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Nithya Subramanian

NEW DELHI, April 18

IF everything goes well, April 29 could well be a big day for radio buffs in Mumbai. The airwaves will finally be thrown open to private companies, putting an end to All India Radio's monopoly.

In all, five companies have acquired licences to operate in the metro. While most of the companies are in the process of firming up their plans, not all seem to be in a position to start full-fledged operations by that day.

Mr Rajesh Tahil, Head of Radio Mid-Day, part of the Mid-Day Group said, "By April 29, companies have to pay the first year's licence fee of Rs 9.75 crore. We will start full-fledged operations only by mid-May.'' The company has earmarked a total of Rs 12-15 crore for its entire radio business.

Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd - which operates under the brand name Radio City in Bangalore - may also delay its launch as the infrastructure has to be put in place.

Industry sources said that two other companies - Radio Mirchi, part of the Times Group, and Millennium Broadcast - are likely to go on air before May.

Sources said that Delhi-based Living Media group's Radio Today would try to start some operations before April 29. "Even if the complete set-up is not operational, we will have some programmes on,'' he said. Officials in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry felt that the Mumbai operations would be crucial. The Government had relaxed the guidelines by permitting operators to set up separate temporary towers. "When five operators in Mumbai commence operations almost simultaneously, there will be real competition. So far only one or two companies have started operations in non-metros,'' said the official.

Companies are in the process of fine-tuning their programming and advertising strategies. Millennium Broadcast is believed to have tied up with some advertisers, while Radio Mid-Day is trying to leverage the advantage of its presence in print and the Internet. "We will work across media and believe in giving full coverage,'' said Mr Tahil.

Media planners are excited too. Advertising on radio will be very cheap and localised. Ad rates in Mumbai will be about 20-30 per cent more than Bangalore while listenership would be almost five-fold. Currently, a 30-second spot on prime time in the morning and evening in Bangalore costs around Rs 4,900 while it is Rs 3,000 for 30 seconds on non-prime time.

But content will be the decisive factor. Normally, 55 per cent of content will be a mix of Hindi and English music, 25 per cent would be the radio jockey time and remaining 20 per cent is commercial time.

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