Haradhan Roy said in the first light, 'Before there was a feature phone. Then I would keep the FM radio on all the time. Now if I want to listen to music, I go to YouTube. As long as I didn't have a smartphone, I used to listen to FM radio. '
Haradhan Roy bought a smartphone in the fourth year of his university studies. Since then, his addiction to FM (frequency module) radio has been declining. Addiction to FM radio has decreased in the country and many more like Haradhan.
There are many reasons why the popularity of FM radio is rapidly declining in the country. Not diversity but imitation of popular programs, reliance only on music promotion, promotion of favorite programs of advertising agencies, focus on fame rather than quality of young generation radio jockeys (RJs), rapid decline in advertisements, these are the main reasons for declining popularity in this sector. Concerned individuals.
Besides, other media is also leaning towards online and social media. As a result, the audio medium FM radio is being beaten. Many are leaving FM radio and moving to other professions as they do not stand firmly in the broadcasting sector. Even a few well-known RJs are more inclined to social media than radio programs; On its own occasion.
But radio is very popular in many developed countries. But the picture of Bangladesh is opposite. In such a situation, today 13th February is being celebrated as World Radio Day. The day declared by the United Nations has been celebrated since 2012.
According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 22 private FM radios have come to the final broadcast with licenses in the country. Some of these are closed.
The radio stations broadcasting are: Radio Furti, Radio Today, Radio Amar, People's Radio, Dhaka FM, Radio Bhoomi, Colors FM, Radio Dhwani, Radio 71, Jago FM, Radio Din Raat, Radio Swadhin, Radio Radio, Radio A, Radio A Radio Amber (Radio Masti), Radio Masala, Radio Capital, ABC Radio and Sufi FM.
In addition, there are five more FM radios waiting to be broadcast. Another's license has been revoked. Outside of this, Radio Dhol, Asian Radio and Radio Next have been shut down.
Radio Today started its journey in 2006. That same year, Selim Bashar started working in this radio. He has worked as a messenger in the organization for a long time. Recently retired from radio career. Currently working in Management and Resource Development Initiative (MRDI).
Radio Today was one of the most popular FM radios in the country at that time. Going to reminisce, Selim Bashar said in the first light, then there was acceptance as a radio worker. Not in appearance, but in the name of what people know. That was about 4-5 years.
Personal reputation and the reputation of the organization কারণে because of all these there were innumerable advertisements. Selim Bashar said that in the beginning there were so many advertisements that it had to be controlled. Because, it was not possible to give so many advertisements. Advertising has been declining since 2016. From then on, the company started struggling to pay the salary.
The cry of advertising in other organizations as well. Kabir Bakul, Head of Operations, ABC Radio, told Prothom Alo, “We could not buy BPL for the title sponsor. The bargain was final. But it was not possible to broadcast it later due to lack of sponsors.
Currently, ABC Radio has only one title sponsor. The rest is going on without sponsors. Kabir Bakul said that before, there were about 20 minutes of advertisements per hour. It's down to five minutes now.
Shahedur Rahman, the current Newsroom Operations and Administrative Affairs in-charge of Radio Today, told Prothom Alo that 60 per cent of Radio Today's revenue came from mobile phone service providers and multinational companies. But since 2016, the income from these sectors has come down to less than 20 percent. He said that the influx of advertisements on online and television has affected the radio.
As the number of advertisements decreased, so did the manpower of FM radios. MRDI conducts a gender-related survey in the workplace. Selim Bashar said the survey showed that middle-career people are currently leading the radio. Most people are not in senior positions. This is a matter of great concern for FM radio.
ABC Radio started its journey with 120 employees, said Kabir Bakul, the chief operating officer of the radio. He said that ABC Radio was transformed from a news to an entertainment channel in 2013, with a staff of 60. Since then, the number has dropped to 22.
And Shahedur Rahman of Radio Today said that as the FM medium has become weak, more attention has to be paid online. But it was not possible to recruit new manpower for this; Instead, the radio people are working for Facebook, YouTube, online.
Even though the emphasis is now on online and social media, very good content or programs for them are not seen on FM radio; On the contrary, in the beginning, some FM radio programs were quite popular, such as 'Bhoot FM', 'Love Guru', 'Traffic Update'. Some heartwarming humanitarian programs also gained popularity. Later, many began to imitate them. This is one of the reasons why the confidence of the listeners is declining.
Because of the show, because of the brand, a number of popular RJs were born in the beginning. Selim Bashar said that the place for making stars like RJ Nirab, RJ Tania, RJ Kibria, RJ Biplob, who were popular on radio, has now been ruined.
However, some of the previous stars are more inclined to leave the FM radio on social media. One of them is Golam Kibria Sarkar or RJ Kibria. He has more than 75 lakh followers on his Facebook page and about 20 lakh on YouTube.
RJ Kibria is currently working at Dhaka FM. Kibria said in response to a question that he is leaning more through social media as he sees less potential in FM radio. It must be abandoned. I have been able to utilize a thousand times more than social media radio.
Shahriar Hasan has said goodbye to FM radio even though RJ Kibria has not left completely. He has worked for Radio Furti, Dhaka FM, Radio Next, ABC Radio for a total of 18 years.
Shahriar Hasan said, one radio is falling head over heels. Even if the workers want it, the owners do not want it. At the end of the day, you have to think about your stomach. All in all I had to leave.
What are the possibilities of FM radio? To this question, Kabir Bakul said, the possibility of FM radio is not possible now.
And RJ Kibria's statement is a little different. He said all the media in the country are leaning towards online and social media. But more important than changing the medium here is being able to tell the story for the medium. Advertising will go where there are more people. It's not about FM radio or TV. The point is not to create good content.
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