RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

men . Radio listening increased with the economic status . Listening was found to be inversel/ related to age as the people unđer 40 more often listened to radio than the peopte over 40. Education has also enhanced listenership in these areas and listenership of foreign broađcasts is fairly wide as 20-40Х of responđents listen to one or more foreign radio stations . Reviewing the results, one can conclude that radio broadcasting in rural areas is a popular mode of entertainment for people' who are quite interested in broađcast programs . 1 3 ) ANALVSIS OF RURAL BROADCASTING ; Radio Pakistan (or PBC) has evolved a policy of open broadcasting without considering the target audience , area and clear-cut objectives of rural development programs . Until recently, most of the stations were located in the urban areas . Though PBC has opened new stations in rural areas , the overall broadcast policy is still urban-oriented . As we have seen in our analysis , rural development programs lack the audience perspective. Programs were produced on the studio level ignoring the audience contact and their participation. Due to language barriers , lack of knowleđge on local traditions,_ folk culture and the socio-cultural milieu of the target area the programs also lack profounđ communication objectives . The lack of training facilities for broadcasters also contributes an overall weak broadcast policy. However, some PBC stations are now heading towards a more localized broadcasting pattern emphasizing recruitment of local producers and posting them in their own areas as a positive indication of the improving quality of rural broadcasting in the country . Rural programs are prođuced with limited manpower and facilities which need attention. Content of these programs, their styles and formats language and presentation are other areas which neeđ improvement. No conceptual link exists between programs and their audiences generally except in rural broadcasts and agricultural programs . For instance , health programs are aired without keeping in mind the needs of the rural areas as these broadcasts are predominantly urban-orienteđ . We have seen that little time and effort is đevoted to literacy programs . Limited topics and areas are covered in these programs . Vocational and professional traimng could be a prospective area of these programs which has a potential attraction for the auđiences . Allama lqbal Open University has initiated such programs through their courses but these neeđ more attention from their planners . The female population makes about half of the agricultural working class, however, radio tends to exclude their positive

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