this story originally appeared in on oct 1 2014new delhi this is all india radiothe prime minister will now speak akashvani once an information lifeline to a poor communicationschallenged country is hoping that fortnightly prime ministerial radio chats with the nation will remake its brand the first of narendra modis akashvanionly chats will happen on october 3 this friday first doordarshan then private television channels and subsequently private fm radio had reduced the sarkari radio broadcaster to the fringes of the broadcasting game politicians prefer tv and radio entertainment which basically means private fm channels the pms unusual decision to talk to indians only via akashvani guarantees high degrees of national attention the regular periodicity once a fortnight the suggested informal nature of his address the fact that the pm intends to invite suggestions from citizens combined with modis rhetorical abilities will be a big draw so the sarkari radio broadcaster hopes and akashvani is taking no chances officials familiar with preparations who spoke on the condition they not be identified told et that the broadcaster is setting up a studio inside the pms official residence 7 race course road this inhouse studio facility incidentally is the same arrangement the us presidents oval office has the last mile optical fibre has already been laid says a person close to the development the pms chats will reach almost all of india though suffering in terms of its brand image akashvani retains the distinction of having the largest geographical reach all india radio reaches 9920 of indias population and covers 926 of the countrys area air officials have found particular significance in the pms use of a radio chat thats regular and not confined to special or calamitous occasions pms and presidents have used the radio on occasions such as the republic day or the independence day or during a calamity this is something different says f sheheryar directorgeneral of air we are told he will be doing this once every fortnight doordarshan the state tv broadcaster will act as a force multiplier for airs broadcast of modi chats dd with a 90 allindia reach will carry airs audio feed officials say private fm channels may also carry airs feed et could not independently confirm this regular radio chats were first used by us president franklin d roosevelt his fireside radio chats which came at a time the radio was what tv is today are considered to have been a very effective means of communication americans at that time had to cope with effects of the great depression and world war ii us president ronald reagan exhollywood actor and considered a master communicator revived the tradition of radio chats in 1982 current white house incumbent barack obama is more attuned to technology his weekly chats are on video but many broadcasting professionals argue the radio is on a comeback all over the world there is a swing back to the radio says jawhar sircar ceo prasar bharati that is because radio