Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and I&B, Arun Jaitley has said that the introduction of the Vividh Bharati services from Delhi, on the FM platform had addressed the content and entertainment needs of the audiences residing within the NCR region. The transmission within the minimum radius of 60 kms would enable the people to enjoy high quality rich content programs with utmost clarity transmitted by the given platform. Technological advancement and availability on FM Mode would make Vividh Bharati and other channels of AIR available on mobile phones, car stereos and internet. This initiative would also mainstream the platform with audiences proactively offering them different program segments and keeping pace with contemporary themes on the entertainment segment. Shri Jaitley stated this while inaugurating the Vividh Bharati FM service at the AIR, New Broadcasting House here today. MoS I&B Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Secretary I&B Shri Bimal Julka and CEO, Prasar Bharati Shri Jawhar Sircar, DG, AIR Shri Fayyaz Sheheryar were also present on the occasion.
Reiterating the historical role played by Vividh Bharati channel in the broadcast of entertainment programs, Shri Jaitley said that the different programs had left a deep imprint on the minds of the listeners since it began in 1957. While the programming had witnessed qualitative improvement, the extension of this platform from New Delhi on the FM stream would further enhance the quality of transmission and sound reception. Vividh Bharati as a platform had created landmarks which remain predominant in the minds of the listeners. Shri Jaitley recalled some of the prominent programs that had been successfully broadcast since the last several decades. The Minister mentioned ‘Bhule Bisre Geet, Hawa Mahal, Jaimala for the Army personnel, Sangeet Sarita and Youth Express.’ All these programs addressed the varied audiences’ needs successfully across the country. The audience of Vividh Bharati Service in Delhi was hithertofore being beamed through MW only. Now the signal shall be available through Frequency Modulation (FM), which has stereophonic sound quality and has the inbuilt feature of becoming available on mobile phones and car stereos. A dedicated 10 KW transmitter has been installed for the VB Service Delhi and it will cover a minimum radius of 60 kms.
Vividh Bharati on FM will be available in Delhi on 100.1 MHz. This is in addition to its availability on MW 1368 kHz. Two other existing FM services of AIR are FM Gold(106.4MHz) and FM Rainbow(102.6 MHz). AIR also has its Local Radio Station Network in Frequency Modulation.Vividh Bharati is considered to be the most popular channel of All India Radio across the nation. While its services were available across most parts of the country on FM mode, in the 4 metros (with the highest population densities) it was being transmitted only on Medium Wave till recently.