OBJECTIVES
After
studying this lesson, you will be able to do the following:
z
list
the factors to be taken into account for making a radio programme;
z
describe
the different formats of radio programmes;
z
explain
the ingredients of a radio programme;
z Identify
the technology based formats.
MAKING A RADIO PROGRAMME
Think of the village or town in
which you live. You find people belonging to all communities men and women,
rich and poor. Radio plays a very important role in the lives of the people of
India. Though there are plenty of rich people and highly developed cities, a
majority of our people are poor and a large number of them cannot read or
write. So the only medium that can really reach them to inform, educate and
entertain is the radio. Radio stations especially those run by the government
perform a public service duty.
The
requirements of listeners of radio stations are not the same. To serve them, we
need to know many facts about them. Let us make a list of what we should know
about the audience:
(a)
Number
of people — i.e. the total population of the area.
(b)
Number
of men and women — Sex ratio
(c)
Literate
people/Illiterate people
(d)
The
languages spoken in the area.
(e)
Schools/Colleges
(f)
Children
going to school
(g)
Health facilities — availability of doctors,
primary health centre, clinics, hospitals.
(h)
Any
major diseases
(i)
Religions
in the area-population wise
(j)
Power
supply
(k)
Nearest
radio stations/Television stations
(l)
Climate
of the place
(m)
Main
occupation of the people
(n)
Income
per head/people below poverty line
(o)
Roads/transport
facilities
(p)
Irrigation
facilities
(q)
Number
of people engaged in agriculture/other occupations.
(r)
Types
of crops.
You can
add many more issues to this list. We need to know these facts to decide the
language, the type of broadcast, timing of programmes etc. Radio formats
therefore are decided on the basis of the needs of the audience.
1.
List any five factors that you need to take into
account about the listeners before making a radio programme.
2.
Write
the names of any five programmes you have heard on radio.
3.
Fll
in the blanks with appropriate word/s:
i)
The
only medium to reach the illiterate people to inform,_______and
entertain them is the _______.
ii)
A
radio station broadcasts programmes like talks, discussions,_______,
_______
and _______.
iii) It is important to know the requirements of
the listeners to decide ———
of
broadcast and _________ and _________ of programmes.
iv)
Radio
programmes are decided on the basis of _________.
TYPES OF RADIO FORMATS
Do you remember the programmes you have heard on
radio. Try and recall some of them. You may have heard the names of radio
stations, from where the programmes are broadcast. Many of you would remember
Vividh Bharati, AIR FM Gold or some private commercial station.You may also
remember the time being mentioned and what programme you are going to listen
to. These are called announcements. Announcements have been
traditionally made by people who are known as announcers.
The commercial radio channels may call them Radio Jockeys (RJs) or anchor
persons. Before you learn about the different radio formats, you must know the
ingredients of a radio format.
As you know most of what is spoken on radio is
written down. As you have already learnt that what is written for radio is
heard and is referred to as ‘spoken word’ as against the ‘written word’. But
the spoken words on radio is written down or what is generally called
‘scripted’. A Radio format can be split into three parts: They are:-
(a)
Spoken
Word or Human Voice
(b)
Music
(c)
Sound
Effects
All radio
formats have the above three ingredients. So let us first classify the spoken
word format.
z SPOKEN WORD
1.
Announcements
: These are specifically
written clear messages to inform. They can be of different types. For
example station/programme identification. These mention the station you are
tuned into, the frequency, the time and the programme/song you are going to
listen to. As mentioned already you find in today’s commercial radio channels,
these announcements have become informal and resemble ordinary conversation.
There can be more than one presenter in some programmes like magazines.
2.
Radio
talk : The radio talk
probably is the oldest format on radio. There has been a tradition in
India and Britain to invite experts or prominent persons to speak for 10 or 15
minutes on a specific topic. These talks have to go through a process of being
changed into radio’s spoken word style. Over the years,these long radio talks have become unpopular.
Instead, today, shorter duration talks are broadcast. Of course, you can listen
to these talks only on public service broadcasting stations.
3.
Radio
interviews: Have you ever
interviewed anyone? Probably yes. In the media, be it the newspaper,
magazine, radio or television, journalists use this technique of asking
questions to get information. There can be different types of interviews in
terms of their duration, content and purpose.
Firstly,
there are full fledged interview programmes. The duration of these may vary
from 10 minutes to 30 minutes or even 60 minutes depending up on the topic, and
the person being interviewed. Most of such interviews are personality based.
You might have heard of long interviews with well known people in the field of
public life, literature, science, sports, films etc.
Secondly,
there are interviews which are used in various radio programmes like
documentaries. Here the interviews are short, questions specific and not many.
The purpose is to get a very brief, to the point answer.
Thirdly
there are a lot of interviews or interview based programmes in news and current
affairs programmes. Have you heard such interviews on radio?
With
phone-in-programmes becoming popular, you might have heard live interviews with
listeners. These interviews have been made interactive.
There is
another type of interview based programme. Here generally just one or two
questions are put across to ordinary people or people with knowledge on some
current topic to measure public opinion. For example when the general budget or
the railway budget is presented in the parliament, people representing radio go
out and ask the general public about their opinion. Their names and identity
may not be asked. Such programmes are called ‘vox pop’ which is a Latin phrase
meaning‘ voice of people’.
You have to be very inquisitive and hard working
to be a radio interviewer with good general awareness and communication skills.
Radio
discussions :- When you have a problem in your family or with
your friends, don’t you say “let us discuss?” Yes we do. Through a
discussion we can find out a solution to problems. In any discussion there are
more than 2 or 3 people and then ideas can be pooled to come to some
conclusion. In radio, this technique is used to let people have different
points of view on matters of public concern. Radio discussions are produced
when there are social or economic issues which may be controversial. So when
different experts meet and discuss such issues, people understand various
points of view. Generally, these discussions on radio are of longer
duration-say 15 to 30 minutes. Two or three people who are known for their
views and a well informed senior person or journalist who acts as a moderator
take part and discuss a particular topic for about 30 minutes. The moderator
conducts the discussion, introduces
5.
Radio documentaries/features: If you
see a film in a movie hall, it is generally a feature film, which is
story based and not real. But there are also documentary films which are based
on real people and issues. A lot of programmes you see on television are
educational and public service documentaries. Radio also has this format.
Unlike documentary films, radio documentaries have only sound – i.e. the human
voice, music and sound effects. So a radio documentary is a programme based on
real sounds and real people and their views and experiences. Radio
documentaries are based on facts presented in an attractive manner or
dramatically. Radio documentaries are radio’s own creative format. The producer
of a documentary needs to be very creative to use human voice, script, music
and sound effects very effectively. Radio documentaries are also called radio
features.
6.
Radio
drama: A Radio drama or a
radio play is like any other play staged in a theatre or a hall. The
only difference is that while a stage play has actors, stage, sets, curtains,
properties movement and live action, a radio play has only 3 components. They
are the human voice, music and sound effects. Radio of course uses its greatest
strength for producing radio plays and that is the power of imagination and
suggestivity. For example, if you want to have a scene in a radio play of a
north Indian marriage, you don’t have all physical arrangements made. All that
you have to do is to use a bright tune on the shehnai and excited voices of
people to create in a listeners’ imagination, a wedding scene. The voice of the
actors, music and sound effects can create any situation in a radio play.
7.
Running
commentaries : If you
can’t go to see a football or cricket match in a stadium, you may watch
it on television. But for that you have to be at home or at some place where
there is a television. But if you are travelling or outside, then you may
listen to radio for a running commentary of the match. A commentator would give
you all the details of the match such as the number of players, the score,
position of the players in the field etc. So by listening to the running
commentary, you get a feeling of being in the stadium and watching the match.
The commentator needs good communication skills, a good voice and knowledge
about what is going on. Running commentaries on radio can be on various sports
events or on ceremonial occasions like the Republic Day Parade or events like
festivals, melas, rath yatras, swearing in ceremony of ministers, last journey
(funeral procession) of national leaders etc. Today radio running commentaries
especially of cricket and other sports can be heard on your mobile phones.
magazines could be for children, women, youth or
on health, sports, science or music. If you open any one of these magazines,
you will find articles, reviews, features, photo features etc. Radio also has
magazine programmes like those in the print media.
A radio
magazine is broadcast at a particular time on a particular day of a week or a
month. That means it has periodicity. Similarly it has plenty of variety in
contents. Some or many formats of radio are included in a radio magazine. These
may be talks, discussions, interviews, reviews, music etc. Likewise, the
duration of each programme or item in a magazine programme also vary. Another
characteristic of a radio magazine is that it has a signature tune. A signature
tune is an attractive piece of music which is specific to a programme. It can
be like the masthead (title) of a magazine. A magazine programme also has a
name and one or two presenters or anchor persons who link the whole programme.
In the beginning, the titles of the day’s programme will be given by the
presenters after the signature tune. They also give continuity and link the
whole magazine.
Magazine programmes are generally broadcast for a
special or specific audience. As the name suggests, a specific audience refers
to listeners with specific needs as mentioned in the beginning.
9.
NEWS: Among all the spoken word formats
on radio, news is the most popular. News bulletins and news programmes
are broadcast every hour by radio stations. In India, only All India Radio is
allowed to broadcast news. Duration of news bulletins vary from 5 minute to 30
minutes. The longer news bulletins have interviews, features, reviews and
comments from experts.
z MUSIC : When we
say radio, the first thing that comes to our mind is music. So music is
the main stay in radio. There is no radio without music. Music is used in
different ways on radio. There are programmes of music and music is also used
in different programmes. These include signature tunes, music used as effects
in radio plays and features. India has a great heritage of music and radio in
India reflects that. Let us understand the different types of music.
Classical Music
There are 3 types of
classical music in India. They are:-
z
Hindustani
classical
z
Carnatic
classical
z
Western
classical
There are
also vocal and instrumental music forms. There are also light classical music
forms like, Thumri and Dadra. Insturmental music forms include string (sitar,
sarod etc.) wind (like flutes, shehnai) and percussion (drum) instruments.You
might have heard such music on radio.
You may
know of a large variety of devotional and folk music in your area and across
the country. Which are broadcast on radio.
But which
is the most popular form of music? You would most probably say ‘film music.’
While there are film songs in different languages, the one with a national
appeal and popularity is Hindi film songs. On most radio stations, be it public
service or commercial, Hindi films songs are heard every where.
Light
western and pop music are also popular among some groups of listeners and there
is a large section of young people listening to western pop music.
z
SOUND EFFECTS
Let us see how sound can
be used in radio formats.
z
Sound
can play a major role in evoking interest.
z
Sound
can be used for comic effects to evoke laughter
z
Sound
can be used to create certain moods or enhance them.
1.
Fill
in the blanks with appropriate word/s:
i)
Announcers
are also known as ____, _____.
ii)
Whatever
is written for radio is also known as ____.
iii) Announcements mention the ________ you are
tuned into, ________
and
________ of broadcast.
iv) There can be different types of radio
interviews in terms of ________,
________
and purpose.
v)
A
film based on real people and issues is called a ________.
2.
List
the ingredients of a radio format.
3.
Differentiate
between a radio discussion and a radio drama.
4.
Match
the following :
|
i)
|
announcements
|
a)
|
republic day parade
|
|
ii)
|
commentary
|
b)
|
oldest radio format
|
|
iii)
|
interviews
|
c)
|
inform listeners
|
|
iv)
|
discussion
|
d)
|
asking questions
|
|
v)
|
radio talk
|
e)
|
moderator
|
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY BASED FORMATS
India has taken giant leaps in the field of
information technology and radio as a medium, has taken a lead in applying
information technology in its broadcasts. Let us discuss some of these formats:
1. Phone in programme – In this age of technological development,
phone-in is the most important format. This is called interactive
programming where the listener and the presenter talk to each other. Their talk
goes on air instantly. The listener has the satisfaction that his voice is
being listened to and replied immediately. Other listeners also listen to him.
Such presentations need advance publicity so that the listeners get ready to
air their grievances/queries or requests. They dial up the announced telephone number
at a stipulated time and get their problems discussed with experts in the
studio. Initially this format was introduced for playing the listeners’ request
based film songs. Now it is being used for health related programmes, rural
broadcasts, complaints against the government/ administrative machinery etc.
2. Radio bridge : Radio bridge means connecting different
stations throughout the length and breadth of the country. In this
technique, for example, an expert sitting at Chennai can interact with the
common man in the studio in Delhi. This format was first used by All India
Radio during elections.
3.
Radio on internet : Radio on internet
is a growing phenomenon with thousands of radio stations operating
through computer modems. It is altogether a new format that removes the
restrictions of frequency or license. It is relatively cheap to setup. It has certain advantages like BBC, Voice of America and All India radio are available on internet. It is now possible to listen to the programmes form a radio station while working on the computer. All India Radio started its services on internet
on 1st May 1998.
With this, it was possible to extend the coverage of programmes to all parts of
the world including USA and Canada.
1.
Fill
in the blanks with appropriate word/s:
i)
A
phone-in programme is also called _________ programming.
ii)
AIR
started its internet services on _________.
iii)
Phone-in
programmes need advance _________.
iv)
Radio
bridge means _________ different radio stations.
2.
List
any three IT based radio formats.
3.
Mention
any three areas where phone-in programmes are used.
4.
Name
the radio format which is available through a computer.
No comments:
Post a Comment