Radio jockey as a career choice waves high

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Chennai
Being a radio jockey (RJ) is not a traditional career choice, which is probably why you do not find many colleges offering a radio communication course.

However, radio is making waves as the next stop in popular, if unconventional, career choices. Never mind if it is a jam session on the air waves, with over 9 FM channels offering similar content.

With salaries ranging from Rs 15,000 to nearly Rs 75,000 a month, it is destination radio for many. Wanting to be on air is the dream of not just the young, but even for those in IT and management fields.

Speaking to Televisionpoint.com, Sangeeta Nair, programming head, Radio Mirchi Chennai, said, "The demand for a career in radio is at an all-time high. The revival of the radio has brought in a whole new perspective to RJing, and although the life span of a RJ is 18 to 21 years, the borders have been pushed back. From a 12-year-old to the mid-career man, everyone wants to be on radio."

From the mid-1990s, when AIR launched Rainbow FM, radio has been making waves. With over nine channels - Radio Mirchi, Suryan FM, Radio City, Radio One, Big FM, Aahaa, Chennailive, Hello Gold and Rainbow FM, on air almost 24x7, Chennai's nearly 15 lakh listeners are spoilt for choice.

"It is a challenge for every RJ to retain audience loyalty. We look for for much more than yapping skills in an RJ. It needs a great presence of mind," Nair adds.

Nilandri Bose, the grand old man of RJing in Chennai, tells Televisionpoint.com, "It is not about just music. You have the iPod for that. Aspirants have to be intelligent and well informed on a number of topics from civic issues to global finance."

According to Bose, what works is the personality, not the voice. "Sachin Tendulkar on air will get maximum listeners because of who he is. Your listener should tune into your channel because you are on air," points out Bose.