Sunday December 30, 2007
The Star, StarMag
The best and the worst
WE are at the tail end of another great year. Which means it is time to take a look back at some of 2007’s best and worst moments on radio.
The year started off disastrously for people in Johor. Two days of continuous rain sent a second wave of flood waters to many parts of the southern state.
Radio stations like Red fm (operated by The Star) and RTM’s Traxx fm offered invaluable help during the crisis. They not only provided the right information to the thousands of flood victims, but also guided listeners on what they could do to help.
I bet you were surprised (I was too) when I picked RTM’s Tamil broadcaster Minnal fm as the best radio station for festive programmes when the Chinese community ushered in the Year of the Pig.
They cleverly put up a midnight live phone-in session where Tamil-speaking callers were asked to share what Chinese New Year meant to them, especially when it came to open house visits.
Airtime Management and Programming’s Chinese broadcaster MY fm made a boo-boo when it aired an advertisement at the wrong time: during the final minutes of the midnight countdown. There must have been some red faces as the Golden Boar trotted in.
Three major entertainment events in the United States went virtually unnoticed by our radio stations.
The 64th Golden Globe Awards in January was carried live on Ntv7 and Astro. However Traxx fm’s world news update ignored the Globes even as it was proceeding on the other side of the globe.
The 49th Grammy Awards was the next to suffer in February. Missing on the airwaves were the airing of nominated tracks and singer profiles.
Similarly with the 79th Annual Academy Awards, also in February.
What I do not understand is that radio deejays talk about all three events constantly throughout the year. However, when it came to the big day itself, they sang a different tune.
Moving on, I praised Hitz.fm for being the station to come up with a worthy coverage of American Idol 2007 final as it was being broadcast from the US in May.
I chided deejays The Greenman and Navsta of Traxx fm for mentioning nothing about Idol. The boys defended their move in an e-mail response, explaining that it was not a priority for them because they believed that “the latest season was overrated and crappy”.
And now, the most memorable moment on radio in 2007:
It happened on June 5, a day after the death of Loganathan Arumugam of the Alleycats.
Traxx fm came up with a sterling tribute to the 54-year-old singer-flutist who was loved by many in the over three decades he was with the band. The mood was suitably sedate on The Wake Up Show helmed by The Greenman and Navsta that morning.
The two-hour session also had live crossovers to friends of the late performer, well-known personalities, top singers and even a chief minister.
For me, and probably hundreds, if not thousands, of listeners who tuned in that morning, the occasion was not only a memorable remembrance of a great Malaysian artiste but also listening to radio at its very best.
Happy 2008, everyone!
Despite living in the cyber age, the writer insists that radio still provides a unique window on the world. When he isn’t scanning bandwidths, he helps to raise awareness of positive living with pets through his organisation, Petpositive (Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association).
