How 2007 ended on the airwaves

News & Features Sunday January 13, 2008

Downside to countdown

AIR RAVES
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

StarMag, Sunday Star

THE recent 2008 New Year celebrations might have witnessed larger countdown crowds than usual at special events across the nation. But how was it like on radio, especially for home listeners who didn’t join the throngs at outdoor parties?

Picking out the best radio station for its “New Year feel” on the last day of the outgoing 2007 was frankly not difficult. Regrettably, not many radio stations went all out to make the occasion memorable for the audience.

The station that did its best to get listeners excited about sending off the old year and embracing the new was the all-news channel Radio24 run by Bernama in Kuala Lumpur.

Throughout the day the network had detailed some of the defining moments of 2007. These ranged from groundbreaking stories such as the space mission of Malaysia’s first angkasawan Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor in October to the first ever appointment of a disabled person as senator in December.

The top stories were highlighted right up to the midnight countdown. Additional anchors were put on duty to provide for an interesting live chat with listeners.

Good or largely unmatched though it was with its features, there were somewhat weaknesses in Radio24’s presentation.

I found it difficult, for example, to continuously stay focused. Two reasons, perhaps: the weak delivery by anchors who were reading from prepared scripts, or as the night show demonstrated, the indiscriminate mix of serious stuff and unfunny jokes.

In hindsight, for the daytime and night features, I think it would have worked better if Radio24 had pre-recorded the show, say, a day or two earlier, before airing it. Then the irrelevant bits could have been edited out.

Sound clips of historic events, too, would have made the show more interesting.

The four-month-old broadcaster should realise that, as an all news channel, it probably has the toughest job on the airwaves to keep its listeners locked on to its frequency.

TraxxFM’s Greenman and Navsta of The Wake Up Show were the only other deejays to give listeners something worthwhile to think about as the year closed.

“Pay more attention to your mental health and never be shy to seek the help of a psychiatrist or a friend when you need it,” was their timely reminder to the listeners for 2008.

Traxx101, on the other hand, had what I thought was a most inappropriate topic on New Year’s Eve: male circumcision (ouch!).

Although the doctor who spoke on the topic was excellent, and the deejay (Jezza) who interviewed him was just as good, it was not quite the right talk for the day.

I would have liked to hear a local writer recount the best movies for 2007. Now that would have been a fun and fitting topic for the special day, don’t you think?

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).

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE APPEARED AT NO 2 UNDER THE MOST VIEWED SECTION OF THE STAR ON THE SAME DAY THAT IT WAS PRINTED.

Poor Xmas Show

News & Features Sunday January 6, 2008

No jingle all the way

AIR RAVES BY ANTHONY THANASAYAN

NOT normally an early riser, I was, however, up by 6am on the recent Christmas Eve. I did not want to miss any of the seasonal fare offered by our radio stations that day.

The morning rush hour seemed as if it would be supercharged with Christmas specials but as the hours wore on, it appeared that for most stations, it was a mediocre effort at best.

Lite fm, for example, had an interesting contest asking listeners to guess the type of gifts presented on the song The Twelve Days of Christmas which was fun to listen to.

But like many others, the broadcaster lacked consistency and a proper build-up to infuse listeners with the spirit and cheer before Christmas Day.

Believe it or not, Traxx fm opened up its telephone lines during the traffic show later that evening to talk about what makes a car sexy!

The show’s deejays, who usually have no short of great topics, should have come up with more timely and meaningful subjects. They could get people to talk about the true meaning of Christmas by reaching out to the needy, reading to the blind, visiting someone in hospital, etc. In short, how to be a Santa Claus!

The only radio station which I thought had done a better job in spreading good cheer was the Bernama-run Radio24. Its deejays were brimming with excitement from daybreak of Dec 24 to 25.

The station’s Tan Su Lin reported from a local children’s home on their festive celebration. Elsewhere, the 24-hour broadcaster gave an idea of how the occasion was being observed in neighbouring countries.

At the same time it did not neglect to cover news happenings in Malaysia and around the world.

It was refreshing to hear the words “Hari Krismas” and “Selamat Hari Natal” uttered repeatedly over Radio24, unlike many of the other Malay broadcasters which mentioned nothing during the times I listened in.

I was puzzled over why the homepages of Era, Xfresh and Sinar omitted to mention Christmas when the rest of the Airtime Management and Programming radio stations did.

Hot fm wished listeners “Selamat Hari Raya Korban” and “Selamat Menyambut Tahun Baru 2008” but was mum about Christmas. Fly fm, on the other hand, had its deejays in Santa hats.

Does this mean that stations that were devoid of Christmas cheer on their homepages have no Christian listeners?

Where does that leave me? I listen to all of them. Have they forgotten that Christmas is a national holiday for all Malaysians?

This reminds me of an interview I heard on BBC World Service recently. An atheist was asked by the London station why she celebrated Christmas.

She replied that Christmas has become so commercialised that it isn’t only celebrated by Christians but by everyone.

“Although I reject the divinity aspect of the occasion, I accept the morality message behind it,” she said.

“I’m a great believer in Santa Claus,” she concluded.

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).

Note: This article appeared under the Top 9 list of The Star's Most Viewed Pages on the same day as it was printed. aNt

Happy New Year 2008 From Air Raves!

Sunday December 30, 2007
The Star, StarMag

The best and the worst

Air Raves
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

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).

The Spirit Of Christmas On Radio

Spirit of giving

AIR RAVES
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

News & Features STARMAG Sunday December 23, 2007

CHRISTMAS is never Christmas if you don’t share the special moment with others. LiteFM, for one, is embracing the spirit of sharing and giving in a meaningful way this Christmas – by getting Malaysians to donate presents to children in need.

From tomorrow until next Friday, listeners are invited to call the station and pledge a present to a special child under its Gift of Love programme. Four times a day the public will get the chance to make the contribution by picking from a list of gifts featured on www.litefm. com.my.

These good Samaritans will then be invited to LiteFM’s Christmas tea party at The Loaf in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur on Jan 5. Here, they will be able to hand over their gifts to the children of a local charity home who will also be the guests at the event.

I can just imagine the joy on the faces of these young ones when they receive their special gifts!

Remember the recent Deepavali promotion where THR.fm literally gave a little “vroom-power” to listeners on their journey home to celebrate the festival?

Well, following its success, another Airtime Management and Programming radio station will be doing the same for its loyal listeners.

In the just-concluded Christmas Sleigh Ride contest run by MIX fm, five winners will drive home with a Naza Ria each, on loan for up to seven days, during these yearend holidays to any local destination.

In addition, they will enjoy a paid trip courtesy of the broadcaster, which is covering petrol and toll charges plus RM1,000 cash.

First, the contestants had to fill in the missing words of a Yuletide song aired by MIX in the quickest time possible. Those who made it then battled each other in on-the-ground Xmas competitions organised by the radio station.

They were indeed made to sweat for the “free” ride!

Finally, Christmas is not Christmas also if not for the Nine Lessons and Carols from the chapel of King’s College in Cambridge, Britain.

The 90-minute choir presentation, which includes selected readings from the Bible, is broadcast live by BBC World Service radio every year.

For those who want a traditional feel to the season, you can tune in to the Christmas Eve feature at 11.15pm tomorrow (Malaysian time). Please check The Star’s daily guide for radio frequency details.

Merry Xmas!

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).

Memorable Disabled Day Celebration On TraxxFM

101 on the disabled

AIR RAVES
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

The Star, Sunday, Dec 16, 2007

DID you know that there are 650 million disabled people around the world today? And that this number more than qualifies them as the largest minority on this planet?

And what about the fact that 80% of all persons with disabilities (PWDs) live in developing countries like ours?

In fact, in nations where the life expectancy crosses 70 years, individuals spend on average about eight years – or 11.5% of their lifespan – living with handicaps?

These vital statistics are from the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, and the United Nations Development Programme in New York.

They were shared on Traxx fm recently to mark the International Day of Disabled Persons (IDDP) on Dec 3.

That was the day I tuned in to Traxx 101 on the RTM English-language broadcaster, which airs weekdays from 10am to 1pm. The station has commendably been promoting the yearly UN event on-air.

On the day itself, Traxx 101 regular hosts Jezza and Najee made the occasion memorable for their listeners.

Najee played songs from a host of disabled artistes, like Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing by Stevie Wonder. He also gave a quick rundown of the blind singer’s many hits from the 1960s to 1986.

Another splendid selection was The Whole Town’s Laughing at Me by Teddy Pendergrass. The singer has been confined to a wheelchair and speech-impaired after a car crash 26 years ago.

However, what I appreciated most was the 10 minutes dedicated to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. The composer, Traxx 101 noted afterwards, was deaf when he wrote the piece. He also had asthma.

Fellow host Jezza too had a few surprises for listeners.

The deejay who has had some exceptional guests on his daily interview shows did it again on IDDP. He got a group of harmonica players from the Malaysian Association of the Blind in Kuala Lumpur to perform several numbers “live” in the studio for Traxx fm listeners.

The group’s best take was the William Tell Overture (most famously used as the theme for the old TV western The Lone Ranger).

I was spellbound by the amazing harmony produced by the musicians who relied fully on their hearing to create the glorious music with their mouth organs.

After the harmonica performance, Jezza did what he is good at: conduct an interview with some of his guests on what it felt like to be visually impaired.

It was not all fun and play, though.

At one point the programme spoke to a local activist in a wheelchair about the job problems faced by disabled Malaysians today. Employment was the focus in line with this year’s IDDP theme, “Decent Work for PWDs”.

Finally, kudos to RTM’s Tamil broadcaster Minnal fm for also conducting a one-hour interview session on IDDP. Their guests were members of the Independent Living and Training Centre in Rawang, Selangor.

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).