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Tv & Radio > News & Features Sunday July 2, 2006
Failure to score
AIR RAVES
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN
IT’S not every day that two great events take place at the same time.
But when that once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity presented itself recently, it was unfortunate that our FM stations failed to make a connection between the two.
I am referring, of course, to Father’s Day on the third Sunday of last month and the World Cup.
Instead of June 18, I decided to listen in on Friday, June 16 – just to sample some of the specials leading up to Father’s Day.
The day also marked the start of Week Two of FIFA World Cup 2006. I was curious to see how, after a week of World Cup action, our local broadcasters fared in keeping morning listeners updated and informed about the previous day’s games.
My listening hours began from 5.30am until 9am:
World Cup: BBC World Service radio from London was tops for being the first with the results on its daily 10-minute World Sport show at 5.50am. Listeners were adequately updated on everything they needed and wanted to know about what transpired in Germany, and what to expect the next day. The World Service was heard on a loud frequency on 6.195kH 49m.
RTM’s TraxxFM grabbed second spot for having World Cup updates as its top story on its 6am bulletin. TraxxFM also briefly described how the matches went which was certainly a good thing instead of only giving listeners the scores. World Cup action continued to be a hot item on its hourly bulletins.
Fly.fm came in third. It was the only private radio station from the time I started listening until 7am to present the results, at 6.40am. However, its presentation was rather weak owing to a lack of game details.
Airtime Management and Programming (AMP) stations such as Hitz.fm, Light & Easy and MIX FM were fourth in terms of results delivery. Three newsreaders for each of the networks came on at 7am with their short reports. Concise audio analyses from local commentators such as soccer pundit Shebby Singh and a sports editor from a local newspaper were also included to spice up the stories.
If AMP had included views from some of the experts in Germany itself, it would have enhanced its coverage of the World Cup.
What is most welcome, though, are AMP’s updates in the morning which come on every half hour and then hourly later – a good practice for other local stations to emulate.
Father’s Day: Nothing much took place other than deejays sending out their felicitations to fathers tuning in. I was surprised why no station thought of combining World Cup fever with Father’s Day which would’ve made an exquisite treat for all the dads.
Even a simple gesture like inviting only dads to call in to give their two cents worth on the matches so far would have made the occasion a special one for everyone.
And it would have been better to do this on a Friday instead of the actual day on Sunday because the best deejays to do such things are often available on weekdays.
Having said all this, however, Rudy and JJ from the Hitz.fm Morning Crew did come up with a top five list of things they figured listeners could get for their dads on Father’s Day. It was (in reverse order): 5) A tie. 4) A sock. 3) A colourful tie. 2) Two ties. 1) The other sock.
Anthony Thanasayan, who was born disabled, is an avid radio listener. His work, training special dogs for the physically handicapped, has been featured on local and international radio. His dogs, he says, help him ‘stay in tune with life’. E-mail him at athanasayan@hotmail.com.
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