Decks cleared for 40 CR stations, 90 applications pending

NEW DELHI: With the grant of permission for a community radio station at St Aloysius College in Mangalore, the number of such stations (CRS) in the country has gone up to 42, even as over 90 applications from non-governmental organisations and educational institutions are pending approval.

The St Aloysius College station is expected to be operational within three months, according to the Grant of Permission Agreement with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry 

St Aloysius college to launch CR in Mangalore

MUMBAI: Mangalore based college St Aloysius will shortly launch its community radio, �Sarang' - celebrating colours of life.

The college representatives signed their GOPA (Grant of Permission Agreement) last week in Delhi with the Information and Broadcasting ministry. The GOPA agreement allows the institute to purchase a transmitter and the college has submitted relevant documents to obtain the WOL (Wireless Operating License).

Dhan Foundation to operate CR station in Nagapattinam, TN

NEW DELHI: The Maduari based non government organisation (NGO), Dham Foundation has been permitted to establish, maintain and operate a community radio station at Vizhunthamavad village, Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The CR station, which is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement, will be called Kalanjiam community radio station.

Gurgaon to have its own community radio

MUMBAI: Gurgaon based NGO, TRF (The Restoring Force) would be soon launching its community radio in Udyog Vihar, villages of Garhi Harsaru, Dhankot and adjoining areas. TRF had already been allotted frequency of 107.8 MHz by the Information and Broadcasting ministry. The NGO had applied for a radio license in the start of last year and received the Letter of Intent from I & B ministry in August 2008.

First community radio station in Assam launched

MUMBAI: The first community radio station in Assam was formally launched at the Krishna Kanta Handique Open University in the state on 27 January.

FM round up west - Steady growth

After featuring the south, north and east FM scenario in 2008, radioandmusic.com completes the FM roundup with the west scene.

2008 was a tough year in general for media in India, but radio managed reasonably well during the year.

Believes Radio Mirchi CEO Prashant Panday, Fuelled by growth in network, the growth rate of radio in the first half of 2008 was as high as 55-60 per cent on a year on year basis....

Mhaswad CR station commences transmission

NEW DELHI: The ministry of Information and Broadcasting has announced that the Community Radio station at Mhaswad, Satara district in Maharashtra has commenced operations officially.

Regular transmission from the Mannvikas Samajik Sanstha Community Radio station has begun from 26 January 2009.

FM roundup - east & north east - Riding High

Looking back, 2008 was the year of commencing operations for many commercial FM stations in eastern India. To make their presence felt, these stations carried out a lot of marketing initiatives.

Many of these stations, located in small towns and marked by hefty retail advertising, have managed to escape the current heat wave of the global slowdown and have managed to sustain themselves with satisfactory profits, especially in the last quarter.

The toppers of the Bollywood music biz in 2008

From an astounding 75 'A' grader bollywood releases in 2008, barely a clutchful made the mark, music wise. Not surprisingly, films composed by Rahman, SEL and Pritam - those with catchy tunes made brisk business. The messiah of the masses, Himesh Reshammiya, hit a chord with Karzzz too, relying mostly on the popularity of the original tracks and some ingenuity on his own part. Those who experimented (Sneha Khanwalkar with Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye) were not blessed with quick album sales and
downloads, however.

Noel Keymer's favourite jocks

RJ turned voice trainer and author Noel Keymer picks three of his favourite radio jockeys from the year gone by.

Jeeturaaj: Radio Mirchi

If there's one reason that listeners tune into Radio Mirchi every morning at 7 am to 11 am, it's definitely because of Jeeturaaj.