Despite the chaos leading up to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, 2K Plus International Sports Media has reporters there to share a Christian perspective on sport and life, filing stories online for stations around the world to use. “We plan to produce special programmes about the Games on our FM programme at Bangalore and Goa,” says Kenneth Edward, Programme Officer, Feba India. “We’ll be using scripts and reports produced by 2K Plus.”
Feba India’s FM programme in Bangalore, started back in April 2004, is a music-based magazine programme featuring issues that are relevant to the young adult urban audience. Programme segments on the Commonwealth Games should be a hot topic of discussion in India for the duration of the Games 3-14 October. Here’s Shera (the mascot) from the Commonwealth Games Facebook page. Programme presenters have a telephone line open during this 30-minute programme to interact with listeners. They typically receive about 30 text messages per show.
Due to the great interest in this FM programme in Bangalore, it is also broadcast in Goa’s capital Panjim, with some small adjustments made for local content. To build relationships with local listeners, Feba India has partnered with local counsellors to handle follow up with people. Adapting some of the 2K Plus reports from the Commonwealth Games will give the FM presenters and the local community some talking points around sports and the controversy about whether so much money should have been spent on hosting the games in India. The programme presenters enjoy talking to listeners about these kinds of current events.
2K Plus is a not-for-profit organisation that provides sports content without cost to individuals around the world through radio and the internet. Solomon Ashoms and Norman Brierley (retired Feba staff) will be reporting from Delhi and recording content for the 2K Plus weekly programme, Planet Sport. Solomon and Norman also reported from the previous two Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Melbourne. Their aim is to produce sports-related media content to encourage sports fans to consider issues beyond sport during the Commonwealth Games. You can tune in online at http://www.2kplus.org.uk or http://www.planetsport.tv