Monday, March 10, 2008

The Indian campus radios

The radio had long been the medium for communication on Indian campuses. The campus radio has been the source of infotainment for the students. Most of the campus radios are meant for training the professional radio entertainers.

Currently, the campus radio or the college/university radios are mostly run by students of other universities or colleges. An interesting aspect of these campus radio stations is that the Bollywood and pop music are a big no no. Apparently, the campus music stations refuse to be dominated by music. These radio stations have custom built programs for the respective campuses. Some of the campus radios like more student interaction while others simply inform. With all these campus radios in place, newer radio jockeys or RJs are working on promoting their stations.

However, there is a difference between the regular FM/AM channels as well as the campus radio channels. The campus stations mostly broadcast with a low power broadcasting. The first radio station came up at the Anna University in Chennai. The channel is called Anna FM. Yet another good campus radio station is the Pune university radio station. The campus radio Gyanvani has also been licensed as well. There are reports of people trying to start illegal radio stations i.e. without any permission.

The campus radio stuff throughout India is pretty cool. When you run a campus radio, you might hear the weather, the campus news or even a major event going on in the campus. Some radio stations even broadcast college or radio feeds over the internet as well.

Few other campus community radios have been opened by the Jamia Mia Islamia as well as the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. As a matter of fact, Jamia Mia Islamia boasts about being one of the country’s premiere radio stations. Currently, most of the Indian radio stations are spread across a wide area and they are run by students mostly. Although, the students are supervised by senior mass com. faculty members.

Recently, a TV show in India titled Sun Yaar Chill Maar is based upon the campus radio. One of the prime characters in the show works as a campus radio program host. So, it is apparent that the campus radio culture has sipped into the Indian society as well and has become quite popular. Currently, the main goal of these campus radio programs is to just bring out the community and campus news. Music and entertainment are not the priority. Hopefully, the campus radio culture in India will bring in new stuff as time passes.

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