Senior Secondary Course
Learner’s Guide, Mass Communication (335)
CHAPTER 10
The Radio Station
Meaning: The building of a radio station as
The room has just one door, which is
such may look like any other public
not very easy to open, as it is very
building. The offices are also like any other
heavy.
office. In this lesson, you will learn all about
There is a small enclosed place,
a radio station and how it works.
which has another heavy door.
10.1 RADIO STATION This empty space is called a sound
lock.
In a radio station, there are three different Radio studio prevents unnecessary
wings. These are (i) Programme Wing (ii) outside sounds from entering the
Engineering Wing and (iii) Administration studio.
Wing. While the first two wings are Radio studio also have ceiling and
responsible for running a radio station’s walls with perforated wooden panels.
broadcasts, the administrative wing provides
Control Room
all the support that is required for the
functioning of the station. Control room is the main area of the
radio station which.
Let us learn about the working of a radio
All the programmes are sent from
station.
here to the transmitter.
Radio studio The control room occupies an
important place in the radio
There are at least two studios in a broadcast. It is the place, connected
station. One is known as a simple with all the other segments of
studio and another studio is called an broadcast.
announcer’s booth or a transmission In the control room, technical people
studio. control the whole process and
The announcer’s booth or a immediately send these waves to the
transmission studio is small in size transmitter.
and shape. The transmitter sends these sound
There will be a computer, pen drive, waves to the listeners’ radio sets
sound mixer, etc. which convert them into sounds.
In the Radio studio, there is a table There is no time gap in the whole
and a microphone. process.
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Mass Communication (335)
Senior Secondary Course
Learner’s Guide, Mass Communication (335)
Transmitters are generally located A 1 KW transmittermitter is normally
outside the city boundaries. installed in the vicinity of the
The transmitters are of different studio/control room whereas the high
capacities such as 1 KW to 100 KW, power transmitters are installed
200 KW, or 250 KW or above. outside the city.
Their locations are decided
according to their capacity.
Control
Studio Transmitter Listener
Room
Transmitter Medium Wave (MW) radio
broadcast transmitters and
You have learnt about the studio and the Short Wave (SW) radio
control room. It is essential to know about broadcast transmitters
the transmitter also.
10.2 FUNCTIONARIES OF A
A transmitter is equipment through
which we receive the radio broadcast
RADIO STATION
on our sets. Functionaries of a radio station are as
This is big equipment in comparison follows.
to other equipment installed in the
studio or control room.
The strength and type of the Station
transmitter determine the coverage director
area of broadcast.
There are two types of
Radio Station
transmitters. Announcer Engineer
Low Power Transmitter
(LPT) and
High Power Transmitter
(HPT)
Transmission Programme
Staff personnel
– Likewise, there are:
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Mass Communication (335)
Senior Secondary Course
Learner’s Guide, Mass Communication (335)
Artist
Anna FM is India’s first campus
In addition to the above staff, there community radio operating from
are also music artists such as Anna University in Chennai,
vocalists and instrumentalists who Tamilnadu. This was launched on 1
form part of the programme staff. February 2004.
They all are eminent performers in
their fields and are graded according
to their experience. FM Channels
10.3 RADIO BROADCASTING FM stands for Frequency modulation which
SYSTEM IN INDIA is a broadcasting technology or method in
radio.
All India Radio commonly referred
to as AIR, which is the main radio The FM service of AIR has two channels.
broadcaster of India. There are 12 FM Rainbow
Officially Known as Akashwani. Channels and 4 FM Gold
AIR is a division of Prasar Bharati or Channels.
the Broadcasting Corporation of The programme content of these
India. channels is mainly popular in
Indian and Western music,
presented in a style that is highly
COMMUNITY RADIO
popular with the urban youth.
Community Radio is a type of radio News bulletins and current
service that caters to the interests of affairs programmes are also
a limited area or a homogenous broadcast from these channels.
community. It broadcasts
The private radio station (FM
programmes that are popular and
Channels)
relevant to the local audience.
A community radio license is There are many private radio stations
required to operate a community functioning around us, some of them are
radio station. as follows:
These stations are expected to
produce programmes as far as a) Radio Mirchi, b) Radio Mango,
possible in the local language or b) Big FM and d) Times FM.
dialect.
Although the stress is on
developmental programmes,
entertainment is not banned on these
DID YOU KNOW?
radio stations.
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Mass Communication (335)
Senior Secondary Course
Learner’s Guide, Mass Communication (335)
There was a time when listeners used
to wait for the familiar voice
presenting the ‘Binaca Geet mala
programme of film songs on the
radio. The voice was that of Amin
Sayani.
AIR is one of the largest radio
network in the world.
AIR has a three-tier system of
broadcasting namely, national,
regional and local.
The National channel of All India
Radio started functioning on May 18,
1988.
EXTEND YOUR HORIZON
“Basic RADIO and Television” by
SHARMA, Tata Mcgraw Hill
Education Private Limited
www.bbc.com
EVALUATE YOURSELF
Which is your favorite FM channel?
Make a list of the programmes that
you listen to on this channel.
Find out the other community radio
stations in India and the cities in
which they are located.
Name three important equipment
found in the announcer’s booth.
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Mass Communication (335)
