The Hindu Business Line : To sing a distinct tune

“Everyone keeps complaining about the lack of distinction, but if you allow only three to four players per city, and do not allow us to do news, you won’t get anything different.” _ Tarun Katial, Big 92.7 FM

FM radio channels are grappling with the issue of differentiating themselves from the competition. (Above) A file photo of radio jockeys Uma Riyaz Khan and Balaji at the Big 92.7 FM recording studio in Chennai.

Meera Mohanty

FM licences won, radio channels were busy setting up dozens of stations and singing their own tunes. But now, they seem to have woken up to the fact that there is no audience loyalty, and no one really cares who is playing their favourite song.

With a sudden urgency and budgets like never before, radio channels are working hard to carve out their unique space amidst the clutter. “The need is multi-pronged. Advertisers don’t just want to know on which channel to advertise, but also whether they should just be doing tactical advertising, or brand-building stuff, or what kind of returns on investments they can expect from the medium,” says L.V. Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research. The first radio listenership figures from TAM’s Radio Audience Measurement will be made available in September.

Meanwhile, channels hope to win over and keep new audiences tuned in to the scale of their marketing campaigns, the ‘charm’ of their product, and the sheer willpower of the marketing teams. “There is a need to break through the clutter,” says Rana Barua, National Head – Marketing, Radio City 91.1FM, which ran a campaign, including two films of 160 spots-a-day across national channels.

Radio Mirchi’s campaign on air at the same time, is to be followed with print and outdoor activities for the next six to seven months.

According to Big 92.7 FM’s Tarun Katial, the Adlabs channel will also premier its television campaign in less than two months. The budget is “significant,” he says.

Radio Today, which snubbed music and launched a talk format channel Meow, targeted at women, blames the music industry for the commonness. “How can you be different if you are forced to play the same music as your competition? We are not in the clutches of the music industry’s monopolistic practices, so we can speak about it,” says Anil Srivatsa, COO, Radio Today.

Music labels like T-Series and Yash Raj Music, say the channels, share their music rights on condition that the channels devote a good percentage of air time to playing their hits. It’s a bargain that few channels can escape, unless they decide to reposition themselves and lessen their dependency on hit music.

Radio City has narrowed its audience to a core target group belonging to SEC AB in the 25-35 age-group. And this group is not interested in breaking music, says Barua, no matter how many dance floors are being burned up on the latest Himesh Reshamiya hit.

Big is also experimenting with content, running radio plays and game shows in the afternoon. Positioned as ‘adult contemporary’, the channel believes that radio is a local medium. What the Alibagh station plays will be different from what’s played on the Mumbai station, says Katial. Big 92.7 FM is also going in for an international programming style of top 100 programming at its Delhi station. It won’t be request-based, but a list that’s backed by extensive research of music sales, claims the brand.

Radio is local

Mirchi is also a strong believer in the ‘radio is local’ philosophy. “Unless you speak the language your audience speaks at home, you can’t connect,” says Kaushik Ghosh, Senior Vice-President (Marketing), Radio Mirchi. The Mirchi station in Bangalore talks and plays Kannada, in Kolkata it speaks Bengali and plays Hindi music, and that has paid off very well, says Ghosh.

“Retail and radio are going to grow together and with the emigration from the smaller to the bigger cities, the development of smaller cities is ensuring that radio plays a critical role in reaching out and finally we have currency to trade in radio,” says Pavan Chandra, Executive Vice-President (Strategic Resources), ZenithOptimedia.

Mirchi is also conscious of the Internet and the mobile, and the convergence they are bringing in. “The 15-19 age group spends far less time on traditional media such as print and television, and consumes a lot more of the Internet on online communities and the mobile phones, SMS-ing and listening to music,” says Ghosh. He predicts a convergence for radio broadcasters on the Internet and mobile space.

Questioning regulations

A point raised with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at a recent seminar was the imposition of illogical restrictions on the media to broadcast news and current affairs. Katial also asked the Government to allow each operator more than one frequency per city. “Everyone keeps complaining about the lack of distinction, but if you allow only three to four players per city, and do not allow us to do news, you won’t get anything different,” he said. The Government has promised to look into both the issues.

ZenithOptimedia says advertising expenditure on radio will total Rs 450 crore in 2007, and grow to Rs 585 crore by 2009. Compared to the growth predicted for advertising expenditure on the Internet, radio has a less promising future. Advertising expenditure on the Internet, which stands on a par with the radio industry at Rs 450 crore today, is projected to grow to Rs 2,250 crore in two years’ time.