You will now hear AIR news on your favourite FM stations

New Delhi: Do you recall the serious, monotone tenor in which news used to be read out on Doordarshan and Prasar Bharti? Well, now juxtapose that with the peppy and lively lingo that your favourite radio jockeys use on private FM channels. For the first time since private FM broadcasters came into being, a decision taken by the government is going to herald the inter-mingling of two.

India's public broadcaster Prasar Bharti has now allowed private FM stations to carry the news bulletins of All India Radio till May 31 on a trial basis, Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore has said. The move seems to be time with the General Elections that are slated to happen this year. "It is a positive and welcome step as radio is the biggest mass medium for citizens. AIR FM is covering 50 per cent of the population in the country and private FM channels are being given opportunities in different cities and towns," Rathore said.

The private FM broadcasters will have to carry AIR news bulletins either simultaneously or deferred live by not more than 30 minutes.

Private broadcasters are allowed to broadcast AIR news bulletins in English or Hindi, as per the list of bulletins given in news schedule. The news bulletins, along with the commercials which are broadcast, will have to be carried in toto – in unaltered form. Broadcasters will also have to credit AIR for sourcing their news.

The private FM broadcasters will have to carry AIR news bulletins either simultaneously or deferred live by not more than 30 minutes.

Rathore added that the initiative is "a matter of great happiness, that regular citizens can now hear the news on any radio platform – this empowers me."

As per information on the Prasar Bharati website, any private FM broadcaster that intends to broadcast the news bulletins will first have to register with News Services Division of All India Radio on its website, http://newsonair.com.