Demise of Satellite Radio in India

Listening to a podcast recently from BBC, I heard a person who started JAM tell the correspondent that there is now a Pan-Indian culture  in India where people from various parts of India enjoy the same music whether they understand the lyrics or not. That is very true with the advent of TV but universal appreciation of Hindi filmi music (Bollywood Music as they started calling it now) all over India has been happening since my parents generation (1950s onwards). So it is not true that this trend started recently.

I, for one, have been enjoying this 'pan-Indian' music through a satellite radio service from Worldspace since my return to Indian in 2006. Just like in US, you purchase a receiver and pay a yearly subscription fee of about Rs 1,800 and you get separate channels for almost every major language in India - Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, separate channels for old and new Hindi film songs, and in addition western music (classic, jazz, rap, pop, rock), Indian classic (Hindustani and Carnatic), BBC and other news channels. I once told one of my Indian friends back in US, that one of the best thing of returning to India is this service.

Through out the day and night, while I work on my laptop I would listen to songs of my childhood and classics. There were many times I would become very nostalgic listening to songs of yesteryears. I have recorded many songs that I never would have found on CDs. They had some of the best collection of new and old songs that I could never get on regular FM/AM radios in India. By playing this radio in the background in my house, my sons have slowly started to appreciate the old songs of Rafi, Ghantasala (Telugu), the 70s and the 80s songs, and many more. I even had special cable wiring installed in my new house to play this radio in the family/dining room of my new house in Hyderabad.

Now this is service is being shutdown on Dec/31. I will sorely miss this service. There is no other places to turn to listen to this kind of music. I sincerely hope that some 'angel' investor would buy this company and keep this service going. I hope some IIM graduate is reading this blog and think of a way to provide this service. Growing up as a child in 1970s and 80s, many of us used to listen to 'All India Radio' and 'Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corp' (SLBC) listening to old songs during hurried morning rush to school or on lazy Sunday afternoons. I missed that yesteryear style of enjoying songs in a leisurely fashion until I discovered this satellite radio. Those radio stations are gone, now this satellite radio is going away too. Are we doomed to listen to those lousy FM stations or gaudy TV channels to get our music?

On a different note, you need to be aware of the fraud this satellite radio company has committed to its subscribers. This company has never made a profit since its inception in 1999. It was in bankruptcy for last 2 years or so. They were aware that they would soon be shutdown. So they have started a big drive few months back to get existing subscribers to renew their subscription. In my case I am not up for renewal till Jan/2010 but they  harangued us since October to renew ahead of time. Now they sent me an email announcing the bankruptcy and closure and apologizing that they will not be able to return the subscription fee.

Should I lament the loss of the service or be happy at the demise of such an unethical company?