Association of Radio Operators for India asks Sonia Gandhi to withdraw suggestion

The Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI) has opposed Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s recommendation to impose a two-year ban on media advertisements by the government and public sector. The Congress president had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday with a 5-point list of things that the government should do. One of them was to conserve funds by cutting back on advertisements unless these were linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the AROI, a body of private FM channels in the country, said it was strongly opposed to this point. “The last year has been a very difficult one for Radio, especially for radio stations in small towns, due to a huge drop in Government advertising,” the association said.

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The Congress president’s statement came at a time the radio sector is already in a deep financial crisis and has been asking the government for a support package to help the sector “survive this crisis in the short term till the economy stabilises itself”.

The radio industry has been going through a tough phase with advertising revenue shrinking over the past year with a de-growth of 20%. Ad revenues have crashed 80% after the nationwide lockdown was ordered.

The AROI statement said radio has been wholeheartedly supporting the national war on Covid-19 through 380 private FM stations across India and asked the government to restore its advertising on radio to normal levels.

“We also request Mrs Sonia Gandhi to please review and withdraw her suggestion and thereby demonstrate her support for one of the crucial pillars of democracy – Media,” the association said.

The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has already objected to the Congress president’s suggestion, describing the call as “highly demoralising”.

“At a time when media personnel, without fearing for their lives, are doing their national duty by disseminating news on the pandemic, a statement like this from the Congress president is highly demoralising,” a statement by NBA president Rajat Sharma read.

There has been a slump in advertisement revenue of the industry due to recession and it is suffering financial blows due to the 21-day nationwide lockdown, Sharma said.