FM Trends in Kerala

FM the Fun Maker? : Kerala’s rising radio boom

“Kelkku kelpikku life kondaadu…” (Listen, make them listen and enjoy life) the peppy jockey’s words reverbs in young Mira’s ears who is on her way to the college. Squeezed in a crowded bus, entangled in the morning 9 30 traffic jam, she is all raptures, with eyes closed and smiling lips, she is in a daze.

With the 90s cable TV established the advent of a massive changing media scenario in kerala, while today FM rules the roost as the kerala media delinquency. No more does radio mean the monopolized monotony of All India Radio programme. Huge media houses like Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhoomi, Sun Network and Asianet have all turned FM in Kerala to be a part of the Malayali’s daily life.

On November 29, 2007, Radio Mango, the first FM station was launched by Malayala Manorama as it went on air from Kozhikode, since then FM vogue was popped from all parts of Kerala, with SFM, Club FM, Best FM, Radio Mirchi and Big FM all becoming familiar names. With a wide range of listenership from not just the car- riding population, but housewives, the old, students and even the rustics, FM enjoys a wide popularity in kerala.

Allotted Fm Stations in Kerala and Frequencies

Thiruvananthapuram

Big FM 92.7
Radio Mirchi 98.3
Club FM 94.3
S FM 93.5

Cochin

Club FM 94.3
S FM 93.5
Radio Mango 91.9

Thrissur

Radio Mango 91.9
Club FM 94.3
S FM 93.5
Best FM 95.0

Kozhikode

Radio Mango 91.9
S FM 93.5

Kannur

Radio Mango 91.9
Club FM 94.3
S FM 93.5
Best FM 95.0

The FM in Kerala, has all the private channels vying for the ears with most of the programme content completely suffused with entertainment alone that if the trend so continues, it could easily end up as a useless chatterbox. What the FMs in kerala should immediately do is to understand the potentialities of radio in lending a totally new auditory dimension to the lives of keralites. With its boundless prospective for a cultural resurgence, the radio creativity has to respond immediately, so to remind, its growth model was once acclaimed by the UN.

FM should not be just the time passer for Mira, for if it remains, so it would soon turn out to be a passé. Even before we realize, how she could have been moved by acting upon the traffic squash before her, rather than ever immersing in the world of music, shutting the eyes to a real world before her!