A CHAT WITH MIR RABBY

Mir Fazle Rabby or simply, Mir Rabby as he is known by all, is the current station-in charge of Radio Shadhin of the Asiatic Group. He has been involved with radio for quite a while now and he was present in Radio Shadhin right from its inception. We, at Star Showbiz, recently caught up with him for a chat.

How did you enter the world of radio broadcasting?
I was involved in theater when I was young. When I came to Dhaka, I got involved with visual media for a bit, but mostly behind the camera work. The one or two instances where I have been in front of the camera was amongst friends and family. But to be honest, at that time I needed a solid institutional work. Back then Radio Today just opened and I felt that I could do something there. So without any delay, I went there for an audition and soon after, I joined. However despite working in radio, I still tried to maintain a presence in visual media.  

How was Radio Shadhin formed?
After leaving Radio Today and joining ABC Radio, I met Sriya, who, at the time, was playing with the concept of opening a radio channel herself. Hearing her plan, I decided to join her and did many of the initial setup work such as proposals and others. I left ABC Radio and joined Independent Television. By the time Asiatic received the license, I came back. After Radio Shadhin started, I was so busy with the initial setup that follows a new project that I didn't have time for anything else.

When FM channels came into the scene, they were hugely popular. Now though, it seems to have flat-lined a bit. Any idea why?
This is my own personal opinion and this may or may not be the case. I think that despite being nine years since the start of F.M. Channels, Radio is still a pilot project. That is because I can't think of a single FM channel that has country wide coverage. Many stations need to be heard and be successful. When a medium is in its pilot phase, content to be aired has to meet the requirements of companies providing ads. And at the end of the day, this is show business, so we need to present new content every day. I think content development is a sector that could use a good improvement in, which, admittedly, we haven't been able to tackle yet.

What are the obstacles facing this medium?
If you ask me, the government could take some steps to make sure that this medium can reach the masses. F.M. is still a small industry, but despite that, the monthly fee to the government is still high and the cost of running an F.M Station isn't exactly low to begin with. Our country's electrical supply isn't very reliable to begin with and definitely not ideal for 24/7 Radio station. Because of that, we need lots of backup systems to make sure we can stay up and running. That includes generators, IPS, UPS, etc. As you can imagine, these extra systems increase overall costs as well.

What do you think are the main positive sides of the radio?
I feel that radio can reach someone in a more direct approach. Whenever you put your headphones on and listen to the radio, it feels as though you are speaking to a friend. This comes particularly handy for the youth of the nation, who sometimes goes through a loneliness phase and I feel that radio can really reach them far more intimately than other forms of medium. Another positive point of a radio is that it's so simple to understand that you can do pretty much anything and listen to the radio at the same time without any issue, for example, such as when you're driving your car.

There may be many radio stations in the country now but there is no distinction between them. Why is that?
You have to understand that we don't cover a huge area in the first place. To try and find an audience base that wants a certain kind of content is very hard. And even when I do find that base, it may very well be quite a minor group and if I try to cater to that minor group, I will not be able to get sponsors for it. And it's not feasible for me right now to try and increase the amount of audiences in that base. We at Radio Shadhin are trying to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the pack, despite having a mixed content. We do that with our song selections, our RJs, our programs, etc. so that we can establish our own identity, but as it is with all good things, it will take some time.

What are your future plans?
Simple! I want to make Radio Shadhin No.1! Not just from the business side but also with content. I also want Radio Shadhin to cover the whole of Bangladesh so that it can reach everyone everywhere. If Radio Shadhin can reach out to one person out there, I will count that as an achievement. I hope that Radio Shadhin can be there to motivate people in a good way.