WorldSpace leaves behind broken hearts

Radio jockeys and singers talk about special attachment they felt with radio service

Atu00a0midnight on December 31, WorldSpace stopped its broadcasts in India because of financial troubles at home in the US. The company, which offered international, national, and regional radio programming on portable and mobile radio receivers owned by customers, left lakhs in the lurch. Now, after its various digital channels have fallen silent, those who developed a special bond with the pioneering service over the years tell MiD DAY what they feel about the development.
u00a0
Divya Raghavan, well-known singer who once worked with World Space, says:
It is really sad that World Space is gone. I have been an ardent listener for the past seven years and it inspired me to think of branching out to become a radio jockey even as I stuck to my singing career. I thoroughly enjoyed my stint in WorldSpace. The 40-odd channels dedicated to different genres of music satisfied many listeners across the globe. The emphasis on playing only back-to-back music for listeners definitely was a plus compared to all other FM channels with all their advertisements and contests for listeners.u00a0 Yes, it would have done very well if WorldSpace could have gone mobile. Though listeners have always complained about the subscription fee and having to make that investment on the instrument, I am sure they will miss the listening to the music after a long, hard day's work.
u00a0
RJ Rakesh of Radio One says:
It was great when I used to listen to it in restaurants. I stopped using it a couple of years ago because I could not listen to it wherever I wanted. I think because WorldSpace depended solely on subscribers, it had to close. Such media should come as free entertainment for people to completely enjoy it.

RJ Neethi Bhat, who works with Fever, says:
WorldSpace closing operations is slightly disconcerting for people from the industry, and from what I've heard, people have been asked to leave in a manner that is most unbecoming of a reputable business operation. The reasons for this eventually may be many; however, my opinion is that the business model that WorldSpace had adopted was possibly flawed, as people in India are not yet willing to pay for radio.
u00a0
Deepak Srinivasan, who worked as content resource with World Space a couple of years ago, says:
Now that WorldSpace is shutting down, I don't feel too qualified to issue statements on how it felt to be a part of a team like WorldSpace and what it stood for, as there are parts of its history, culture and operations that I was not too well associated with.

'Nowadays, music needs to be on the move'

What I will say is that, with WorldSpace an entire nation had the opportunity to be connected to a source of interesting content and perspectives that could lead to learning and entertainment. WorldSpace closing down is certainly a wail-worthy note for me.

Yes, some question the subscription-based model and say it was unaffordable - but a lot of that is a myth. The subscription rates over the years had almost gotten as low as cable TV subscription rates, just the way cellphone service rates fell hugely over the years.

Ricky Kej, music director, says:
WorldSpace was a great concept for music lovers like me and it had numerous channels dedicated to various genres of music. Based on one's mood or preference, one could shift between channels.

Listeners were not limited by having to listen to only one kind of music. The quality of transmission was also fantastic and far better than any FM transmission.

WorldSpace was great listening at even restaurants. There were many restaurants that I frequented, which had a WorldSpace channel running.

It is unfortunate that WorldSpace could not sustain itself on the basis of subscriptions that came from a limited niche of music lovers. I loved WorldSpace, but I guess this had to happen.

I think WorldSpace as a concept, though great for music lovers in terms of content, was not a very convenient way of listening to music.u00a0 Nowadays, music needs to be available 'on the move'. People listen to music mainly in cars, on iPods, portable MP3 players and mobile phones.

FM was available on all these, but WorldSpace was available in our living rooms only. Families had to choose between watching TV or listening to WorldSpace, and WorldSpace would end up being the casualty.

WorldSpace definitely did not eliminate the need for people to buy CDs; we had to buy CDs anyway for our car stereo systems.