IMPACT OF FM RADIO ON THE AUDIENCE IN SMALL CITY

Abstract

Mass media is immensely dominating the life in the 21st century. With the passage of time, the role mass media has diversified; from being a mere tool for disseminating news, mass media has become a watchdog and opinion-makers. It has become a powerful agent of inducing social change. Globalization, the greater connectivity, cultural exchange over continents and the pacing up of social development in the Third World countries are some of the consequences of the application of mass media. Pakistan, among the Third World countries, has greatly employed mass media to facilitate the development and growth in its far-flung remote areas. Mass media has played an evident role in beefing up the social developments in small-town, remote cities that suffer from inaccessibility often due to weather, landscape or political turbulence. The city of Quetta, the capital of the province of Balochistan is one such where FM radio, the cheapest and easiest source of communication enjoys vast popularity. This study is conducted to explore the aspects in which FM radio as a source of communication has facilitated the people of Quetta. It also studies the utilities of FM radio in Quetta and hence what factors have caused the FM radio's popularity in Quetta to surpass the popularity of other mediums of communication. A survey with a close-ended questionnaire was conducted in which the respondents were asked about their reasons for listening radio and how many hours of the day they listen to the radio. The results concluded from the study showed that radio is equally popular in people of every age group but each age group has different utilities attached to the radio. Young people listen for entertainment purpose while people from middle age groups listen to the radio for news and current affairs programs. The housewives too listen to the radio for daily household tips. It was also ascertained that its easy availability on mobile phones, free of cost and less dependence on electricity for operation are the reasons behind its popularity in Quetta city. I hope that my research work on this particular topic will be helpful upcoming media studies students. It will also be a humble contribution from my side.