Public TV broadcaster Doordarshan has reinvented itself during the

that began on March 25 in the wake of

by relaunching old and popular serials such as the Ramayan, Mahabharat and Buniyad. The telecast of these all-time favourites, in line with information and broadcasting minister

’s directions, have been lapped up by people sperate for entertainment during this period of

.

However, public radio broadcaster

(AIR), commonly called

, presents a different picture. Of AIR’s three flagship radio stations - FM Gold, Vividh Bharti and Rainbow - the first had created a niche for itself as an infotainment frequency. Besides hourly news, it presented educational shows and played old songs, not later than the 80s or early 90s. But, it has now been converted to a 24-hour live news channel following the lockdown. With Vividh Bharti not offering the same kind of entertainment and old songs that FM Gold did, listeners are disappointed.

In an exclusive interview to timesofindia.com, India’s public broadcasting agency

’s chief executive officer (CEO) Shashi Shekhar Vempati spoke on this and several other issues related to AIR. Excerpts:

Q: What are the changes that have been brought about in the three flagship channels of AIR - FM Gold, Vividh Bharti and Rainbow - in the wake of the lockdown?

Q: FM Gold till the lockdown was an infotainment channel. However, it has been transformed to a 24-hour news channel. Why so?

Q: Will FM Gold remain like this in the coming months or will the entertainment segments be reintroduced?

Q: Has any review been done of the growth or fall in the number of listeners following lockdown?

Q: About 80 radio jockeys (RJs) were working for FM Gold on a casual basis. But they have lost employment following the change in the nature of the channel. Will they be re-employed or re-engaged in some meaningful job? Is there any plan for them?

Q: What are the other changes AIR is likely to see in the near future?

A: Various services across the network have adapted to the constraints and circumstances arising from the COVID19 pandemic. It would not be practical to detail the steps taken by each service. However, general guidelines shared at the onset of the lockdown on ensuring local and national news/information have been guiding the various services.AIR will also soon launch book reading by famous writers.A: In cities where AIR operates three FM services, it has been decided to optimally utilise the three frequencies without duplication of content so as to ensure a balance between general entertainment , city specific programming and national news/information related to the pandemic. Similar adjustments have been made in cities/regions with two frequencies and so on.A: It is premature to comment at this time. We will continue to review the needs of public service broadcasting arising from the situation related to pandemic and take necessary steps as required.A: Unlike measurement of viewers on TV, there is no system to measure listeners on the radio. However, the NewsOnAir App gives us a good measure of listening through analytics. These are some of the data points - over the last two months since the crisis began, NewsOnAir App has seen a 125% growth in traffic from India with nearly 1.5 million listeners tuning in.International traffic, which accounts for around 10% of overall traffic, has also doubled during the same period. Nearly 20 million visits were recorded during the same period for the audio content on the app across both live streaming and on-demand audio content of All India Radio.A: Your question misrepresents the issue perhaps due to a lack of understanding of casual assignments. There is no employee-employer relationship here. These are freelance assignments on a part-time basis subject to needs of AIR. Several casual assignees continue to deliver services per assignments across the network and are getting paid as per their entitlements on an assignment basis.To ensure transparency and accountability in how casual assignments are handled, instructions have been issued to create a consolidated database of all casual assignees across the network and soon an IT-based workflow will be rolled out for managing the entire process from identifying needs, booking assignments, delivery and payment. Once rolled out, this will help streamline the process. We also look forward to creating opportunities for new faces and voices and fresh talent so that more youth get a chance to contribute their skills and talents to the public broadcaster through this process.A: It would be premature to comment at this time. Right now the priority is dealing with the crisis emerging from the pandemic. Mass education through broadcasting is top priority.