Asianet radio, which marks its second anniversary, will extend its evening programme by an hour and will soon go in for a 24-hour Malayalam service.

Speaking on the radio's progress since its launch, Jospeh Francis, Regional Manager of Asianet Global, said Asianet radio 657 AM will be online from November 1, which is also marked as Kerala Day.

"The online Malayalam radio will be available on Asianetradio.com with live programme and archives of popular programmes and songs for the week. This will make Asianet radio the first Malayalam radio to be online.

"Our popularity can be well gauged by the fact that when we launched on March 3, 2000, we started off with only six hours on air, but in a year we extended it to 11 hours. This makes us the longest running Malayalam service in this region," he said.

Francis said the live news from Kerala has put the radio station much ahead on its competitors.

"Keralam Villikkunnu, the latest programme on Asianet radio, is the highlight of today's Malayalam radio scenario. This programme is done online from Kerala and the Gulf and combines the views of Malayalees living in this region," he said.