Er… sorry, listeners, what did I just say?

On the World Radio Day, a few RJ's share their experiences.

Bengaluru: RJs often make mistakes when they go live, and then they have to think on their feet and correct themselves.

To mark World Radio Day, February 13, Metrolife quizzed some Bengaluru RJs about their experiences. 

Name fiasco

Manasa Jairam aka RJ Manasa hosts the morning show with Fever FM. She has experienced a fair share of mistakes on air but “handling the situation with a knack
is key”.

“Leaving the mic on when it is supposed to be off is a common mistake most RJs make. One V-Day, we had invited couples to propose on air or send special messages. At the last moment, a boy had requested that his and his girlfriend’s name be changed when they came on air. I had barely a few seconds to edit the recorded material, and I said on air, ‘Hey, what did you want to be called?’,” she recalls.

Listeners suspected the call and show was rigged because of that last-minute change. Manasa’s biggest fear till date is that “unedited material goes on air”. 

On air meets real life

Radio jockey Amith Pawar, who hosts the afternoon show in Kannada on Radio Mirchi,  goes by the moniker ‘Area Boy’. He shares local updates and insights about the day.

“My character, ‘Area Boy’, always talks about how single boys rule. I glorified single people on a V-Day segment last year. I was dating someone then and we were out at an event the next day. Some listeners just walked up to me and said: ‘Hey Amit, you are not single!’. It was embarrassing and I didn’t know how to handle the situation. I had to explain the background to my (then) girlfriend,” he says. 

Stock sound mixup

Aleser Murtaza aka RJ Lee, who presents ‘Good Morning Bangalore with Lee’ on Radio One, has been in the industry for two years.

“A year ago, I read the news of a person passing away, and in the hotkeys (a system that plays applause and other stock sounds) I unknowingly clicked on the laughter track. I realised what I had done immediately and apologised,” he says. Thankfully he did not receive any flak. 

Personal questions 

Disha Oberoi aka RJ Disha, who hosts ‘Morning No 1’ at Red FM, has had to deal with strange requests. “Sometimes callers have asked me out on a date and asked how much I earn. Retorting with a suitable response can be challenging,” she adds. Mistakes with numbers can attract a lot of “unwanted attention”. “Once, multiple cricket matches were going on, and the scores and team details were jumbled up,” she says, recalling the confusion it caused. When an RJ is honest, most people take goof-ups in the right spirit, Disha says. 

Messing up facts

Jimmy Xavier, who hosts a morning show with Radio Mirchi, has been a radio jockey for nine years. “Apart from calls (that are often recorded), most material is presented live. I have messed up facts in sports. The New Zealand cricket team’s captain was Kane Williamson and the Australian team had a bowler called Kane Richardson. I confused their names,” he said.

Recalling another goof-up, he said, “I was talking about how impurities increase the boiling point of water. I said I was doing steam inhalation at home and had added salt to increase the vapour. A listener schooled me, saying that was not the way it worked. I corrected my mistake.”