The Hindu Business Line : Big 92.7 FM tunes into Kollywood for more content

Chennai, Oct. 3 Big 92.7 FM’s Chennai channel, which turned one recently, will inject a lot more Kollywood (Tamil films) into its content. It will also seek to connect with audiences through various events, both on ground and on air, in the next three months, which includes tying up with colleges for cultural events and symposia.

Mr B. Ramaswamy, Station Head, told Business Line Big FM will tie up with movies to release the music on the channel. This release will precede the launch of the movies’ music in the market by about 10-15 days. Right now, the channel has such a tie-up with Tamil M.A. starring Jeeva.

The increased Kollywood component will take the form of programmes featuring the stars and other crew of the movie, some trivia, and the like. Depending on the tie-up, the channel will even promote the movie on ground.

Big FM will also premiere movies for the branding opportunity it presents. It has done that with Die Hard IV earlier. It will also hold special screenings for its listeners, Mr Ramaswamy said. The listeners would be chosen through a contest or other activity. “The focus for the next year is going to be on listener gratification at every opportunity,” he said.

On the channel’s experience in the one year since its launch, Mr Ramaswamy said that Big FM has been able to occupy the third slot with 8.5 lakh listeners, following Suryan FM and Radio Mirchi, Mr Ramaswamy said, quoting Indica Research, which studies the market for Big FM. Of Chennai’s 60 lakh population, FM radio listenership was estimated at 70 per cent. It is a very evolved market and a very cluttered market with nine FM channels fighting to be heard. In terms of advertising and sales, the channel is “growing tremendously” month on month but that also depends on the time of the year, he said, adding that they were set for further growth in the next three months due to the festive season.