The Hindu Business Line : FM radio: Media biggies, small fry among bidders

A MIXED bag of companies that includes media biggies and relatively unknown names has qualified for submitting financial bids for the second phase of FM radio privatisation.

According to the list released by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, well-known media houses such as Radio Today Broadcasting (part of Living Media), Entertainment Network (India) (Times Group), Rajasthan Patrika, Adlabs Films (Anil Ambani-owned entity), Asianet Communications, Ushodaya Enterprises, HT Music and Entertainment Co, The Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co, The Malayala Manorama Group, BAG Infotainment, Pan Indian Network Infravest (Subhash Chandra's Essel group company), and Malar Publications have made it to the next stage.

In fact, some others such as Sri Adhikari Brothers and the Bhaskar Group have applied through more than one entity.

Interestingly, broadcasting equipment suppliers Shaf Broadcast, well-known Kerala-based finance company Muthoot Finance, and jokes-and-cards portal SantaBanta.com, have also qualified.

Other less-known names involved in dairy and agro-products, trading establishments, and distributors have gone through the next round.

These include Creamline Dairy Products, Gwalior Farms, CMR Agro & Broadcasting Services, Commercial Drug House, Oral Metronet Ltd, Jay Bee Energy Pvt Ltd, and Rai Bahadur Kishor Chand & Sons (Prop).

An official statement said that the financial bids would be obtained and opened in the next two months; a supplementary list of names would be finalised in the next few days.

Every pre-qualified applicant would have to apply for allotment of only one channel in each city through a separate financial bid for payment of one-time entry fee (OTEF) for each channel.

Permission would be granted on the basis of OTEF quoted by the bidders through a closed tender system.

Some 100 firms had evinced interest in participating in the second stage of the FM radio privatisation for 338 FM channels in 91 cities across the country.

However, many of them have not yet specified the number of frequencies they would finally bid for.

According to the FM radio norms, which envisage shifting from a license fee regime to a revenue share arrangement, an applicant and its related entity would be allowed to bid for only one channel per city.

Also, they would not be allocated more than 15 per cent of the total channels on offer.

During the first phase of FM radio privatisation more than five years ago, of the 108 frequencies in 40 cities that were allotted in to private players, only 22 stations are actually on air in about 12 cities.

The industry claimed that the poor response has been mainly due to the high licence fee structure.