An interstitial space or interstice is an empty space or gap between spaces full of structure or matter. - Wiki
Now, this is what we used to call all those 'fillers' that you hear between songs and ads in programming and I hope they still have the same connotation in Radio. These are pre-produced (non-live) and have a certain production value. My earliest memory of this type of programming is Babbar Sher I think. Before that, we just had city updates or news (in Dubai) - which too were done live. So they don't fall in the same category.
From there to now, I feel we need to start questioning the very need for these over-produced, nationally relayed pieces of slapstick humour shared every half an hour or TOH.
Most of the stuff that we hear on air - from Sultan's Classes to Fake Interviews (with overly annoying voice) to Actor calling Actor, Bollywood Bassappa to Samaanta - is over populating my mind space and overwhelming my senses. It is important to just take a step back and try and figure out if it's helping anyone's cause. Why I am questioning it:
1. It's not local. I know syndicated shows and centrally relayed programming is the new mantra for big station networks - but radio is a local medium. Let's get the basics right.
2. Radio's first duty as a medium (at least in a market like India) is to deliver music. This eats up my music time. (this applies all the more in the prime time slots where ads are anyway taking up 20 mins / hour)
3. Multiple Personality Disorder.. that's what I feel most of the stations are going through - except may be RadioCity that has stuck with one pre-produced capsule since forever and that has helped build their identity. (Babbar Sher) If you have more than 2 pre-produced capsules running at the same time, it's only adding to the chaos. There is only so much I can retain - jock names, station names, show names and now even these characters and their idiosyncrasies.
4. Why are you screaming at me? Radio works best when it is my best companion... every production piece today sounds like they are scolding me. Can we re-look at the characters (read caricatures) we put on air?
5. Yes, this helps break the clutter and showcase talent in a different light; but then it has to be worthy of air-space every single day - above average - for me to give it the airtime specially if it's more than 30 secs of it!
6. Is jokes the only way of entertainment? And if they are just that - jokes - why do they need so much production work? Ask the jock to say the joke for all I care or then remove the links.
7. Completely cut off from the rest of the programming: I have never heard jocks take up a particular interstitial and sell it / love it / talk about it / add value to it. It is the part of the show as long as it is on the log - if you are ignoring it, so am I as a listener.
8. Unfortunately, even TOH jingles and sweeps in between songs are now LONG sentences and over produced statements that play after every song in some stations.. do we realise that is also talk-time?
At the end of the day, if you are creating more noise in my life than entertainment, we have to re-evaluate the content and style. I come back to the beginning - "An interstitial space or interstice is an empty space or gap between spaces full of structure or matter..." - is there really a space that requires any filling?
Now, this is what we used to call all those 'fillers' that you hear between songs and ads in programming and I hope they still have the same connotation in Radio. These are pre-produced (non-live) and have a certain production value. My earliest memory of this type of programming is Babbar Sher I think. Before that, we just had city updates or news (in Dubai) - which too were done live. So they don't fall in the same category.
From there to now, I feel we need to start questioning the very need for these over-produced, nationally relayed pieces of slapstick humour shared every half an hour or TOH.
Most of the stuff that we hear on air - from Sultan's Classes to Fake Interviews (with overly annoying voice) to Actor calling Actor, Bollywood Bassappa to Samaanta - is over populating my mind space and overwhelming my senses. It is important to just take a step back and try and figure out if it's helping anyone's cause. Why I am questioning it:
1. It's not local. I know syndicated shows and centrally relayed programming is the new mantra for big station networks - but radio is a local medium. Let's get the basics right.
2. Radio's first duty as a medium (at least in a market like India) is to deliver music. This eats up my music time. (this applies all the more in the prime time slots where ads are anyway taking up 20 mins / hour)
3. Multiple Personality Disorder.. that's what I feel most of the stations are going through - except may be RadioCity that has stuck with one pre-produced capsule since forever and that has helped build their identity. (Babbar Sher) If you have more than 2 pre-produced capsules running at the same time, it's only adding to the chaos. There is only so much I can retain - jock names, station names, show names and now even these characters and their idiosyncrasies.
4. Why are you screaming at me? Radio works best when it is my best companion... every production piece today sounds like they are scolding me. Can we re-look at the characters (read caricatures) we put on air?
5. Yes, this helps break the clutter and showcase talent in a different light; but then it has to be worthy of air-space every single day - above average - for me to give it the airtime specially if it's more than 30 secs of it!
6. Is jokes the only way of entertainment? And if they are just that - jokes - why do they need so much production work? Ask the jock to say the joke for all I care or then remove the links.
7. Completely cut off from the rest of the programming: I have never heard jocks take up a particular interstitial and sell it / love it / talk about it / add value to it. It is the part of the show as long as it is on the log - if you are ignoring it, so am I as a listener.
8. Unfortunately, even TOH jingles and sweeps in between songs are now LONG sentences and over produced statements that play after every song in some stations.. do we realise that is also talk-time?
At the end of the day, if you are creating more noise in my life than entertainment, we have to re-evaluate the content and style. I come back to the beginning - "An interstitial space or interstice is an empty space or gap between spaces full of structure or matter..." - is there really a space that requires any filling?
