The Return of Radio
An executive in a car enjoys "Macarena"
on FM and a farmer on his bicycle
enjoys "Geet gata chal" on Vividh
Bharthi….radio seems to
offer a mix that appeals to people
across various cross-sections
of society. Tracing back history,
FM was launched in 1977 in Chennai
(yup, that early!!). As it gained
popularity it was rolled out to
other parts of urban India like
Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Calcutta
and Panaji.
A more recent development is the
entry of a large number of private
producers. Radio City from Star
Television, Radio Mirchi from
Bennett & Coleman (read TOI),
Go 92.5 from the Mid Day group,
Today from Living Media Group
and Win from the Millennium. Like
television and print this medium
too is becoming more and more
competitive, with all of them
fighting for the top position.
But what does the present scenario
look like, a comprehensive account
of where the new players are operating
and how they plan to expand in
various markets.
Radio Mirchi
Wholly owned subsidiary of Bennett,
Coleman & Co. Ltd., Radio
Mirchi is the FM brand of ENIL(Entertainment
Network India Ltd.). With their
past experience with Times FM
and its success, BCCL launched
their new radio channel Mirchi
in Indore in October'01, thereby
spreading its network to Pune,
Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Though the programming includes
regular music, chat shows, educative
programs etc, the endeavor is
to position the brand as 'Youthful',
thus attracting a whole lot of
young audiences. Which does not
mean that the young executives
or the housewives are to be ignored.
The programming caters to their
needs as well by dishing out programmes
like 'On the Move' in the morning
for the executives, 'Chatpati
Baatein' in afternoon for the
women and Campus Fundas also in
the afternoon for the youngsters.
With most of the programming being
Hinglish, Radio Mirchi is targeted
towards the masses. So if you
are addressing a large audience,
Radio Mirchi is for you.
Radio City
Star Network made its foray into
this medium with Bangalore. The
metro just lapped up the excitement
that the channel had to offer.
Star known for being marketing
savvy understood the requirement
of the hour and set everybody's
foot tapping in Bangalore, with
good quality music, professional
RJs and programming that met the
local flavour.
Then they rolled out to Lucknow
and very recently to Mumbai. The
programming content is similar
to that of Mirchi. What sets it
apart from Mirchi is City's openness
towards innovations and wacky
ideas. Creative packaging is its
advantage. It is more cost effective
and therefore is giving Mirchi
a run for its money.
Radio Midday
Radio Midday with it's 'GO 92.5'
is another player in Mumbai. They
seem to have found a niche for
themselves and clearly positioned
themselves as 'the English Channel
with a local/Indian image'. The
channel targets the 25 year old,
SEC AB, educated, white collar
executive whose needs are clearly
English music and programming.
Therefore, a focus on international
artists popular in India. Not
to say that big Indian artists
with big fame do not feature in
their mix.
So if you want to target a niche
population with a fastidious ear
for English music you know where
to be!
WIN
Millennium's 'WIN' launched in
Mumbai towards the end of April'02.
So those who thought that radio
is a background medium need to
think twice. The medium seems
to be infested with a lot of vibrancy
and there are more exciting times
to look forward to.
What to watch out for:
| Center |
Players |
Expected
Roll out |
| Delhi |
Radio City
Radio Mirchi
Radio Mid Day
Millennium
Today
|
September |
| Calcutta |
Radio Mirchi |
September |
| Chennai |
Radio Mirchi
Radio Midday
|
September
December |
Cuttack
Bhubneswar
Jabalpur
|
Radio Mirchi |
December |
All this translates to more and
better options for the listener,
but this is not a hunky-dory situation
for the planners. They will have
to be cautious about where to
invest. So gone are the days when
the planners could simply rely
on AIR FM - a channel with assured
listenership. With fragmentation
setting in and the niches emerging,
it would be imperative that the
right channel be chosen for the
brand.
