Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore (Retd.) today launched the sharing of All India Radio News with private FM broadcasters. This will be done free of cost, on trial basis initially till 31st May, 2019.Private FM Radio broadcasters would be permitted to broadcast All India Radio (AIR) News bulletins, in English/Hindi as per list of bulletins given in News Schedule, subject to certain terms and conditions.Any Private FM broadcaster which intends to broadcast the news bulletins will first have to register with News Services Division: All India Radio on its website http://newsonair.com at the Register Now tab. The AIR News bulletins shall have to be carried in toto, in an unaltered form. The commercials which are broadcast during news bulletins shall also have to be carried along with the news in toto. Private FM Broadcasters will have to give due credit to AIR for sourcing their news. The Private FM Broadcasters will have to carry AIR News bulletins either simultaneously or deferred live by not more than 30 minutes.
In case of deferred live, an announcement should precede that it is a deferred live broadcast. Broadcast of AIR News by any FM Radio Channel can be done only after accepting the Terms and Conditions, which can be found at http://newsonair.com/Broadcaster-Reg-TnC.aspx.Speaking on the occasion, Col. Rathore congratulated all officials of Ministry of I&B for this initiative. He said that the priority of the Government is ensuring awareness of people and therefore this service has been made available free of cost. Stating that an aware citizen is an empowered citizen, he added that this step is a collaborative effort of bringing together all the Radio Stations of India to inform, educate and empower people.Through a televised message, Chairman, Prasar Bharati Shri A. Surya Prakash termed the initiative significant in this era of collaboration and convergence. President, Association of Radio Operators of India, Ms. Anuradha Prasad thanked the Government for accepting the long standing demand of private radio broadcasters to present news on their platform. DG, NSD:AIR Ms. Ira Joshi termed the initiative path-breaking and historic.Secretary, Ministry of I&B, Shri Amit Khare, CEO, Prasar Bharati, Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati, PDG, PIB, Shri Sitanshu Kar, Member (Finance), Prasar Bharati, Shri Rajeev Singh, DG, AIR Shri F. Sheheryar and other senior dignitaries were also present on the occasion.