Impact of FM channel on youth in Mangalore

Radio is a dynamic and widely accessed medium. It is unique in its ability to reach people wherever they are at home, at work, in the car-nearly everywhere. It is one of the primary source of entertainment and information. Radio is at the forefront of popular culture - delivering music, opinion and information to even more savvy audience. Over the past few decades, there has been a tremendous rise in the number of FM channels that are broadcast at various frequencies and languages in India. The leading FM channels are-Big FM, Fever FM, Meow FM, Oye FM, Radio DC, Radio Dhamaal, Radio Indigo, Radio Mango, Radio Mirchi, Radio Verve and Red FM. FM radio programmes have become extremely popular among the youth because they are suited for music broadcast especially contemporary folk and rock music. FM radio has a higher bandwidth and better sound quality. The low cost of FM radio sets and the availability of FM radio especially on the mobile phones has enabled more users to access FM programmes, especially the youth. This study aims to find the impact of FM channels on Youth in Mangalore. As part of the research design, a survey was conducted across different colleges of Mangalore in Karnataka state during December 2013, to explore the phenomenon of listening to FM channels.