Young professionals on their way to work listen to All India Radio for western music.
Military men at their outposts listen to Hindi film songs.
Rural Farmers listen to folk songs in their native languages.
These music listening statistics were revealed by the former Director General of Doordashan All India Radio at a conference in Romania this week.
Describing the rebirth of radio in India she said: “They used to say radio is dead, but I can tell you, in India, radio is BACK! It’s a medium that is mobile and hat has made it relevant again to the younger generation of smart phone users.”
Vijayalaxmi Chhabra (pictured) also told Media2020 Conference delegates many elderly listeners start their day meditating to devotional music, truck drivers listen to overnight music shows while driving, listeners in neighbouring countries tune in for Bollywood hits, while young listeners prefer Bollywood and western music.
Chhabra, who spent 35 years in public broadcasting said: “My romance with radio began when I was five years old. The radio was my parents’ prized posession… I dreamed of how I could get to work in radio.”
Looking back with her long period of hindsight she said radio in India has “had its ups and downs,” but now is a period “when it is up.”
The brith of so many commercial stations and the revitalisation of the national broadcaster has made radio popular again. “The private commercial stations and the national broadcaster are both commercially viable,” she said.
All India Radio uses the revenue it earns from its popular Bollywood commercial music stations to cross subsidise its less commercially viable cultural activities and classical music stations.
She sees new media as challenging radio, but also sees radio adapting to the new media environment so that it can compete.
There are 300 million internet users in India and 900 million mobile phones, of which 125 million are smart phones. 69% of people live in villiages.
Chhabra sees a positive future for commercial and public radio in India.
For twitter coverage of the Media2020 Conference, see below.