Kashyap, S.K.Arya, Neha2022-02-102022-02-102020-02https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810182052Community radio is considered as a communication intervention strategy of choice for deepening participation and community ownership. Community radio involves community organization, joint thinking and decision-making, all of which entail great potential for empowering communities and building a democratic society. However, the community radio stations has been facing various social, infrastructural, organizational, programming, technical and financial constraints in its functioning. These constraints have raised the concern of community radio practitioners regarding the issue of community radio sustainability. Many community radio stations are struggling for maintaining good quality broadcasting services while ensuring high level of community participation. Thus, to have an insight into these issues, a study was undertaken to find out the social, economic, psychological and communication characteristics of community radio listeners along with their participation in community radio functioning and sustainability of community radio stations. The study was carried out in northern Indian states and union territories. Stratified random sampling was employed to select sixteen community radio stations (8 from NGO operated community radios and 8 from educational institute operated community radios) for the study. Total 16 community radio staff and 240 community radio listeners (15 listeners from each community radio) were selected through simple random sampling process. The analytical and descriptive research deign was used. Pre-tested structured interview schedule was used for data collection and relevant statistical methods such as frequency, percentage, t-test, correlation of coefficient, multiple linear regression and principal component analysis were used for analysis and interpretation of the data. Findings of the study revealed that maximum number of respondents (49.16%) belonged to the middle age group and were female (51.67%), married (62.92%) having high level of information seeking behavior (45.42%) and medium level of mass media exposure (42.91%). Maximum number of respondents were graduated (17.91%), unemployed (46.68%), carried official position in one organization (33.75%) having medium level of mass media utilization (45%), high achievement motivation (37.50%), low economic motivation (42.08%) and medium level of listening behaviour (43.75%). Majority of the respondents displayed favourable attitude towards community radio stations (65.00%) and medium level of perception about community radio programmes (53.33%) having medium level of communication skills (57.92%) and medium level of change proneness (40.84%). Further it was found that more than half of the respondents (53.75%) had medium level of participation in CRS functioning. It was also found that maximum number of the community radio stations (43.75%) were moderately sustainable. Among independent variables, age, information seeking behaviour, mass media utilization, social participation, listening behaviour, attitude towards community radio station, perception about community radio programmes and communication skills had significant positive relationship with the community participation in community radio functioning. Further educational qualification and mass media exposure had significant negative relationship with the community participation in community radio functioning. The study also indicated that community participation in community radio functioning had significant positive relationship with sustainability of community radio stations. Further it was found that programming constraints were ranked first as the major constraint faced by community radio stations followed by social, financial, technological, organizational, policy related and infrastructural constraints. Strategic planning of community radio stations, government support, intensive awareness campaigns, scrutinizing skilled human resources and improving their professionalism, improving programming and listenership, boosting community participation, regular capacity building programmes, abating dependency on parent organization, searching for new financial avenues, periodic monitoring and evaluation and pooled efforts are some of the strategies to ensure the community radio sustainability.EnglishThesis