Democracy through radio

B D Narayankar

Tune in to any radio station and you will be treated with loads of filmy music. A little later you realize you are not getting what you want and subsequently turn off your radio.

GEORGE M George, executive director, Muthoot Group, conducted a study and found out that radio was not redefining itself in a market like Chennai where about 10 radio stations are operating. So, in order to be different and relevant to listeners, Muthoot Group zeroed in on the format of talk radio. Thus was the birth of ’Chennai Live’, the first FM talk radio station in Chennai, which was launched recently.

Focused on knowledge-centric and local content, Chennai Live specifically targets the information and entertainment needs of Chennai’s intelligent people. It is a locally-involved radio station that will feature intelligent talk by way of discussions and debates with studio guests and listeners calling in. And in between, the station will play the best of Tamil and international music.

The show picks up a hot issue concerning Chennai citizens. The show has a team of presenters who are professional, challenging and provocative as well as fun and entertaining. They have the ability to engage and empathise with the city’s audience. The team is highly active and visible in the community with outside broadcasts (OBs). The idea of OBs is to reach out to people at different places in the city. "These kinds of shows showcase the advantages and disadvantages of what is happening in the city to the people as everybody has the right to know," George said.

The Muthoot Group, one of South India’s largest business conglomerates with interests in finance, healthcare, education, hospitality and real estate among others, has a strong grassroots level understanding of local environment and customers’ needs. Making full use of this knowledge, the group for the past 120 years has been making innovative products and offering services to carve a niche in the competitive business world.

"Chennai Live is another such endeavour from our group to help meet the information and entertainment needs of Chennai’s knowledge seekers and success aspirants. The show is for people having a viewpoint," said Prem Kumar, Station Head, Chennai Live 104.8 FM.

The station continuously seeks to interact with senior professionals from diverse fields such as entertainment, media, industry, government and non-governmental organisations and other leaders for their advice on the sta­tion’s programming policies.

Source: Meri News