NEW DELHI: The popular Vividh Bharati channel of All India Radio in Mumbai is now available on FM mode on 102.8 MHz.

The FM Transmitter for this service was inaugurated by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Rathore in Worli, in the western metropolis.

The channel, which was until now, on Medium Wave had been very popular over the past fifty years, but saw a downfall in listenership with the coming-in of the Frequency Modulation (FM) which is also available in car radios and mobile phones.

The inaugural function took place on 17 March and was attended by a galaxy of media persons, cultural luminaries, eminent personalities from Bollywood, and Broadcasting, including actors Vikram Gokhale, Jackie Shroff, Brijbushan and Vishwas Mehendale. Amin Sayani, who has been credited for the popularity of this channel with his vibrant voice and his knowledge about music, was also present.

VB Mumbai transmission begins at 05:55 a.m. and goes up to 11:30 p.m. This service is in addition to the two existing FM services of AIR namely FM Gold and FM Rainbow. A dedicated 5 KW transmitter has been installed for the VB Service in Mumbai.

While Vividh Bharati services were available across most parts of the country on FM mode, it was transmitted only on Medium Wave in the four metros (with the highest population densities).

Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar sought to address this matter as he felt that this did not allow ‘people on the move’ in the four metros to enjoy Vividh Bharati’s superlative and varied content.

With the approval of the Prasar Bharati Board, the idea was presented to the current government when it took over, and the I and B Ministry supported the proposal as well.

Vividh Bharati is now available on FM mode in three metros of the country (Kolkata: 101.8 Mhz; Chennai: 100.5Mhz and Mumbai: 102.8Mhz) and will shortly also become available in Delhi on FM.

Rathore said radio not only regales, it also educates constantly. It is a companion and does not distract its listeners. “We have been listening to radio and simultaneously doing other mundane things”.

The 5 KW FM Transmitter will be upgraded to 20 KW FM in the near future and will cover a radius of 80 kilometres once installed and made operational.