Broadcasting beyond boundaries

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The power of radio is not that it can speak to millions, but that it speaks intimately and privately to each one of those millions,’ said Hallie Flanagan, an American theatrical producer. Decades later, in today’s mutimedia world, the steady listener base for this broadcasting media among a plethora of other new audio streaming platforms, stands testimony to her words.

Having said that, a change for the better is always welcome. Here’s where, taking a slight diversion from using the traditional radio waves as a distributing medium of broadcasting, the Vertical Radio uses the Internet. Ergo, it doesn’t limit the reach to one geographical region and prevents the dependence on syndication partners for picking up the shows for them to be heard. Claiming to be one among the few dedicated Tamil Internet radio services, Vertical Radio was started last year by a team of four city-based radio enthusiasts AC Jothi Vel Moorthy, GK Tirunavukarasu, Rajaram and Eswari Ramachandran to reach the Tamil population across the globe.

“Jothi and I have been mulling over this idea for a decade now. Back then, there were many challenges such as bandwidth problems, the operational cost was higher and we did not have enough funds to develop the model. With time, several other audio streaming platforms have mushroomed. It was only during the pandemic when we decided to give it a shot. Our aim is also to bridge the gap between traditional radio and podcast to make the transition smoother for listeners,” explains Tirunavukarasu, the creative head and a former radio jockey. Boasting 60,000 listeners and 100 shows, this Internet radio has incorporated an interesting line-up of programmes to keep its patrons engaged.

The programmes are streamed from 6 pm to 10 pm every day on their website. “We have the basic equipment and editing software to function from home. With the help of our sound engineer friends, we use sound enhancers to improve the quality of listening. The best thing about this is you can access it on any electronic device. What sets us apart is that unlike a conventional radio station, it’s not songs but content that’s our priority. We’ve had only positive feedback for that so far. The team is designing new programmes,” he assures. Given that there’s no dearth of user-generated content, the team is trying to tap the potential of younger talents to the fullest.

The flexibility of the operational model also makes it conducive for them to work with independent hosts from remote areas around the globe. Some of their in-house shows are author conversations, Business Pesalam, Saadhanai Pengal and Paisa Party. Besides this, there are syndicated programmes from other countries — Its My Country, The Me and Myself Show, Deuce Radio Show and Weekend Anthem. “We have five hosts, who do the shows for us. For instance, the author conversations programme is handled by a Chennaiite residing in Scotland. Ceylon PoP Songs is by a retired Sri Lankan Tamil settled in the Netherlands. Saadhanai Pengal is by a Chennaiite.

We have a brainstorming session and ideas are exchanged. We give them creative freedom. They interact with the speakers, record and get the content delivered for us to edit and stream live. Sometimes there’s a lag due to rescheduling of interviews and deadlines for submissions may not be met. Operating across time zones is tough but we’re working on it,” he says. Keeping infotainment as its core, the team is looking to collaborate with fresh talents from all parts of the globe. “We are working on a full-fledged model where more programmes will be streamed in alignment with global time zones.

Jothi is working on the technological end to make this possible. Our listener base is mainly those in the 20s. We’ve had good responses from Dubai and the Netherlands. People say that they feel at home while listening to the shows. An app can be expected down the line. Churning out content has been extremely crucial on the production front and it will take some time for us to get everything fixed,” he notes. The team hopes to make it a global platform. They are currently looking for partners to help with funding the radio.

For details, visit: verticalradio. in Or mail to verticalradioonline@ gmail.com

The shows are aired every day from 6 pm to 10 pm