Radio – A force to reckon with
Harrish M Bhatia, VP Northern Region, AROI and COO, My FM


When one looks back at the year gone by, it's hard to instantly label it as good or bad or even mediocre. Tough it is not tough to look back at it as a huge learning experience, a turning point, a spoke in the wheel moving forward for the radio industry. And, despite the many black marks on 2008, the radio industry's wheel has definitely covered good distance.

The most significant aspect is the level of maturity that radio has gained during this period. Having established itself in markets beyond the Metro cities, in the more evolving markets in Tier I and III cities, it has caught the attention of both the consumers and advertisers. FM stations have proved their worth and showed immense potential as the medium of the masses. The efforts of FM stations have surely not gone waste and everyone is waking up to this giant, understanding it, experimenting with it and finally anticipating its future.

The journey to this point has not been a cakewalk as the private radio stations have put in their hearts and souls into bringing their best foot forward, be it as a socially responsible medium, a 'value for money' advertising medium or a mass entertainment medium. Radio's much awaited reckoning has finally begun.

Currently, radio penetration stands at 85 per cent, with 90 per cent of the listenership at home, radio offers one of the most opportune environments to have the advertisement message register well. To add to it is the fact that not only is the medium accessible, but is also the one that the common man understands and enjoys. Besides that, its appeal is more universal as the medium caters to both the urbane lifestyles of homemakers and office-goers alike. Radio has a great influence over these two segments, which are also the main targets of advertisers. Thus, the medium is able to target a varied consumer base despite restrictions on content. Nonetheless, radio as a medium offers huge potential in product development. For instance, My FM offers differentiated content with dedicated listernership for different shows. Some of them worth mentioning are 'My Ka Lal', 'My Cappuchino', the more regional offerings like 'Swar Gurjari' in Gujarat and 'Dhol Wajda' in Punjab.

Radio's power lies in its ability to be leveraged as an 'Integrated Communication' medium. Radio offers multiple touch points for consumer, including on air and on ground, helping optimise the ad spends and maximising the impact on the desired target audience.

The importance of radio is not limited to it, though. There are other factors impacting its growth as well. Like the ever inclining listenership base. The boom in the market, availability, and the competitive pricing of FM-enabled handsets has boosted radio listenership, especially in the target group of 18 -35. Listenership of radio, as indicated by the Indian Listenership Track (ILT) survey, is the highest among the younger audiences (15-29) and the SEC A audiences. The research indicates that almost 70 per cent of SEC A (higher socio economic class) audience listens to radio everyday. The time spent on radio is anywhere in the range of 3 hours to 4 hours, as per some independent studies conducted in Tier II and III cities.

The past year has seen tremendous impacts on the radio industry, with policies on mergers, news broadcast, music royalty issues being heavily debated, often leading to significant conclusions. With the economic slowdown, radio has also emerged as a medium that offers the most bang for the buck to its advertisers. Media planners are waking up to the medium and the share of radio in the advertising pie is expected to grow further from the current 3 per cent. As a medium that relies completely on advertising for revenue, radio has been vigorously pursuing the media planners. There are several factors that have gradually attracted advertisers to radio as they are beginning to understand its potential as Value for Money medium.

I feel, this is one of the better times for radio, as economic slowdown will push marketers to look for cost effective advertising options. Radio comes up as an immediate answer in such times. During such times, the radio players, driving the businesses with radically different approach by focusing on non-advertisers, and by bringing print and TV clients on radio, are making them taste blood. Especially the print advertisers, as 70 per cent of the print medium advertisers are yet to be on radio, radio players can ensure that the economic slowdown does not impact radio advertising much. We, at My FM have refocused our advertising strategy based on this insight. At the same time, some of the sectors which will continue unabated from economic meltdown will help keep the radio medium away from the vagaries of market conditions. These include telecom, education, healthcare, insurance.

As radio walks into the coming year, there is a positive buzz in our hearts and we believe that radio will witness tremendous growth as people continue to understand and explore this medium. There are several aspects of growth that radio players are anticipating in the coming year. The most important and significant issue that is seeking resolution is the music royalty debate, which has been in the forefront and haunting every radio player's mind today. The settlement of this issue will not only translate into added assets for radio players, but will also be a morale booster to see allied industries understand the importance of this medium and invest in its future.

Another issue of contention is the permission to broadcast news and current affairs, which will again open up several avenues for private FM players, who are currently probably the step-child of the media fraternity, disbarred from several liberties that other media enjoy.

Private radio's constant plea has been to allow it to flourish to its full potential and every single humble demand that radio has put forth has been substantiated with a responsible and prepared effort to prove its worth. The coming year will be another opportunity for radio to develop itself further and we, the radio players, are positive that we will make a stronger impact on the lives, hearts and minds of all those who are associated with us.

The vision for 2009 is a strong, determined effort at raising the standards that we operate by and involving radio in activities of importance and interest to society as a whole.