The Indian community, with its multilingual and multicultural characteristic, poses a serious challenge to the Media. Professionals in the print, radio and television segments often battle to bring the best of news, features and entertainment to the members of the community in their language.
Radio Tarana 1386 AM is among those on the forefront of serving various sections of the Sub-Continent, among the most important of which is the Punjabi community.
Managing Director Robert Khan said the primary objective of the Radio Station was to get closer to the communities and serve them with quality broadcasting.
“I am proud of the fact that our Punjabi programmes started on June 12, 1996, three days before the official launch of the station. We have stepped into the 16th year with renewed commitment to offer better value for our advertisers and listeners. We constantly review our offerings to ensure that we are in tune with the market trends and needs of our patrons,” he said.
Nirmal Jit Singh, who has been presenting the weekly Punjabi programmes on Saturdays on Radio Tarana, said the Punjabi community has been proactive and interactive.
“Our listeners are not only keen to hear programmes of good entertainment value but also like to be informed of the developments back home. It is therefore little surprise that our news section is extremely popular,” he said.
Mr Khan said that in consonance with Tarana’s commitment for bringing the best, the Punjabi news bulletins are presented by Parminder Tiwana, based in Patiala.
“His authentic Punjabi accent and style of presentation have been a source of endearment to our listeners,” he said.
Mr Singh said the Radio Station marks all festivals and religious occasions of the Punjabi community with a combination of piety, seriousness, fun and entertainment.
“These include special programmes for Baisakhi, Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Birthday, Diwali and other events. We crossover to various parts of the world for live coverage including Shri Nankana Sahib, Shri Panja Sahib, Shri Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. We have also had link-up shows with Punjab Radio in the UK. We constantly seek listeners’ views to improve our service,” he said.
