MODULE - 3

FormatsofRadioProgrammes

Radio

11
Notes

FORMATSOFRADIO
PROGRAMMES

Youarebynowfamiliarwitharadiostation.Thepreviouslessonhelpedyoutounderstand
howaradiostationworks.

Whenyoureadapopularmagazine,youwillcomeacrossvariousthings.Therewillbeanattractivecover,
advertisementsofdifferentproducts,storiesorarticlesonissuesrangingfrompoliticstosportsandcinema,
interviewsandotherfeatures.

Similarly,aradiostationalsobroadcastsprogrammesofdifferenttypes.Thinkofthedifferenttypesof
programmesyouhaveheardonradio.Youwouldprobablyrememberfilmsongs,phonein
programmes,talks,discussions,news,cricketcommentariesetc.Thesedifferenttypesofprogrammes
arecalledformats.

OBJECTIVES

Afterstudyingthislesson,youwillbeabletodothefollowing:

listthefactorstobetakenintoaccountformakingaradioprogramme;

describethedifferentformatsofradioprogrammes;

explaintheingredientsofaradioprogramme;

identifythetechnologybasedformats.

FACTORSTOBETAKENINTOACCOUNTFORMAKINGARADIO
PROGRAMME

Thinkofthevillageortowninwhichyoulive.Youfindpeoplebelongingtoallcommunitiesmen
andwomen,richandpoor.RadioplaysaveryimportantroleinthelivesofthepeopleofIndia.
Thoughthereareplentyofrichpeopleandhighlydevelopedcities,amajorityofourpeopleare
poorandalargenumberofthemcannotreadorwrite.Sotheonlymediumthatcanreallyreach
themtoinform,educateandentertainistheradio.Radiostationsespeciallythoserunbythe
governmentperformapublicserviceduty.

136

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FormatsofRadioProgrammes

Nearestradio
stations/Televisi
onstations

Therequirementsoflistenersofradiostationsarenotthesame.Toserve
them,weneedtoknowmanyfactsaboutthem.Letusmakealistofwhatwe
Climateofthe
shouldknowabouttheaudience:
place
Numberofpeoplei.e.thetotalpopulationofthearea.

NumberofmenandwomenSexratio

Literatepeople/Illiteratepeople

Thelanguagesspokeninthearea.

Schools/Colleges

Childrengoingtoschool

Healthfacilitiesavailabilityofdoctors,primaryhealthcentre,clinics,
hospitals.

Anymajordiseases

Main
occupationof
thepeople

Incomeper
head/people
belowpoverty
line

Roads/transport
facilities

Irrigation
facilities

Numberof
peopleengaged
in
agriculture/othe
roccupations.

Religionsintheareapopulationwise
Typesofcrops.
Powersupply

Youcanaddmanymoreissuestothislist.Weneedtoknowthesefactsto
decidethelanguage,thetypeofbroadcast,timingofprogrammesetc.Radio
formatsthereforearedecidedonthebasisoftheneedsoftheaudience.

MODULE - 3
Radio

INTEXTQUESTIONS11.1

Listanyfivefactorsthatyouneedtotakeintoaccountaboutthelisteners
beforemakingaradioprogramme.

Writethenamesofanyfiveprogrammesyouhaveheardonradio.
Notes
Fllintheblankswithappropriateword/s:

Theonlymediumtoreachtheilliteratepeopletoinform,_______and

entertainthemisthe_______.
MASSCOMMUNICATION

137

MODULE - 3

Notes

Radio

FormatsofRadioProgrammes

Aradiostationbroadcastsprogrammesliketalks,discussions,_______,

_______and_______.

Itisimportanttoknowtherequirementsofthelistenerstodecide

ofbroadcast
and_________
and_________
ofprogrammes.

Radio
programmes
aredecidedon
thebasisof
_________.

11.2TYPES
OFRADIO
FORMATS

aregoingtolistento.Thesearecalledannouncements.Announcementshave
beentraditionallymadebypeoplewhoareknownasannouncers.The
commercialradiochannelsmaycallthemRadioJockeys(RJs)oranchor
persons.Beforeyoulearnaboutthedifferentradioformats,youmustknowthe
ingredientsofaradioformat.

Asyouknowmostofwhatisspokenonradioiswrittendown.Asyouhave
alreadylearntthatwhatiswrittenforradioisheardandisreferredtoas
spokenwordasagainstthewrittenword.Butthespokenwordsonradio
iswrittendownorwhatisgenerallycalledscripted.ARadioformatcanbe
splitintothreeparts:Theyare:

SpokenWordorHumanVoice

Music
Doyou
rememberthe
programmes
youhaveheard
onradio.Try
andrecallsome
ofthem.You
mayhaveheard
thenamesof
radiostations,
fromwherethe
programmesare
broadcast.Many
ofyouwould
remember
VividhBharati,
AIRFMGold
orsomeprivate
commercial
station.Youmay
alsoremember
thetimebeing
mentionedand
what
programmeyou

SoundEffects

Allradioformatshavetheabovethreeingredients.Soletusfirstclassifythe
spokenwordformat.

SPOKENWORD

Announcements:Thesearespecificallywrittenclearmessagestoinform.They
canbeofdifferenttypes.Forexamplestation/programmeidentification.These
mentionthestationyouaretunedinto,thefrequency,thetimeandthe
programme/songyouaregoingtolistento.Asmentionedalreadyyoufindin
todayscommercialradiochannels,theseannouncementshavebecomeinformal
andresembleordinaryconversation.Therecanbemorethanonepresenterinsome
programmeslikemagazines.

Radiotalk:Theradiotalkprobablyistheoldestformatonradio.Therehasbeena
traditioninIndiaandBritaintoinviteexpertsorprominentpersonstospeakfor10
or15minutesonaspecifictopic.Thesetalkshavetogothroughaprocessofbeing
changedintoradiosspokenwordstyle.Overtheyears,

138

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FormatsofRadioProgrammes

theselongradiotalkshavebecomeunpopular.Instead,today,shorter
durationtalksarebroadcast.Ofcourse,youcanlistentothesetalksonlyon
publicservicebroadcastingstations.

Radiointerviews:Haveyoueverinterviewedanyone?Probablyyes.Inthemedia,
beitthenewspaper,magazine,radioortelevision,journalistsusethistechniqueof
askingquestionstogetinformation.Therecanbedifferenttypesofinterviewsin
termsoftheirduration,contentandpurpose.

Firstly,therearefullfledgedinterviewprogrammes.Thedurationofthesemay
varyfrom10minutesto30minutesoreven60minutesdependinguponthetopic,
andthepersonbeinginterviewed.Mostofsuchinterviewsarepersonalitybased.
Youmighthaveheardoflonginterviewswithwellknownpeopleinthefieldof
publiclife,literature,science,sports,filmsetc.

Secondly,thereareinterviewswhichareusedinvariousradioprogrammeslike
documentaries.Heretheinterviewsareshort,questionsspecificandnotmany.The
purposeistogetaverybrief,tothepointanswer.

Thirdlytherearealotofinterviewsorinterviewbasedprogrammesinnewsand
currentaffairsprogrammes.Haveyouheardsuchinterviewsonradio?

Withphoneinprogrammesbecomingpopular,youmighthaveheardlive
interviewswithlisteners.Theseinterviewshavebeenmadeinteractive.

Thereisanothertypeofinterviewbasedprogramme.Heregenerallyjustoneor
twoquestionsareputacrosstoordinarypeopleorpeoplewithknowledgeonsome
currenttopictomeasurepublicopinion.Forexamplewhenthegeneralbudgetor
therailwaybudgetispresentedintheparliament,peoplerepresentingradiogoout

andaskthe
generalpublic
abouttheir
opinion.Their
namesand
identitymaynot
beasked.Such
programmesare
calledvoxpop
whichisaLatin
phrasemeaning
voiceofpeople.

Youhavetobe
veryinquisitive
andhard
workingtobea
radio
interviewer
withgood
general
awarenessand
communication
skills.

Radio
discussions:
Whenyouhavea
probleminyour
familyorwith
yourfriends,dont
yousayletus
discuss?Yeswe
do.Througha
discussionwecan
findoutasolution
toproblems.In
anydiscussion
therearemore

than2or3peopleandthenideascanbepooledtocometosomeconclusion.Inradio,
thistechniqueisusedtoletpeoplehavedifferentpointsofviewonmattersofpublic
concern.Radiodiscussionsareproducedwhentherearesocialoreconomicissues
whichmaybecontroversial.Sowhendifferentexpertsmeetanddiscusssuchissues,
peopleunderstandvariouspointsofview.Generally,thesediscussionsonradioareof
longerdurationsay15to30minutes.Twoorthreepeoplewhoareknownfortheir
viewsandawellinformedseniorpersonorjournalistwhoactsasamoderatortakepart
anddiscussaparticulartopicforabout30minutes.Themoderatorconductsthe
discussion,introduces

MODULE - 3
Radio

Notes

MASSCOMMUNICATION

139

MODULE - 3

FormatsofRadioProgrammes

Radio

thetopicandtheparticipantsandensuresthateveryonegetsenoughtimeto
speakandallissuesarediscussed.

Notes

Radiodocumentaries/features:Ifyouseeafilminamoviehall,itisgenerallya
featurefilm,whichisstorybasedandnotreal.Buttherearealsodocumentaryfilms
whicharebasedonrealpeopleandissues.Alotofprogrammesyouseeontelevision
areeducationalandpublicservicedocumentaries.Radioalsohasthisformat.Unlike
documentaryfilms,radiodocumentarieshaveonlysoundi.e.thehumanvoice,music
andsoundeffects.Soaradiodocumentaryisaprogrammebasedonrealsoundsand
realpeopleandtheirviewsandexperiences.Radiodocumentariesarebasedonfacts
presentedinanattractivemannerordramatically.Radiodocumentariesareradiosown
creativeformat.Theproducerofadocumentaryneedstobeverycreativetousehuman
voice,script,musicandsoundeffectsveryeffectively.Radiodocumentariesarealso
calledradiofeatures.

Radiodrama:ARadiodramaoraradioplayislikeanyotherplaystagedina
theatreorahall.Theonlydifferenceisthatwhileastageplayhasactors,stage,

sets,curtains,
properties
movementand
liveaction,a
radioplayhas
only3
components.
Theyarethe
humanvoice,
musicandsound
effects.Radioof
courseusesits
greateststrength
forproducing
radioplaysand
thatisthepower
ofimagination
andsuggestivity.
Forexample,if
youwanttohave
asceneinaradio
playofanorth
Indianmarriage,
youdonthave

140

allphysicalarrangementsmade.Allthatyouhavetodoistouseabrighttuneon
theshehnaiandexcitedvoicesofpeopletocreateinalistenersimagination,a
weddingscene.Thevoiceoftheactors,musicandsoundeffectscancreateany
situationinaradioplay.

Runningcommentaries:Ifyoucantgotoseeafootballorcricketmatchina
stadium,youmaywatchitontelevision.Butforthatyouhavetobeathomeorat
someplacewherethereisatelevision.Butifyouaretravellingoroutside,thenyou
maylistentoradioforarunningcommentaryofthematch.Acommentatorwould
giveyouallthedetailsofthematchsuchasthenumberofplayers,thescore,
positionoftheplayersinthefieldetc.Sobylisteningtotherunningcommentary,
yougetafeelingofbeinginthestadiumandwatchingthematch.Thecommentator
needsgoodcommunicationskills,agoodvoiceandknowledgeaboutwhatisgoing
on.Runningcommentariesonradiocanbeonvarioussportseventsoron
ceremonialoccasionsliketheRepublicDayParadeoreventslikefestivals,melas,
rathyatras,swearinginceremonyofministers,lastjourney(funeralprocession)of
nationalleadersetc.Todayradiorunningcommentariesespeciallyofcricketand
othersportscanbeheardonyourmobilephones.

Magazineprogrammes:Youarefamiliarwithmagazineswhichareaformofprint
media.Theyarepublishedweekly,biweekly,fortnightlyormonthly.Therearegeneral
magazinesandmagazinesforspecificreaders.These

MASSCOMMUNICATION

FormatsofRadioProgrammes

magazinescouldbeforchildren,women,youthoronhealth,sports,science
ormusic.Ifyouopenanyoneofthesemagazines,youwillfindarticles,
reviews,features,photofeaturesetc.Radioalsohasmagazineprogrammes
likethoseintheprintmedia.

Aradiomagazineisbroadcastataparticulartimeonaparticulardayofaweekor
amonth.Thatmeansithasperiodicity.Similarlyithasplentyofvarietyin
contents.Someormanyformatsofradioareincludedinaradiomagazine.These
maybetalks,discussions,interviews,reviews,musicetc.Likewise,thedurationof
eachprogrammeoriteminamagazineprogrammealsovary.Another

characteristicofa
radiomagazineis
thatithasa
signaturetune.A
signaturetuneis
anattractive
pieceofmusic
whichisspecific
toaprogramme.
Itcanbelikethe
masthead(title)
ofamagazine.A
magazine
programmealso
hasanameand
oneortwo
presentersor

anchorpersonswholinkthewholeprogramme.Inthebeginning,thetitlesofthe
daysprogrammewillbegivenbythepresentersafterthesignaturetune.Theyalso
givecontinuityandlinkthewholemagazine.

MODULE - 3
Radio

Magazineprogrammesaregenerallybroadcastforaspecialorspecific
audience.Asthenamesuggests,aspecificaudiencereferstolistenerswith
specificneedsasmentionedinthebeginning.

NEWS:Amongallthespokenwordformatsonradio,newsisthemostpopular.News
bulletinsandnewsprogrammesarebroadcasteveryhourbyradiostations.InIndia,
onlyAllIndiaRadioisallowedtobroadcastnews.Durationofnewsbulletinsvary
from5minuteto30minutes.Thelongernewsbulletinshaveinterviews,features,
reviewsandcommentsfromexperts.

Notes
MUSIC:Whenwesayradio,thefirstthingthatcomestoourmindismusic.Somusic
isthemainstayinradio.Thereisnoradiowithoutmusic.Musicisusedindifferent
waysonradio.Thereareprogrammesofmusicandmusicisalsousedindifferent
programmes.Theseincludesignaturetunes,musicusedaseffectsinradioplaysand
features.IndiahasagreatheritageofmusicandradioinIndiareflectsthat.Letus
understandthedifferenttypesofmusic.

ClassicalMusic

Thereare3typesofclassicalmusicinIndia.Theyare:

Hindustaniclassical

Carnaticclassical

Westernclassical

Therearealsovocalandinstrumentalmusicforms.Therearealsolight
classicalmusicformslike,ThumriandDadra.Insturmentalmusicforms
includestring(sitar,sarodetc.)wind(likeflutes,shehnai)andpercussion
(drum)instruments.Youmighthaveheardsuchmusiconradio.

MASSCOMMUNICATION

MODULE - 3
Radio

141

formofmusic?Youwouldmostprobablysayfilmmusic.Whiletherearefilm
songsindifferentlanguages,theonewithanationalappealandpopularityis
Hindifilmsongs.Onmostradiostations,beitpublicserviceorcommercial,
Hindifilmssongsareheardeverywhere.

Lightwesternandpopmusicarealsopopularamongsomegroupsoflisteners
andthereisalargesectionofyoungpeoplelisteningtowesternpopmusic.

SOUNDEFFECTS

Letusseehowsoundcanbeusedinradioformats.
Notes

Formatsof
Radio
Programmes

Soundcanplayamajorroleinevokinginterest.

Soundcanbeusedforcomiceffectstoevokelaughter

Soundcanbeusedtocreatecertainmoodsorenhancethem.
Youmayknow
ofalarge
varietyof
devotionaland
INTEXTQUESTIONS11.2
folkmusicin
yourareaand
acrossthe
Fillintheblankswithappropriateword/s:
country.Which
arebroadcast
onradio.
Announcersarealsoknownas____,_____.

Butwhichisthe
Whateveriswrittenforradioisalsoknownas____.
mostpopular

Differentiatebetweenaradiodiscussionandaradiodrama.
Announcements
mentionthe
________you
aretunedinto,
________

Matchthefollowing:

i)
and________
ofbroadcast.

announcements
a)
republicdayparade

Therecanbe
differenttypesof
radiointerviews
intermsof
________,

ii)
commentary
b)
oldestradioformat

________and
purpose.

iii)
interviews

c)
Afilmbasedon
realpeopleand informlisteners
issuesiscalled
iv)
a________.
discussion
d)
Listthe
ingredientsofa askingquestions
radioformat.
v)
radiotalk
e)
moderator

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FormatsofRadioProgrammes

11.3INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGYBASEDFORMATS

Indiahastakengiantleapsinthefieldofinformationtechnologyandradio
asamedium,hastakenaleadinapplyinginformationtechnologyinits
broadcasts.Letusdiscusssomeoftheseformats:

PhoneinprogrammeInthisageoftechnologicaldevelopment,phoneinisthe
mostimportantformat.Thisiscalledinteractiveprogrammingwherethelistener
andthepresentertalktoeachother.Theirtalkgoesonairinstantly.Thelistenerhas
thesatisfactionthathisvoiceisbeinglistenedtoandrepliedimmediately.Other
listenersalsolistentohim.Suchpresentationsneedadvancepublicitysothatthe
listenersgetreadytoairtheirgrievances/queriesorrequests.Theydialupthe
announcedtelephonenumberatastipulatedtimeandgettheirproblemsdiscussed
withexpertsinthestudio.Initiallythisformatwasintroducedforplayingthe
listenersrequestbasedfilmsongs.Nowitisbeingusedforhealthrelated
Fig.11.1:Phone
programmes,ruralbroadcasts,complaintsagainstthegovernment/administrative
inprogramme
machineryetc.

Radiobridge:
Radiobridge
meansconnecting
differentstations
throughoutthe
lengthand
breadthofthe
country.Inthis
technique,for
example,an
expertsittingat
Chennaican
interactwiththe
commonmanin
thestudioin
Delhi.This
formatwasfirst
usedbyAllIndia
Radioduring
elections.

MODULE - 3
Radiooninternet:Radiooninternetisagrowingphenomenonwiththousandsof
radiostationsoperatingthroughcomputermodems.Itisaltogetheranewformatthat
removestherestrictionsoffrequencyorlicense.Itisrelatively

Radio

Notes
MASSCOMMUNICATION

143

MODULE - 3

FormatsofRadioProgrammes

Radio

cheaptosetup.Ithascertainadvantagesaswellasdisadvantages.Nowall

thenationalandinternationalradiostationslikeBBC,VoiceofAmerica,and

AllIndiaRadioareavailableoninternet.Itisnowpossibletolistentothe

programmesfromaradiostationwhileworkingonthecomputer.

Notes

Fig.11.2

AllIndiaRadiostarteditsservicesoninterneton1stMay1998.Withthis,itwaspossibleto
extendthecoverageofprogrammestoallpartsoftheworldincludingUSAandCanada.

INTEXTQUESTIONS11.3

Fillintheblankswithappropriateword/s:

Aphoneinprogrammeisalsocalled_________programming.

AIRstarteditsinternetserviceson_________.

Phoneinprogrammesneedadvance_________.

Radiobridgemeans_________differentradiostations.

ListanythreeITbasedradioformats.

Mentionanythreeareaswherephoneinprogrammesareused.

Nametheradioformatwhichisavailablethroughacomputer.

144

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FormatsofRadioProgrammes

MODULE - 3

Radio

11.4WHATYOUHAVELEARNT

Formatsofradioprogrammes

Factorstobetakenintoaccountformakingaradioprogramme
Notes

Areapopulation,sexratio,languagesspoken,numberofschoolsandcolleges,health
facilities,religions,climate,typesofcrops,transportfacilities,mainoccupationofpeople

Radioformats

ingredientsofaradioformatspokenword,musicandspecialeffects

typesofformatsannouncements,radiotalk,radiointerviews,radiodiscussions,radio
magazine,radiodocumentariesandfeatures,runningcommentaries,radiodrama,news,
music

Informationtechnologybasedformatsphonein,radiobridge,internetradio

11.5TERMINALEXERCISES

Discussindetailthefactorstobetakenaccountbeforemakingaradioprogramme.

Explainwithexamplesthedifferentformatsofradioprogrammes.

Describeinformationtechnologybasedformatsusedinthemediumofradio.

11.6ANSWERSTOINTEXTQUESTIONS

1.Pl.refertoSection11.1

examples:news,musicprogrammes

i)educate,radio

news,commentaries,magazines

communities,rich,poor

language,time,type

needsoftheaudience

1.i)Radiojockeys/anchorpersons

spokenword

MASSCOMMUNICATION

145

MODULE - 3

Notes

Radio

FormatsofRadioProgrammes

station,frequency,time

duration,content

documentary

spokenword,
music,sound
effects

Pl.referto
Section11.2

1.i)interactiveii)May01,1998iii)publicityiv)connecting

Pl.refertoSection11.3

Pl.refertoSection11.3
i)c)ii)a)iii)d)
iv)e)v)b)

Radiooninternet

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