Mahajan, however, seems to have messed up by insisting that each radio broadcaster set up his own infrastructure, ie invest in transmitters and studios -- each applicant should be able to invest Rs 3 crore with working capital of Rs 2 crore per station.

No one knows why he has raised such hurdles? Why should he prevent firms from coming together to set up a transmitter? And why should they not be allowed to use AIR's under-utilised infrastructure?

The question is: Why leave the playing field open to only the big daddies? World over FM has been given a boost by small timers who service small communities.

The raising of entry barriers has come at a wrong time too. The slowing ad market is already under attack from television, the internet and other niche media. Radio advertising did pick up earlier when private FM was on a year or so ago but not to that great an extent. And itis unlikely to grow enough to support 160 channels run by operators who are groaning under heavy start-up costs.

At less than Rs 150 crore today, radio advertising is still a flea compared to the outdoors, television and the biggest medium of them all -- print.

For so many channels to survive, either AIR will have to totally foul up and lose share to private FM stations or the radio ad market will have to more than quadruple. Mahajan has also not uttered a word about existing media houses like The Times of India, Mid-Day, India Today and others like Zee TV, Sun TV, STAR TV and Sony getting into FM transmission. They obviously have an advantage compared to other FM radio wannabes in terms of lower promotional costs (actually almost zilch) on their existing channels or in their publications.

Should cross-media restrictions apply to FM radio too? Mr Mahajan, you have to elaborate on this. Mahajan has been clear that news and current affairs will not be permitted whereas coverage of theweather, sports, business, and capital markets will be allowed.

What is the government afraid of Mr Mahajan? There is already enough of private news being beamed into the country via satellite channels.Radio news is something that people tune into while driving. It gives updates on developments in one's locality. Not everyone is likely to get into news coverage as reports are being beamed live from allover as it is.

The cost can be high and will restrict the field to just a handful. Use the medium well, Mr Mahajan, don't ban it. For instance, radio can be used to direct traffic through periodic announcements - and this is possible through news announcements - in case of jams or accidents or flooding.

Mr Mahajan, while you need to be lauded for convincing the cabinet to be positive on FM, you have left things dangling in another area too. You have said it will probably take players a year or so to get their operations and hence the ministry has enough time to come up with what the licence fee amount willbe. One newspaper said that it would be Rs 10-20 lakh for smaller towns and Rs 1.25 crore for the metros. The figures don't seem business friendly enough.

Bear in mind, you are not here to stifle radio; keep licence fees to the bare minimum, instead charge a radio set tax, which will actually get you a lot more money. And finally, you need an empowered broadcasting authority for radio too. Otherwise, you can be sure you'll have a repeat of the mess that telecom has become.

The Beeb's boo-boo

Isn't there a lot of hypocrisy in the television business? But none beats the Beeb - as the BBC is known. The channel has stopped airing ads asking for money for an Indian Army Fund after Pakistan raised a ruckus. NRIs are believed to have funded the ad. Why did it choose to take it in the first place? Was it the lure of lucre. And if it did choose to air it, why did it take it off when Pakistan protested? The Beeb's management's weak-kneed approach is quite sickening. Anyway, its management is no Jack Welch,as Mark Tully will surely tell you.

Outgoing BBC director general John Birt further cemented that feeling last week when he made a statement that British culture is faced with the growing threat of Americanisation in the age of multichannel digital TV. Said he: "Our culture may be degraded by the instant availability in new media of the raucous, the vulgar and the sensationalist. There is a risk to our national culture. We have already seen in this century the emergence of a global culture, which is essentially American."

True, but haven't we had enough of British football hooliganism all over the world, which has become a very obvious part of British culture. Mr Birt watch before you speak.

(The writer is the editor of The Indian Cab&Sat Reporter. Feel free to email with your comments to television@vsnl.com or television@hotmail.com)