Indian Radio Station, KLOK 1170 in Bay Area California

Growing up in Europe during the 80’s where German TV was as alien to me as ET, I took up listening to radio as a hobby primarily to be able to listen to All India Radio, BBC and other stations where I could hear my native Hindi being spoken. All India Radio was a stretch but I did catch BBC Hindi Service which was fantastic.

The big Grundig 7 band radio became my best friend and was proudly in my family room. Radio has continued to be a hobby since then and I rarely watch TV here in America other than an occasional movie or a Giants game close to the world series.

When I moved here two years ago and fired up the big Grundig it was a complete shock, there was nothing on my radio that I could relate to. It took me a mere 6 months before I was sick all the garbage that was perpetually being blurted on FM stations.

It was at a social gathering when I first found out that there was a local Indian station broadcasting on 1170 AM. I promptly went to my car and turned the dial to 1170AM and listened to it at every opportunity I had, which was mostly during my commute and occasionally during weekends while driving the kids around. I even bought an AM antenna and connected it to my Grundig to boost the signal, which was not the best in Pleasenton, where I lived.

My excitement was short lived and soon I became dis-enchanted with the amateur productions and the voices who had no business being in a broadcasting studio. I removed 1170 AM from my car radio presets. I however admit that I would still tune in once in a while only to make a stronger resolve that there was no hope for these guys. I felt sorry for the few good hosts who were putting in a lot of effort but their talent was being tarnished by the image KLOK had developed. It was not cool to be part of the KLOK brand. Having been a die hard fan of radio in general, I had a hope that things would turn around at some point.

I have put this station back on my presets and there are many shows that I have started to enjoy. I will give my summary of what I like and dont like on this station. I hope that the station administration will take this in the right spirit, which is to help them get better. This is a constructive blog with the hope that together we can make this station what it can be.

In the last few months things have improved but their branding is still confusing. What is Pravasvani and what is Radio Fundoo. Cant imagine how much confusion this creates with their sponsors and potential advertisers. They give away many different phone numbers during the day which must make it difficult for their potential advertisers not to mention the listeners.

Here is my assessment of what is good and what can improve on this station. I will score some of their shows and their hosts. This is strictly my opinion and I acknowledge that some of you may not agree…and I can live with that 🙂

Since I dont understand the various languages, I will stay away from commenting on the regional shows or on the day time shows involving doctors, dentists and jaadu mantar fellows..who I never listen to.

My overall feedback is that some of their shows are fantastic while others have no business being on air. Most stations save their best for the morning and evening drive times. KLOK morning shows are mediocre at best with Naaz and Kathy.  After work commute shows are better by a long shot with 6 to 7 slots featuring the best shows they have to offer. Ritu and Saurabh being very good while Sameer hits a home run with a professionally executed Karaoke show. The latest addition “Fundoo Pati” is interesting with no more than a 90 day shelf life unless they find some new ideas. The banter between the hosts is entertaining though.

Dont know why 7PM has become so dull considering a lot of people are still driving at that hour.  Seema Mahajan, who has been very promising has a hit or miss show…just the regular faire of music and nothing more.

Late night gets dull with the exception of Jeev and Noni who crank it up a notch.

Here is my attempt at rating the various shows and hosts. All ratings are on a scale 1 to 10 (10 Being highest)

Host	Show	Radio voice	Language	Production	Remarks
Naz Khan	Morning	8	5	6	Experienced
Ritu	Morning/Evening	9	7	7	Good energy and entertaining good Hindi
Shelly	Morning	7	6	7	Has potential but very inexperienced
Shreeja	Drive Time	10	9	8	Good show lacks engagement. Should go solo
Din Mani	Drive Time	7	4	8	Fun personality, language skills lack
Raj Kumar	Ocasionally	4	4	3	One of the weaker anchors
Seema Mahajan	Evening	9	8	6	Excellent but content lacks variety
Sameer	Evening	10	9	10	Great voice, engaging show, good language command
Saurabh	Evening	9	9	10	Engaging, fun and experienced
Jagrati	Night	6	5	4	Too monotonous
Jeev Noni	Night	9	9	10	Fun productions and engaging