Akashvani to be rebranded to make it more popular

Kozhikode: Prasar Bharati is all set to launch Akashvani in an all new format.

It is embarking on a project to launch three types of channels, namely news, entertainment and business, in each state in January. The plan was tested in Hyderabad with great success and this has prompted Prasar Bharati to implement it in other states.

It plans to nationally ‘rebrand’ public service broadcasts in the general news segment, the business broadcasts of Vividh Bharati and entertainment broadcasts of rainbow service.

In Kerala, the public news service will be under the Thiruvananthapuram station and entertainment broadcasting will be under the Kochi station. Business-related broadcasts will be under Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode stations. Programs from other stations will be sent to these stations and broadcast from there.

Within three years, there will be a sharp decline in human resources of Akashvani. More than 80 per cent of those currently in service are on an average 55 years old. The rebranding exercise aims at making Akashvani more popular by functioning in a more efficient way with less resources.

Massive protests have been taking place in the wake of reports that some Akashvani stations, including the one at Kozhikode, will be shut down. However, Akashvani CEO S Shashi Shekhar tweeted that no station would be shut down and the talk that the functioning of the transmitters would be stopped was false.