Radio City recently sent four of its best RJs to London with the objective of enhancing their skill sets and providing a platform to learn and imbibe the best practices in global radio.
RJ Vera, who hosts Lucknow’s popular morning breakfast show ‘The Radio City Breakfast Show’ was one of the four to be chosen for the ‘The Radio City CEO Award for On-Air Talent’. Vera hosts a fun, light-hearted, entertaining show which freely imparts information without making any demands on her listeners’ busy mornings.
Vera has been with Radio City Lucknow since its initial days. She has also worked with All India Radio as an RJ. A postgraduate in English, Vera was a journalist at one time.
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Vera chats with Radioandmusic.com’s Sonal Tirthani on her London experience.
Excerpts:
Did you go to London with any apprehensions?
I was thrilled to be able to represent the Indian radio fraternity in London. I was anxious to see how differently the same industry functions in another country. It was a great experience!
Was there a difference in the two radio stations you went to?
It was mainly the sound of the two stations, Kiss100 and Magic 105.4 that differentiated the two; while one is targeted at the younger generation, the other appealed to a broader segment.
Could you relate to the RJs at the radio stations there? Did you find any differences between the styles of working?
One of the most interesting things in radio stations there, is that Radio Jockeys are addressed as DJs and it sure did take me a while to get used to being referred to as DJ Vera.
Among other things, I observed that all the listener calls on London radio are recorded; there are no live conversations with callers. The guidelines for RJs are very similar to the guidelines we observe in Radio City. I also noticed that remixes are quite popular and the in-thing in music in London. Contests on radio are extremely popular too!
The show content in London stations are largely based on current events that are happening around the city and then the RJ’s take on it. In India as well, we follow a similar approach. But unlike us, they usually avoid segments. They prefer keeping segments limited to one to one interaction with the listeners. Plus, in most cases, they have no introductions to the songs!
Were you impressed or influenced by any particular RJ during your stay there?
Not as much! But, I definitely observed the finer nuances of the RJs and observed how they host their shows.
Does India lag behind in its radio programming sense? Where should you think we need to change?
After my trip to London, I can confidently claim that private FM in India is no less than anyone! I felt really good to realise that when it comes to programming, we are at par with them! For someone who has been in private FM radio in India for so many years, my visit to London FM stations told me that on-air contests specifically, is one area which is far more developed in the UK FM market.
