks driving to work (Average of 40 minutes of drive time for any commuter). It provides intellectually-stimulating discussions for the civilized world.
I have been wondering why we do not have such channels in the cities of India. Is there a cost barrier to this? Are there any infrastructural limitations? I can see a burgeoning mid-class market for such a program. A typical car-owner in the country today spends a lot of time in traffic. This will be such a meaningful use of the time. While music and other chirpy FM talk-shows provide some entertainment, I think a channel like NPR will go along way in serving the market needs of the current advanced Indian.
I would certainly like to hear your thoughts on this. I am sure there would be some hurdles (if not, we should have had this type of channel on the air long ago)
- Though-Provoking Radio programs - October 21, 2007
boss – it’s all about need hierarchy. indians haven’t climbed up to npr yet 🙁
as of now it’s all about roti, kapdaa, makaan, malls, bollywood, dhoni, tendulkar, sanjay dutt, malika sherawat 😉 nokia, motorola, toyota, hyundai, samsung….did you know entire publishing industry in india is less than $2billion. desi tycoons’ net worth goes up and down by few billions in matter of hours. heck…one unknown guy in pune had that much cash! ever seen a functioning library anywhere in india or a booming bookstore?
I’ve often wondered this. But NPR and other talk shows (Rush Limbaugh etc.) exist precisely because of the 40 min commute. Apart from the big cities, how many people in India would be interested in such talk shows? Remember Public radio thrives here because the individual shows on those channels are syndicated and heavily subscribed by several radio stations all across the US. Moreover, PBS/NPR type programming appeals to a above-average level of listening interest/sophistication. has anyone in India conducted market surveys to find if there’s a taste for such shows?
Arun
Hi Shankar,
I seriously doubt that. We have not had enough content of such type to say that there are no listeners for it. My gut feeling is that there would sure be people who want to listen to such discussions. Content creaters just need to figure out when do they turn on their radios.
Hi Vinodh,
As a %age of people who listen to radio in the morning, very few would want to listen to serious programming during their morning drive. Radio listening is not just for the professionals/executive who drives his car to work; it’s also listened to all day by cab & bus drivers, by housewives while cooking, college students, at a tea stall, a hair-cutting saloon etc. They are not exactly interested in knowing the fallouts of the nuclear deal or the political turmoils in Pakistan (and it’s implications on India).
Plus, as Himanshu rightly said, there are restrictions on news & current affairs programmes for private broadcasters.
My 2 cents,
Shankar
Good points. Since my post I learnt that there is a huge one time fee for getting a broadcasting frequency (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting – mib.in) – around 1.0 Crore for a city like Hyd. Additionally there is an annual fee. Secondly, huge investments in terms of infrastructure makes this a big barrier to entry.
Companies that already have the requisite infrastructure can buy more channels, but as someone mentioned, ad revenue is probably in gossip and music. If there were any producers willing to develop such shows for about 2-4 hours a day, I am hopeful these channels can be rented from its owners.