Mumbai: The FM service of All India Radio (AIR) will cover the whole country in the next few years, Union Minister of state for Information and Broadcasting Col (retd) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said on Tuesday. Inaugurating the new FM transmitter for Vividh Bharati service in Mumbai on Monday, the minister said the Government intends to cover the whole country through FM service.
"This may take a few years, but it will be done. At present 40 per cent of the country has been covered by FM service and we will take it up to 60 per cent in the next two to two-and-a-half years," a release quoted him as saying. The Minister also said that 400 transmitters were already available in the country and 250 more will be added in the next two to three years.
Rathore said that AIR and Doordarshan are like old friends which we take for granted, but due to Prime Minister's interaction with the people on radio, it has now got back its prominence. "With 92% coverage of the country, AIR touches everyone's life and radio gives us information, knowledge and entertains us without distracting us like television or social media," the Minister added.
Available on Akashwani at 102.8 mhz, the FM Vividh Bharati Channel will serve approximately two crore people in and around Mumbai. Being available on FM, the popular Vividh Bharati Service can now be heard on mobiles, while it continues to be available on short & medium waves.
After almost six decades of journey, Vividh Bharati is still going strong in modern broadcast scenario and is providing wholesome entertainment to its ardent and dedicated listeners in various formats and now in FM too. Vividh Bharati service was initially in Delhi and was shifted to Mumbai in 1972-73 at Churchgate and later to Borivali in 1998-99. Live transmission was started on May 1, 2000 and DTH Service started on December 16, 2004.
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