Listeners tune out lingering traffic

Dubai: Music legend John Denver sang ages ago that radio reminds him of home far away. But for Dubai commuters it not only reminds them of home but of Dubai's infamous traffic.

"The impact of radio is on the subconscious," says Raja Vikram Dhar, head of Gulf News Broadcasting. With people on the roads of the UAE for hours due to regular traffic jams, the effect is definitely going to last longer.

"More than 70 per cent of radio listening in the emirates is in the car," said Dhar. Radio stations have been around for a while here, but English FM service took to the air in the mid '70s, mainly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

It all started as an information network, slowly moving into the entertainment channel and in the late '90s, commercial entertainment radio was born in the country. However, ads on the radio and their effectiveness is yet to sink in fully.

Compared to other media, radio adverts are the most cost effective and effective ways to get the message across, said Dhar. "Unlike cinema, TV or print where people tend to skip an advert, radio is more captivating with its unobtrusive reach," said Dhar, quoting media research. A professionally-managed entertainment radio channel offers around 70 per cent music, 20 per cent adverts and 10 per cent talk, he said.

Step into the state-of-the-art Gulf News Broadcasting centre and the changing phase of broadcasting is all too palpable.

Technology-driven programming has buried vinyl records and disc plays with a Radio Jockey at one end. Don't be surprised if you see an empty studio and hear the sound of music with occasional announcements wafting through. "It's all been programmed, so there is no need for someone to man it full time," said Dhar.

The progress of radio from an information provider to a full-fledged entertainment-based commercial set-up has all been too well, but what is the next step? Radio is just a distribution unit, throw the radio out and still the sound will flow through internet and mobile phones as audio streams, said Dhar. And it is ever changing. The digital format is all set to replace FM, he added.

"I vividly remember the initial days of Gulf News. Newspaper delivery boys seldom waited for Gulf News ... as soon as they got some of the leading Arabic papers, they used to set off. In a few years time, the same paper boys used to wait patiently for Gulf News to arrive," said Dhar proudly.

While Dhar cherishes that memory and builds on, Gulf News Broadcasting centre is triggering a new revolution on the air waves.