'Dear listeners...', Kerala's celebrated Ananthapuri FM closes after 18 years

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From favorite songs of listeners to crucial announcements, Akashvani Ananthapuri FM was the heartbeat of a generation. The myriad programs the channel offered over the years are etched into the minds of listeners and are reminiscent of an erstwhile era. Alas, with no consideration for the pious listeners, Prasar Bharati has stopped broadcasting Akashvani Ananthapuri FM. Even the employees in the Thiruvananthapuram division learned about the fate only after reaching the office. It was on Kerala Piravi Day of the year 2005 that the channel commenced broadcasting. From today, applying the rules, Akashvani will only broadcast main roster programs through the channel while the FM’s few fan-favorite programs in Malayalam will be retained.

For quite some time, the higher echelons in Prasar Bharati have been weaving serious plans to shut down the working of Kerala’s first FM channel. On 2022, January 1, the Ananthapuri FM’s name was rechristened as Vividh Bharati Akashvani Malayalam. Not just that, the officials stuffed choc full of Hindi programs on the FM’s prime time program list. The channel chief Mallika Kapoor was moved from her role while the reins of power were transferred to Mumbai Vividh Bharati.

Keralakaumudi was the first major newspaper to dig up the murky happenings ongoing in the famed FM channel. The inconsiderate move opened to wide criticism and protests with Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas being the first among the many to condemn the name-changing and forced inclusion of Hindi programs to regional audiences. The MP also forwarded a complaint to the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting to look into the issue. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan called on L Murugan, the Minister of the State of Information and Broadcasting, to apprise him about the happenings and the passed the grief of ardent listeners of the celebrated FM channel. After the minister's intrusion, the channel's name was again changed to Ananthapuri Vividh Bharati Malayalam.

• From Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Pathanamthitta, there are more than 45 lakh listeners to the radio channel.
• Film song requests, train timings, traffic changes, regional news and information, and every hour's national news updates were the top-heard programs on the channel.