MUMBAI: Known for promoting traditional music content through its shows, the changing trends of commercial music has caught up with the government broadcaster All India Radio (AIR). Citing a lack of revenue, FM Gold Chennai has been forced to reduce the broadcast of Carnatic music replacing it with popular entertainment programs and film songs.

The change ordered by the broadcaster in Delhi, were enforced from 12 November. While four slots have been changed with classical music programmes, there are others who have been replaced with entertainment programs in Hindi and English. Other programs aired throughout the day include popular Hindi and Tamil film songs, talk shows on various topics and classical music concerts which are the major source of entertainment and revenue for most radio broadcasters in the country.

The 11:30am slot has been shifted which now witnesses a program from Delhi being broadcast on the channel. On the other hand, the 7am and 1:10pm slots have been dropped completely which now air a one-hour classical music concert and tracks from classical music CDs respectively. The station has retained the 5pm and 10pm slots which air Carnatic music from various artistes along with concerts.

Speaking with Radioandmusic.com on the change, a senior official from AIR Chennai on condition of anonymity said, “The changes were made by the higher officials in Chennai due to lack of revenue as no one is now willing to pay for classical music. We are now airing more entertainment programs in the hope that it will garner higher revenue as Hindi and Tamil film songs are the major source of entertainment.”

With the slots being reduced, the station is now receiving  mixed response from its listeners. As a result, officials from the Chennai station have sent a request to the Delhi headquarters to allow some more slots for the genre which is witnessing a slow death in the state.

“While FM gold has been restructured, we have forwarded a request to our higher officials in Delhi to increase the number of slots broadcasting Carnatic music. The response we are getting is a mixed one. While some are happy as a majority number of people now opt for popular entertainment content, the traditional music aficionados are pretty upset. But it’s still too early to calculate the revenues and see if there has been growth or no,” added the official.

As various new forms of music emerge in the constantly evolving market, many states are witnessing the traditional form of music fading away. Most of the leading commercial broadcasters air popular film music which helps them garner listenership and revenues. The trend has now completely taken over the radio medium as an ugly truth, with no station dedicatedly airing classical music in today’s age.