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www.radioduniya.in August 2008 | Vol: I | Issue: 10 Rs. 50/-
India’s first radio monthly
Learn from the Guru!
We are Sober, Not Dull 8 B S Lalli, Prasar Bharti
Sweet Success 15 Amit Mathew, Radio Mango
Keeping it Fresh 19 N Toshniwal, Tamoto FM
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Radio Duniya Magazine, G-4 Sector 39, Noida Tel: +91-120-250 2180-85 Fax: +91-120-2500060 www.radioduniya.in
editorial
Serving the People In a multi-lingual, multicultural and geographically large country like India, radio has a very special place. All India Radio alone since 1936 and with fellow private broadcasters since 2001 is catering to the diverse needs of the Indian population. It is impossible to think of radio in India without All India Radio. With the maximum reach and listenership, the public broadcaster has a network of 229 broadcasting centres and covers 91.79% of the area, serving 99.14% of the people of the country. In spite of its potential and early achievements, AIR has moved to the background since the coming in of private radio in India. AIR has the biggest cache of funds at its disposal, it has some of the finest on-air and off-air talents that Indian radio can boast off, but still... there is something seriously amiss. We try and find out what ails with the public broadcasting in the country. In this issue, we try to explore the pros, and cons of being the public service broadcaster in a country as wide and varied as India. Read on to know more! Just like AIR reaches every nook and corner of the country and connects the masses with radio, we too endevour to reach out to each and every radio professional and enthusiast in the country and abroad. In this issue, we bring you all the fresh news from radio and the sweet success stories from radio. We plan to cover more radio stories, which will inspire others and help spread the magic of the medium. If you have a story to share, do write in to us and help us be your magazine!
Ravi Gupta Ravi.Gupta@radioduniya.in
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Ravi Gupta President Dr. M P Narayanan Group Directors Maneesh Prasad Sanjay Kumar Marketing Team Bharti Malhotra Sr. Manager Marketing Email: sales@radioduniya.in
Content Team Sanjana Sharma Research Associate
Subscriptions & Circulation Lipika Dutta, Manoj Kumar, Prabhat Tripathi
Ayesha Khanom Research Assistant Design Team Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Chandrakesh Bihari Lal (James) Om Prakash Thakur
Editorial Correspondence Radio Duniya G – 4, Sector 39, NOIDA 201301, India Tel: +91-120-2502180-85 Fax: +91-120-2500060 Email: talk2us@radioduniya.in Web: www.radioduniya.in
Web Team Zia Salahuddin Amit Pal Anil Kumar Santosh Kumar Singh Shyam Kishore
Owner, Publisher, Printer, Ravi Gupta Printed at Vinayak Print Media E-53, Sector-7, Noida, U.P. and published from 710, Vasto Mahagun Manor, F-30, Sector - 50, Noida, UP Editor: Ravi Gupta
It is hoped that Radio Duniya will serve to foster a growing network by keeping the community up-to-date on many activities in this wide a n d v a r i e d f i e l d . Yo u r involvement in providing relevant information is essential to the success of this endevour. Radio Duniya does not subscribe to the views expressed in the publication. All views expressed in this issue are those of the contributors. It is not responsible for any loss to anyone due to the information provided.
contents
August 2008
37 19
News
11,12,13,44
Station Launch
19
Campaign 31
Industry Updates CR News 23
8
48
Programme Talk 15
23
Station Talk “We are Sober, Not Dull” 26
B S Lalli CEO, Prasar Bharti
Sweet Success Amit Mathew Chief General Manager, Radio Mango
Keeping it Fresh Naval Toshniwal CEO, Tomato FM 94.3
8
Malishka 93.5 Red FM
Virus in My System Shekar Big 92.7 FM
The Battle for Brand Loyalty is On Rana Barua EVP & National Head – Programming & Marketing, Radio City 91.1FM
Feature
15
35
Learn From the Guru Palle Bo Founder, Radio Guru
Training
19 37
Host Talk I Love the Irreverence of Radio!
45
Hands-on Training is a Must MassCo Media
Community Radio
26 31
45
Radio MUST: A Must for Mumbai
48
The Communities and their Radio
Mumbai University Students Transmission
Ashish Bhatnagar Director IT, AIR
For your daily dose of Radio News Log on to www.radioduniya.in
Dear Radio Duniya,
Dear Sir,
Hats off to Radio Duniya! The articles published are giving us insights on what’s happening in the radio industry around the country. It would be really great if you could include a column for specific shows from different FM stations, targeting one in a month, giving insights about the show, the jock who does it and what’s special about that show. Kudos!!!!
I absolutely love your magazine! It is the key to the world of radio for all us aspiring RJs. I would love to be a part of Radio Duniya! I have to thank you and your team for all the good work that you guys are doing in bringing out fantastic issues every month.
Praveen.K Radio City 91.1FM Coimbatore
Nancy Parihar Student Kanpur Dear Sir,
Hello Sir, I was looking at past issues of Radio Duniya magazine and I am really impressed. The coverage, content all are too good. I am pursuing convergent journalism from Mass Communication and Reseach Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, with specialisation in radio. I would love to meet you and understand the knitty-gritty of the radio business for a story on FM radio in India and to enrich my knowledge of the sector. Saurabh Sharma Student MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi Dear Mr Gupta, This is my first mail to you..so sorry couldn’t mail to you earlier.
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Hope this mail finds you in the best of health and spirit. The way Radio Duniya is covering the radio industry is appreciable. The whole magazine is highly imaginative, purposeful and highly educative. I must take this opportunity to congratulate you and the entire team of Radio Duniya for the effort in bringing out such an informative issue covering all the latest happening from radio industry. Rahul Sharma Vivek FM, Chandigarh
I would like to say that as far as my knowledge goes yours is the only magazine giving so much information about the duniya of radio. One can find all types of information pertaining to radio at one site. I would really like to congratulate you for bringing out such a nice magazine. I wish you great success in the coming days. Jolly Uncle Artist, Punjab Hi I would like to tell you that this magazine is a great effort by your organisation. You could add more value to it by providing information about radio stations which are recruiting people for radio programming. Is there any way Radio Duniya could post an update of vacancies at radio stations in India or even abroad on its site or in the magazine? Nerita Baptista Radio Jockey Goa
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Dear Radio Duniya Team, It felt really nice to read the article about Radio Banasthali in Radio Duniya. I must congratulate you and your team for this effort. Eagerly waiting for the next issue of the magazine. Keep up the good work!!! Ina Shastri Radio Banasthali Rajasthan
jobs@radioduniya.in August 2008 | Radio Duniya
station talk
“We are Sober, Not Dull�
B S Lalli, Chief Executive Officer, Prasar Bharti, has been overseeing the functioning of Doordarshan and All India Radio since December 2006, when he took charge as the CEO of the autonomous Broadcasting Corporation of India. He is an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1971 batch from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, with vast administrative and managerial experience spanning over three decades. Here, he talks about the phenomenal growth achieved by All India Radio, which has made it one of the largest media organisations in the world. He also discusses how All India Radio fulfills its objective of providing information, education and entertainment, for promoting the welfare and happiness of the masses.
August 2008 | Radio Duniya
As the CEO of Prasar Bharti what is your vision for All India Radio? All India Radio is an extremely well established entity with impeccable credentials. It has contributed a lot to the dissemination of relevant public information. The vision for the future is that the value systems that the organisation has inherited, as a public service broadcaster, should continue. There is obviously a need to take care of certain technical constraints that have come up due to obsolescence of plant and machinery. There are also certain other technological innovations that have taken place in the area of broadcasting in the world. We have to upgrade our technical parameters to keep pace with them. However, while doing all this, we have to be mindful of the fact that All India Radio is perhaps the only broadcasting organisation with the maximum reach in the country, both in terms of geography and population. So, our instant reach, and our acceptability because of the past performance, has to be capitalised upon by ensuring that we continue to be objective, accurate and fast. How would you assess the performance of All India Radio in the past few years? There is some empirical evidence to show that the listenership has not gone down, in fact, it has increased, not withstanding certain private radio channels that have come in. So, the listenership is going up, but obviously there is a lot to do to improve the content and delivery. There are certain technical problems, due to which broadcasting is not continuous and there are some instances of disruption of broadcasts because of these technical constraints. So these are ares where improvements are to be registered for which efforts are being made. What are the initiatives that you are looking at taking for the growth and profitability of AIR? We have taken certain initiatives. There were a number of transmitters, which were commissioned but they were not working because of manpower constraints. A few of them were not transmitting for almost six-seven years, but we have started them, not fully as we still have manpower constraints. We have redeployed people and made these commissioned transmitters work partially. We have also taken steps to improve the air-time for public service broadcasting. The idea behind this was that All India Radio had to become a still better social communicator and had to act as an effective bridge between what the public organisations, including the government, are doing for the people www.radioduniya.in
and how they are impacting the people. We are trying to know the feedback from the ground about the work the various organisations are doing for the people. We have added a number of services like SMS, news on phone and we have expanded the news coverage on FM, with the introduction of 49 new bulletins recently. Also, the digitalisation of our archival assets is being done at a fairly fast rate and we are working on methodologies to market them as well. Revenue generation is an issue, as you pointed out and we are trying to improve our capacity to earn revenue, even while we continue to be public service broadcasters. I have mentioned that we are trying to increase the actual air time used for public service broadcasting, yet at the same time All India Radio has earned more revenue last year than the preceding year, not withstanding that more air time was given to public service broadcasting. So, I am trying to strike a wholesome and robust balance between the two things, increase our revenue and at the same time be a better public service broadcaster. And this can be done only by improving on the content, by improving our technical parameters, by reaching out to people and by coming up with more relevant and contemporary programmes, as per the preference of the listeners. What are the technological developments planned at All India Radio to give it an edge over private FM? Can you elaborate on the DRM and DRM+ being tested at All India Radio? These are early days, but yes, DRM is happening, though it is too early to really comment on it. I can say that work is going on, there was an international workshop three months ago and the results are being analysed. But we have as yet not really come up with a comprehensive action plan on the ground. We have submitted a grand plan to the government on digitalisation of AIR, which has gone to the ministry and to the Planning Commission. Once that is approved and the funds are sanctioned, then the actual, comprehensive action would begin. The objective of All India Radio is to provide information, education and wholesome entertainment. How does its programming reflect that motto of Bahujan Hitaya; Bahujan Sukhaya? There are all kinds of programmes, which have a bearing on the different segments of our population. We have special programmes on women, children,
funny shows, but there cannot be shows that are absurdly frivolous and are just intend to titillate the audiences. Still, shows can be kept interesting for the masses and that is what we do at All India Radio. The DTH service of Prasar Bharti was launched in 2004 with 12 channels of AIR. How has the response been to those channels? Have you added any other channels to the offering? The DTH platform of ours is called DD-Direct 1 and it is the largest DTH platform in the country. We started off with 12 channels in 2004 as you have mentioned, and we now have 21 radio channels and all our channels are quite popular. Though, as we do not have distribution networks, right from the beginning, so we cannot tell you for sure how many set top boxes have been bought till now. But all the data, which is accepted by the industry, does tell us very clearly that we are the leaders and radio channels continue to be very popular among the people.
We don’t look at private FM as competition, because we are a class apart. labour, farmers, family, health. So, this obviously is the conceptual underpinning of all programming that we do, that while we entertain through music and songs, including film songs, the programmes as such are essentially public service oriented. And various interest groups, particularly the disadvantaged sections are taken care of in our programming. So, it is indeed in line with our motto of Bahujan Hitaya; Bahujan Sukhaya. As the public broadcaster, All India Radio has a certain responsibility towards the public and it also needs to entertain the masses. How difficult is it to strike a balance between the two? Yes, there has to be a continuous emphasis on being sensitive to the priorities of a public service broadcaster. We cannot be frivolous in our programming and presentation. We cannot come up with a programme, which could be attractive, but which is not entirely according to established tastes and priorities of the society. We have to be mindful of this all the time, but I don’t find this to be a constraint. It is possible to make the two co-exist. Some people might say that All India Radio is somewhat dull, but I would only submit that we are sober, as a matter of deliberate policy. Our sobriety does not come in the way of our programmes being interesting. Some fun and froth is good in life, so you can have some wholesome humour and 10
What are the challenges before Prasar Bharati in terms of All India Radio at a juncture when private FM has become a pre-dominant supplier of entertainment for the masses with increasing reach? I would say there is an opportunity for All India Radio to get its act together, to upgrade its technology and to also refashion the content to some extent; not drastically, but only to a certain extent. I do not look at this as a challenge, it is a fact of life that competition will always be there. Having said that, let me make it very clear that we don’t look at private FM as competition, because we are a class apart and we like to be seen as the public service broadcaster. I think there is enough space for us and them to co-exist. What is Prasar Bharati doing to strengthen its programme offering to listeners? People concerned are having a good re-look at the kind of programming schedules that are in place right now. They are having a re-look at the producers, both in-house and from outside. Efforts are being made to have a more in-depth feel of the field and a kind of greater choice for a more acceptable idiom of broadcasting. So, the right people are taking a look at all of these factors and appropriate changes in the programme line up would be done based on their findings. What are your views on format or genre based radio channels? I haven’t really looked at it with any great deliberation, but my instinctive perception would be, that if niche radio stations are being thought of right now, it may not be very desirable at this point of time. I think the current status should be maintained. August 2008 | Radio Duniya
news station launch
Muthoot Group Launches ‘Chennai Live 104.8 FM’ The Muthoot Group, one of South India’s largest business conglomerates with interests in Finance, Healthcare, Education, Hospitality and Real Estate among others, launched its FM radio station, Chennai Live 104.8 FM in July. Unveiling the logo of Chennai Live, George M George, Executive Director, Muthoot Group, announced the launch of their Talk Radio FM station. Focused on knowledge-centric and local content, Chennai Live is specifically targeting the information and entertainment needs of Chennai’s intelligent people. Speaking on the occasion of the launch, George said, “The Muthoot Group has an unblemished 120 year track record, and the group’s success is a result of having a grass root level understanding of the local environment and the customer’s needs. We have used this knowledge to continuously come up with innovative products and services and we have successfully
carved a niche for ourselves in today’s highly competitive business scenario. Chennai Live is another such endeavor from our group to help meet the information and entertainment needs of Chennai’s knowledge seekers and success aspirants. We believe that the magic of radio will come back as Chennai Live reflects the true spirit of Chennai, while donning a global outlook.” “Chennai Live is targeting the evolved intelligent chennaite who wants something more from the radio. It is meant for people who have a point of view and would like to participate or associate with the changing face of Chennai. Chennai Live 104.8 will change the outlook of the FM industry in India forever and we hope to provide a platform for Chennaites which would engage Chennai in a manner that we believe would enable change and reflect the aspirations of this intelligent audience,” said Prem Kumar, Station Head, Chennai Live 104.8 FM.
Prabhat Khabar forays into FM space with Radio Dhoom Prabhat Khabar, the leading daily of Ranchi, has expanded into newer mediums with the launch of its FM service, Radio Dhoom. The FM station was launched on July 18 and is targeted at youths in the 14-35 age group. The station will play a mix of regional songs in Bhojpuri and Bengali, besides popular Hindi numbers. Launched with the tagline, ‘Tension nahi lene ka’, Radio Dhoom aims to solve matters of love, war, romance, studies, etc. Speaking on this latest initiative, Kamal Kumar Goenka, VP, Prabhat Khabar Group, asserted, “Our station will be number one from the very first day. We will be catering to the listeners with lots of regional and local information. Our competitors are not targeting to the local needs of the listeners, they are www.radioduniya.in
mostly targeted at listeners nationally. The localisation of our station is its uniqueness.” Other FM players in Ranchi include Radio Dhamaal, Radio Mantra and Big FM. “Regarding future plans, Radio Dhoom 104.8 FM will be launched in Jamshedpur next month. We will be promoting Radio Dhoom through print, Internet, SMS, hoardings and BTL activities,” Goenka added. Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Chief Administrator, Radio Dhoom, said, “We promise to give information which will have certain value for our listeners. Basically, we are focusing on local content.” 11
news campaigns MY FM Emphasises on Small Family The world is facing a severe challenge today due to explosion in population, as it has already crossed the 6 billion mark. Apart from putting severe pressure on our natural resources, this phenomena has created food crisis and employment and health related challenges worldwide. Considering this scenario, 94.3 MY FM used the World Population Day to counsel listeners about the virtues of a small family and also the ill effects of population explosion.
All the 17 MY FM stations played birthday songs for new borns but with a rider ‘Chhota Pariwar Sukhi Pariwar’ by the RJs. They also shared interesting facts based on population data besides the stations organising street play contests among the local colleges. MY FM Jaipur came up with a character called Lala Singh, father of 8 - 12 kids and aired his humourous interview. It included questions on how to take care of such a large family in these trying times of sky rocketing prices, in a bid to make listeners aware of the pitfalls of a large family. MY FM Indore gave away condoms and contraceptives as gifts to the winners of quiz competitions. The Nagpur station held a poster competition on the theme ‘Increasing population -bane or boon?’. MY FM Jodhpur encouraged listeners to coin new slogans on population control. MY FM COO Harrish M. Bhatia says, “The wayward growth in population is threatening the very survival of human beings and radio being deemed a personal friend it can be effectively used to counsel the listeners about virtues of family planning and dangers of population explosion. We have always taken up social causes to discharge our corporate social responsibility and World Population Day is another such occasion when we can spread awareness through our 17 stations in 7 states.”
‘BIG Ride’ on World Population Day Hyderabad is home to more than 5 million people, as the population continues to grow it’s increasingly becoming a threat to public health, transport and social and economic development. BIG 92.7 FM, in one of its kind initiative observed the ‘World Population Day’ by organising a ‘BIG Ride’. As the name suggests, BIG Ride was an innovative and bindaas mode of creating awareness to the station’s large youth listener base on the role that each of us can play in controlling the multiplying population. The message was spread in an innovative style with 100’s of students boarding an 18 seater bus taking the ‘BIG Ride’ throughout the city. The ‘BIG Ride’ was flagged off by renowned Pop singer Smitha who also boarded the bus with RJ Shekar. The on air promotions led to participation in huge numbers, where students from across the city came together, rode their way through the BIG FM Hyderabad office covering Secundrabad, and Somajiguda.
and onlookers who were as influenced and appreciative of the initiative. Speaking on the occasion, Swapna, Regional Programming Head- South, BIG 92.7 FM said, “Today population is the biggest problem of India. Burgeoning population is the root cause of all other problems and impacts inflation also. BIG 92.7 FM, true to its brand promise of Life Banao and given the current vibe of the city this World Population Day took up this bindaas initiative with the youth to further awareness on controlling the population. We are overwhelmed with the response that we have received and it only encourages us to undertake similar initiatives in the future.”
The event culminated with much fun and frenzy, which caused a great stir among not just the participants, but bystanders 12
August 2008 | Radio Duniya
news Industry Updates
RAM in Kolkata Kolkata became the fourth metro in the country to have TAM’s Radio Audience Measurement services. Within days of rolling out its service in Kolkata, the radio listenership service from TAM Media Research, has come out with data for the city. As per the data, Radio Mirchi Kolkata occupies the top spot across age groups, occupation profiles and socio-economic classes. According to RAM, Radio Mirchi has a listenership of 48.28 lakh as compared to other FM players in Kolkata. Big FM has a listenership of 38.76 lakh; Red FM, 34.96 lakh; and Friends FM, 27.39 lakh. In addition to being the leader in the Kolkata FM scenario, Radio Mirchi also dwarfs other big players in print and broadcast media such as ABP and Zee Bangla. The findings project that Radio Mirchi Kolkata enjoys an unduplicated listenership of 14.7 lakh. Commenting on the RAM results, Prashant Chacko, Station Director, Radio Mirchi Kolkata, said, “Our success of garnering the majority share of the
Fever FM hosts live show, atop a flyover After two years of construction work, the much-awaited flyover on Western Express Highway (near the Domestic Airport at Santa Cruz) was inaugurated on 15th July, 2008. Fever 104 FM captured the action live on air. RJ Divya from Fever, hosted the morning show live from atop the flyover. Apart from getting responses from the daily commuters, RJ Divya also aired the views of Inspector Ingle of the Mumbai Traffic Department and Sapre (Head of Infrastructure, JMC Projects), about how Mumbaikars will benefit from this flyover.
market is a reflection of our programming philosophy, which believes in giving the listeners the very best music, combined with great entertainment.” Radio Mirchi teaches Papu to dance Papu can’t dance…. but can you?? It was time to let loose the wacky side and show off the best dance steps to the world. Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM orgainsed ‘Papu can’t dance contest’, an opportunity for the listeners to flaunt their dancing talent in front of Bollywood’s new star Imran Khan at Rock Bottom, Juhu. ‘Papu cant Dance Contest’ on Radio Mirchi kicked off on ‘Hi Mumbai’ with RJ Jeeturaaj announcing the contest for students across Mumbai. To participate, listeners had to simply tune into Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM and send in their entries. The short listed participants were invited to compete amongst each other for the finale round of the contest. 10 semifinalists, were selected by Mirchi RJ Anmol, then performed their best dance moves. There was a twist in the end as Imran Kan picked out the worst dancers, and these winners were called Mirchi pappu dancers. The fun did not end here! Listeners also got an opportunity to win various other prizes as well.
In the week leading up to the inauguration, Fever 104 FM ran a feature called “Udaan Pulachi Atmakatha” on the morning show, which tracked the life of the flyover since work first began and ran a countdown to the day of its inauguration. Says Gowri Satyamoorthy Kapre, National Marketing and Promotions Head, Fever 104 FM, “As a city-centric medium it is our constant endeavor to make a difference to the lives of Mumbaikars by raising issues of concern and sharing in the small joys of the Mumbaikars”. www.radioduniya.in
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Radio City turns Seven! Brand Radio City 91.1 FM marked its 7th anniversary with a slew of activities. Surpassing mere entertainment, the station has carried forward its pledge to offer a melodious journey for sheer listener delight over the last seven years. Radio City stations across 20 markets commemorated this momentous occasion in great style along with listeners through a diverse array of interactive activities. Speaking on the milestone, Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City said, “Our seven years of entertaining the nation have been a much cherished milestone! Our melodious span over the last 7 years has flourished with each step leading to our robust presence across 20 cities in India. Breaking through the clutter of cacophony, we have time and time again, lived true to our promise to offer listeners a truly enriching and differentiated musical experience, thus ensuring an instant connect with listeners nationwide.” Purohit added, “Commemorating our anniversary across markets, the Radio City family extends its gratitude to its listeners for their steadfast support and for making us their FM station of choice! It is the feedback and patronage that our listeners share, which inspires us to keep reinventing ourselves and maintain our competitive edge. We are certain that with the best wishes of our listeners, we will continue to scale higher dimensions. We look forward to sharing many more anniversary celebrations with all our fellow listeners and associates across India.” The Radio City team celebrated the station’s 7th National Anniversary through a grand bash in Mumbai on July 3, 2008. The FM brand also conducted the national ‘Radio City Annual Awards 2008 – City ka Sitara’ in recognition of excellence and outstanding contribution across functions.
Kismat Konnection on Radio Mirchi Lucky listeners of Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM, got an opportunity to interact live with Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor on ‘Mirchi Sunset Samosa’ with Neha and Tarun. Shahid mesmerised Mumbaikars with his sizzling on-air presence where listeners and fans were given a chance to interact with the star while he shared anecdotes about the making of his latest movie, ‘Kismat Konnection’ with Vidya Balan. Radio Mirchi organised a special contest early this week where 6 winners got a chance to get candid with their favorite hero. In addition, Shahid Kapoor with help from a professional tarot card reader, gave some Kismet Konnection tips and advise to the listeners. “Radio Mirchi connects to listeners not only in terms of great programming content and music, but also in sharing the latest Bollywood updates and insights for the upcoming movies direct from the stars. We are thrilled to have Shahid with us and wish him all the best for his latest movie,” said a Mirchi representative.
Fever presents music mahurat of Bachna Ae Haseeno Sparking off a new trend in the space of radio programming, Fever 104 FM became the first radio station in India to host a music mahurat. Throughout the exciting initiative, songs from Yashraj’s much awaited release, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ were premiered across shows on the FM channel. To enhance the music mahurat experience, the shows had the movie’s director, music directors and singers talking about the songs and their favorite tracks. Sharing the news, Gowri Satyamoorthy Kapre, National Marketing and Promotions Head, Fever 104 FM, said, “We are delighted to host the premier of songs from ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ exclusively for our listeners. The initiative is towards our endeavor of redefining radio programming and introducing innovative practices.” Adds, the director of the movie, Siddharth Anand, “This is the first 14
time that a radio station is premiering an entire album on-air. I think the music mahurat is a fantastic idea and in keeping with Fever’s positioning of being ‘All about the music’. Bachna Ae Haseeno has some great tracks by Vishal-Shekhar and I’m sure listeners will enjoy this special treat” August 2008 | Radio Duniya
station talk
Sweet Success
Amit Mathew, Chief General Manager - Radio Mango, is also the Resident Editor and Chief General Manager of the Malayala Manorama. An MBA from Swinburne University, Australia, Amit worked at Austereo, the largest radio network Down Under, before moving on to The Herald and Weekly Times and Channel Nine. He leads from the front at Radio Mango 91.9, the radio initiative of the Malayala Manorama group, which is the ďŹ rst Malayalam private FM station in Kerala. With his four station network fanning across the state topping the list of favourites, success is surely sweet for him as he promises to deliver entertainment and songs to listeners 24 x 7.
www.radioduniya.in
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How did you decide to name the radio operations ‘Mango’? Can you elaborate on the brand name? In India (and probably world over), Mango has a lot of positive associations. In Kerala, historically ‘Mambazhakaalam’ (mango season) is a connotation for good times. In Kerala’s mainstream culture as well as in its literature, from film songs to poetry, the term “Mambazhakaalam” occupies a special place in the heart of the Keralite. Thus, the name Mango was a perfect fit. What were the challenges in setting up the first Radio Mango station?
Our programming is regional, and so should the news be You have worked across media – in radio, print and television. How is the experience of handling radio different from that of print and television? It has similarities and differences. Radio in the form of FM is consumed mainly for entertainment. In Kerala, radio has always been a popular medium. Private FM has helped its cause by attracting a whole new profile to this. According to a study by IMRB the penetration of radio in Kannur is 91% now, which is a huge percentage. How would you compare the mediums and which would you say has been more challenging? All mediums have their own unique challenges and opportunities, radio is an intimate medium and I am thoroughly enjoying working for the growth of the medium. Having worked at Austereo, how would you compare the radio scene in India to that in Australia? FM Radio is still in its infancy in India and hence to make a comparison is too early. Having said that, I would like to stress that India is a completely different market and the way radio is consumed here is vastly different from other markets in the world.
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Getting quality people was a challenge in the beginning. However, we were able to get over this very early and can quite confidently say that the team is one of the best there is in the country. Who is your target audience? And what are the special shows that you have developed for them? We target the youthful besides the youth. The entire station carries this flavour across the day. As for special shows well, with 3 minutes of jocktalk per hour, lets just say we are a music station first. Where would you rate Radio Mango in terms of listenership and reach? A recent study by IMRB done in Calicut, Kannur, and Trichur has rated Radio Mango number 1 in terms of listenership and brand recall. According to this, we have a yesterday listenership figure of over 50% in Kannur and Trichur and 43% in Calicut. Private FM station were launched in Cochin in May, within the next couple of months a study would hopefully be done in Cochin too. The feedback so far has been extremely encouraging. Can you elaborate on the music and programming line up at Radio Mango? Our music and programming mix is a result of in depth research and knowledge of the market. The programming line up attracts different target groups at different time bands. We have 8 shows running 24 hours on weekday plus a completely different package on Saturdays and Sundays. How has the response of advertisers been to Radio Mango? It is too early to say now but the initial response is very encouraging. The pattern is still as yet emerging.
August 2008 | Radio Duniya
You now have stations in four cities of Kerala, how different are the listeners and the markets? Each station is unique and our programmes are designed keeping the tastes, preferences, and life styles of the four markets. A lot of people may not be aware of this, but Kozhikode has one of the strongest ghazal cultures outside of the north. Even though less than 300 kilometres separates our northermost station (Kannur) from the southernmost (Kochi), the differences in dialect, food, values, humour and culture vary significantly and we cater to our listeners needs and tastes accordingly. What was the objective behind introducing the portal for Radio Mango? How has the response been? Work on our site is still in progress, and has not officially been launched. However, in spite of this the response has been very good so far. What is your view on RAM and the tools being used for measurement right now? We do not have RAM in Kerala yet. But it is definitely a step in the right direction. While the diary system
Leveraging our print base has worked extremely well for us
has remained the most reliable methodology of the lot, hopefully we will also see an electronic audience measurement system soon. It is a tool that allows for more minute analysis. What would you say are the major issues for the radio industry today? I guess right now, in a nascent radio industry, there are many major issues. Hopefully, through the efforts of AROI, none of these will remain issues for long. Lets not lose track of how much has changed in this industry in very little time. What are your views on the recommendation to allow radio stations to air news from certain agencies? It is a step in the right direction. However local news is what will really give listeners value. There would be really no point to running a set of 5 to 10 national headlines every top of the hour in a town like Thrissur for example. Our programming is regional, and so should the news be. What is on your radio wishlist for this year? Well, like I said earlier, a recent IMRB study has rated Radio Mango number 1 in terms of listenership and recall. So I can’t really ask for more...yet. What are the advantages and disadvantages you have over nation wide networks? I would say there are many advantages for us. To mention a few, we have better understanding of a local market, the flexibility to tweak programming to reflect the cultural values according to each region. Also, we can resist the temptation to paint everything with the same brush just to optimise economies of scale. A faster leaner scale of operation allows us to put ideas out (commercial and programming) quicker. How has your print base in the form of Malayala Manorama helped you establish Radio Mango? Does it help add value to the various stakeholders? Well, leveraging our print base has definitely worked extremely well for us. Using press on occasions to drive special programming concepts and ground events has spiked our cumulative audience and allowed us to regularly recruit new listeners.
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news
MY FM launches “Jiyo Dil Se”Campaign Synergy Media Entertainment Limited’s radio brand 94.3 MY FM has launched a new brand campaign. With ‘Jiyo Dil Se!’, MY FM is poised to deepen its bond with listeners by understanding their dreams and aspirations. The new campaign is very youthful and urges the young generation to live life on their terms!
The campaign rolls out simultaneously at all levels through print , on-air and on ground activities, including activities in colleges, malls and other hot spots, involving extensive listener participation.
As a part of this campaign, MY FM has launched different flavours in station jingles like reggae, jazz and hip hop. The sound is fresh and captures the evolving musical interests of the listeners who actually believe in the philosophy of Jiyo Dil Se!; are uninhibited and embrace change with enthusiasm. The jingles have been specially composed by Vipin Mishra
Thrilled about the new campaign, Harrish M. Bhatia, COO – 94.3 MY FM said “This new campaign Jiyo Dil Se! is an extension of MY FM’s commitment and it’s understanding of the evolving audience’s preferences. The freshness in the branding will ensure that MY FM stays young, responsive to listeners’ aspirations and ever eager to serve them better. ‘Jiyo dil se’ has a universal appeal which I hope will tug at our listener’s heart, lighting up their faces with a smile. It will give the advertisers and business partners an enriching and encompassing ideology to incorporate their image with MY FM.”
Radio City comes up with new musical contests
Hello FM launches the audio for ‘Suttapazham’
Lucknow’s Radio City 91.1 FM, organised ‘Gaane Batao, Cash Le Jao’ an exciting on-air musical contest and ‘911 ki Hotline’ which saw the RJs going out among the people with a hotline to go live on-air Radio City.
Hello FM served as the forum for the audio launch of Actor Mohan’s new film “Suttapazham.” The film has 5 lilting songs; an introduction song, a theme song, an exotic song, a group song and a romantic song.
‘Gaane Batao, Cash Le Jao’ – is a unique contest which brings listeners great music and makes winning so easy. The contest is a rewarding test of the listener’s attentiveness and has exciting cash prizes in store for listeners who can narrate the precise sequence of melodies played. Radio City RJs will choose a lucky participant, who will join in the action on-air. ‘911 ki Hotline’ gives listeners across the city, the opportunity to go live on the evening show everyday during the duration of the contest.
Commenting on this event, Rajeev Nambiar, President and Chief Operating Officer - Hello FM said that, “An audio launch in an FM station is an innovative approach that will reach out and impact music lovers directly without any intermediaries. This is the first ever event be held in the Hello FM premises that would also set a trend for film producers. It highlights the fact that Hello FM is constantly innovating and experimenting with new show formats that would give as much value addition to our listeners apart from a good collection of wonderful music.”
Sharing his thoughts on this endeavour, Rana Barua, Executive Vice President and National Head - Programming and Marketing, Radio City 91.1FM said, “True to our commitment of offering a musically ‘Whatte Fun’ experience to our listeners in Lucknow, we structured this exciting activity. Reaching out to Lucknow’s Radio Cityzens and involving them like never before, our contest and hotline is going to help us ensure that our listeners stay tuned to our ‘musical’ expedition on Lucknow’s Radio City 91.1FM!” 18
It was well attended by actors Mohan, Shaam, M.S.Bhaskar, director G.K., music duo SriSam, lyricist Snehan. The first copy of the audio was given by Actors Shaam and Vimala Raman and received by Rajeev Nambiar – President and Chief Operating Officer, Hello FM. August 2008 | Radio Duniya
station talk
Keeping it Fresh! For how long have you been associated with radio? My association with radio began in 2005 when the new licensing policy was announced. The private radio industry was new and it was something I was convinced the organisation should get into, being a group with great presence in the print business. I thought it was a logical extension of our portfolio as a group. I did not have any prior experience in the field, so I guess I am not very different from the other players in the radio industry. What is the story behind naming the radio operations as ‘Tomato’?
Naval Toshniwal, CEO, Tomato FM 94.3 joined Pudhari group’s corporate marketing division soon after finishing his MBA. When the radio revolution started around late 2005 with the announcement of the revised policy, he convinced the oranisation to bid for licenses. Since then he has been heading the radio division as the CEO of Kolhapur’s ekdum freshh radio station.
When we began work on the content, we also began thinking about what our positioning should be. We wanted freshness to come from our content every time someone tuned into our station. Lemon and Tomato came up as the possible symbols of freshness for us. Tomato is word that personifies all the freshness that we were looking for and the word was easily understood in Marathi, Hindi and English. The name is very unique and it sets in people’s mind very easily. The name was chosen in-house after doing a market testing. We asked our reporters, the 500 strong staff of Pudhari about the name, and asked all our 2000 field reporters across South Maharashtra, to ask at least 20 people in their area what they felt about this name. We got a very positive response from all the people. In fact “Ekdum Freshh”, which is our punch line came first, then the name Tomato came and it has worked out very well for us. When was Radio Tomato launched and how has the journey been since then? Radio Tomato was launched on 21 September 2007 in Sholapur. The launch was a very grand affair, because it was for the first time that a radio station was inaugurated by Lata Mangeshkar. Also, our print base helped us make the launch a grand affair. In fact, we launched just 7 days after a national network launched its station in the city, but we were still able to make our mark and the whole city was talking about us. www.radioduniya.in
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The second challenge was in terms of the technology and infrastructure required. We did not know anything about this and it was one of the crucial aspects of running a radio station. There are not many experienced people from the industry in this region, except AIR. So, we decided to have our inhouse team working on this and along the way they could also learn new things. Being a newcomer in this industry, at every stage, we faced some challenges. Now the only challenge that I see is in terms of corporate advertisements, in the sense that it is difficult to get them when you have national players operating in the city as well. We are doing well in terms of revenue and most of it is coming from the local advertisers.
The entire journey, both pre-launch and postlaunch, has been an excellent learning oppurtunity for us, as it brought new experiences everyday. We were new in this field and naturally did not have any experience. We talked to experts in the industry who knew about the functioning, the technical aspects, the operational and royalty issues.
Music royalty was and still is a major issue. I think it is very unreasonably priced for a category C and D cities. The revenue earning potential in these cities is not very high and if the rates are not lowered soon, people will have to shift to talk radio formats. What are the advantages and disadvantages you have over nation wide networks?
Before the launch, we decided not to get influenced by the existing formats as we wanted to start afresh and see what really works for ourselves. We decided to find out what people would like to listen to at different points of time in a day, in terms of music and content. The response about preference for music was more or less the same across many areas and based on that we decided our music schedule. We also tried to find out if the audience wanted more of songs or talk and why they would want to tune in to our station.
Being the local player, we are in a better position to understand what the listener wants. As a group, we have been in Kolhapur for the last 70 years, so we have a very good understanding of the tastes of the people. The national players have their programming teams sitting in big cities and they do not have any understanding of the city, clearly this gives us an advantage. Since we customise programmes suited to the region, we are ahead of competition in terms of listenership. A larger share of the local advertising revenues therefore comes to us, due to our better understanding of the audience.
We held discussions with people across many sections of the society and the one thing that emerged from the discussions was that people were looking for relevant information on radio, so we decided to include more useful information, besides songs in our content. This mix has helped us a lot and we have been able to go ahead of competition.
Advertisers can see the results themselves, so even the first time advertiser sticks on to our station. We have over 95% of market share of local advertisements. We are also making decent headway in the corporate advertisements section.
What were the major challenges in setting up the first station at Kolhapur? One of the major challenges that we faced was in understanding the functioning of the industry financially. We did not know what would be the returns on our investment, so we did not know how much to bid for the license initially. But I think we did a very good job, as the difference between the top bidder and us was more than Rs. 2.5 crores.
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Now in terms of disadvantages, more the number of stations you have, you can cut down operational costs. This can be done by centralised inventory of spares or maybe by keeping a team only at a regional level, that will handle more than four or five stations. However, if we compare costs, a nation wide network can operate its station here with just 14 odd employees, as more than 50% content comes from Mumbai. But we have a staff strength of 40
August 2008 | Radio Duniya
as we have to do everything here, in the absence of a network. They have lower operation costs, and hence offer lower advertisement rates in the market. In terms of corporate revenue, as radio is still seen as a reminder medium, they do not exactly study which station is doing how. They just go by names and often the big players have a larger than life image, which is of course a setback for us. How has your print base in the form of Podhari Publications helped you establish Tomato FM ? Does it help add value to stakeholders? It has helped a lot as we have the understanding of the audience in terms of demography and psychography of the region. Being here for so many years, we understand the dynamics very well. By being in the media business, we have very good relations with the local advertisers, which is very helpful to us in terms of promoting the brand.
and youngsters, so you will find a reflection of that in our programming with peppy numbers and jock talk about the happenings in the city. During the afternoon hours the programmes cater to housewives with lots of interactions. So, basically we cater to all groups of listeners at different points of time during the day. When is your second station at Sangli set to go on-air? We have started the pilot project at Sangli and we are planning to change the format for that station to talk radio. We are just waiting for the allotment of another frequency for the Sangli station as there is a signal conflict because Sangli and Kolhapur are very close. Once the new frequency is alloted, we will launch the station.
Since we customise programmes suited to the region, we are ahead of competition in terms of listenership We do lots of 360 degree activities, which include running an activation on newspaper and radio. In fact, in South Maharashtra we are the only group that can offer an integrated media solution to any advertiser. Any activation that we do on radio is publicised through our publication and this helps us to create a lot of awareness among our listeners. Also, all the market information is shared within the group, so it is a mutually beneficial exercise for us. Who is your target audience? What are the special shows developed for them? We are not talking only about Kolhapur city, we are covering the entire district, and the population figures would be around 7.5 lakhs in city and 28 lakhs across district. The demographics and psychographics of the city and the district are very different and it was tough for us to do justice to both. It would have been better for us to target one particular group, but we realised that it would not be feasible from the revenue point of view. So we designed the format of the station to attract a bigger audience. We target different sections of listeners through our programmings during the day. In the morning the programming is for adults who wake up very early and are spiritually inclined. In the morning drive time it is targeted at the driving-to-work audience
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Which other cities are you planning to move to when the third phase of licensing happens? As and when the third phase happens, we will bid for the entire Maharashtra. We are very confident about continuing in the industry with the responses that we have got. If we have more station, we will be able to play the game of economies of scale and earn greater profits. What are your views on the recommendation of TRAI to allow radio stations to air news from certain syndicated agencies? We completely support the idea of allowing news on radio. If the cable operators can be allowed to air news, why not radio? Since the radio stations are well screened from the bidding phase itself, there should not be any restriction on the broadcast of news. Also, all radio stations are responsible organisations and part of big media groups mostly. Another issue is that if news is permitted from certain limited source, then news on all the stations will sound similar.
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news Industry Updates
Radio City brings ‘Radio City Fan Mela’ Radio City 91.1FM brought to Lucknow a unique platform to honour and felicitate its loyal, long-standing listeners. ‘The Radio City Fan Mela’, an innovative 3 week on-air bonanza was specially created to salute the FM station’s loyal listeners from all across Lucknow city. The FM station aired audio-clips of memorable calls and bytes from listeners recorded over the last seven years. Current day listeners were invited to answer simple questions based on these audio clips. Based on the responses 1 lucky listener got to be part of the ‘The Radio City Fan Mela’ everyday. The lucky winners were live on-air and co-hosted shows, in addition to winning loads of prizes.
91.1FM said, “Our seven years of entertaining the nation with the best of music and entertainment have been a truly memorable and deeply cherished journey! With the feedback that has been coming in thus far, I’m certain that this contest will be a great success!” RED FM Taxi 935 hai na! Finally somebody is addressing Kolkata’s daily commuting problems. RED FM 93.5, the station of expression which has taken the step towards bringing some sanity to Kolkata’s traffic chaos.
Speaking on the occasion, Rana Barua, Executive Vice President and National Head – Programming and Marketing, Radio City Radio Indigo blogs it out Radio Indigo 91.9 FM is giving listeners a canvas to interact with the Indigo team. The station that feeds on every International music buffs’ interest has now come out with a blog of its own – “Indigo blogs it out”. The eclectic team of radio professionals will now get to interact with listeners and share views on international music, entertainment and much more. With their vivid personalities and interests the Indigo RJs will enrich the blog with their take on artistes, fashion and lifestyle, sport, civic issues, college and just about everything that catches the fancy of a Indigo listener. With stations in Bangalore and Goa, Indigo has captured the pulse of the metropolises and is today reckoned to have led the radio revolution with International standards in programming, innovations and quality listening. On the blog, Geoffrey Thomas – Indigo’s National Programming Director said, “With constant innovations in programming blended with local interests we’ve been able to create a stickiness factor with our listeners, the blog will help us create a larger Indigo community”
Red FM’s Taxi 935 was on the roads giving free lifts to people! Not just that, RJ Vineet from Red FM’s morning show Nomoshkar Kolkata will also be hosting his show live from the Taxi 935. He will not just pick up and drop people to their desired locations in Kolkata, but also give them an opportunity to raise their voice on the Red Mike regarding the rising taxi and bus fares and other problems faced by the people. Speaking on the initiative, Jimmy Tangree, Station Head, Red FM Kolkata said, “RED FM has always been at the forefront in bajaaoing for a cause. Through this initiative, we are trying to raise awareness about the commuting problems faced by the people of Kolkata with the rise in fares and are encouraging people to come up and speak their mind on the Red Mike.”
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August 2008 | Radio Duniya
programme talk
The Battle for Brand Loyalty is On! Rana Barua, Executive Vice-President and National Head – Programming and Marketing, Radio City 91.1FM supervises the integration of the key functions of marketing and programming. Rana has immense expertise in developing and executing out of the box ideas and is known for his ability to achieve organisational integration and aggressively employing new methodologies. He leads all national programming initiatives, besides working on the programming mix for Radio City. He is also entrusted with the task to further build on the innovative aspects of marketing, which will further build the brand, Radio City.
What makes the programming of Radio City different from that of the other players? When we talk about programming, we have to remember that 80% of it is still music. Then you have the overall brand proposition, the way a show is devised, the way the RJs personalities are made. What makes us different is our music content, it is called ‘adult contemporary’ music. The songs are of a certain tempo, which is consistent in terms of the melody; when melody is consistent, it is not a high pitched, and this kind of music is naturally nice to listen to anytime. Naturally the brand personality and content fit around this. This contributes towards a definitive sound of the station. Our RJs are much easier to listen to, and it differentiates itself slowly, so that people get hooked on to our radio station, which is happening now. There is talk now that loyalties are emerging and people are saying ‘I listen to a particular brand’ and ‘why do I listen to this brand?’ It is purely because of the music played, the RJ talk, the content and the way it comes across to the listeners. We are definitely somebody who had realised this long ago, so we started working for differentiation much before the others. What all goes into the process of deciding the programming line up of the station? First and foremost there is a brand proposition that every channel has; ours is ‘Whatte Fun’, - we base all our programmes on that proposition. Next, is the target audience profile, in our case it is the SEC AB adults. Once you have decided on the audience, you know who you are talking to. Our audience is obviously a bit more mature, adult and fun and if you take these criteria, - fun, SEC AB, adult and mature - the content automatically gets filtered. So, Radio City will never be about teeny-boppy college content; there will not be any ridiculous talk on the station. Keeping in mind the target audience, the talk will be more in-depth but at the same time not too serious. As soon as you have all these filters in place the content, show and everything becomes defined. How does the content differ from city to city across your 20 stations? All our content is put up only after doing a thorough research. We are very strictly research and process
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driven in our approach. There is a certain base of listeners, we go back to a city every month, talk to them and figure out what the listeners in a city want. Our overall brand proposition remains fun, so fun becomes a delivery format for the station but it does not become the driver. What I mean is - the overall sound of the station would be fun, entertaining, the RJ personalities would revolve around that. But the moment you get into content, it will be city-specific. The content strategy for Mumbai is very different from Bangalore. Through research we have found that Mumbai has a more evolved audience, who like listening to a certain kind of music, so music becomes a driver for the city in terms of content, RJ talk and everything else, vis-à-vis Bangalore where the strategy is different. It is more about the city connect and what Bangaloreans want. As there is a resurgence of Kannada, so suddenly the entire story is different. Yes, music is definitely a driver, but it is more of the city pride. W h a t i s important to be understood here is that, now that all our stations have been launched, there is greater clarity regarding what the city wants to listen to. You can have a common overall brand proposition, but your city offerings will always be different. We often say that McDonald’s has been accepted very well in India, but the company has also adapted to a lot of flavours of the country. The same thing applies to radio, and I think this is the roll-out plan for us, the ‘Whatte Fun’ brand proposition, but with city specific strategies. You have launched a few stations this year. How easy is it to enter a new city with the learnings of the other markets you have been operating in?
For example in Pune, our research showed that the listeners there wanted more music. They were getting used to a certain kind of music played by another station that had been around for a while, and were looking for a differentiated music content on radio. Naturally, we took music as our driver and we developed the Pune station as a semi clone of the Mumbai station. The proposition was to drive music but with a local flavour, so it is purely Marathi RJ talk, with some words of English put in here and there, but no Hindi. The learnings help us as they give us a head start; rather than starting from scratch, we carry forward the experience of one city to another. What are the major problems in designing the programming line up for any city? The first constraint that one faces is the lack of talent. The moment you define your brand personality, you also define what you want and then the main task is to get the right talent. When I say ‘talent’ I am not talking about just the RJs, because there are lots of other people involved in the smooth functioning of a radio station. These include sound editors, music managers, programme producers among others. The second issue is implementation, because once you have the talent in place, you have to decide how to go about doing the work. When you have a mature and trained person heading a department, then you have to implement the national strategy and the local or city strategy. If that is not implemented properly and you do an audit check after six months and if you find out that it is not working, by then it is too late to redefine things. So, what we have done is that we have implemented a monthly audit system for every city. We have certain external resources who help us to audit the overall strategy, which is marrying the national and city strategy. We find
When you demonstrate a reach of lakhs, advertisers will automatically come to you
It is very helpful, as you have all the learnings of the radio category per se, not necessarily the city. You can take the overall learnings of the category, the entire understanding of radio - what is right and what is wrong, what works and what does not work. Once you have a 24
clearly defined city-specific strategy, all you need to do is implement the overall Radio City brand in that format, keeping the city preferences in mind.
August 2008 | Radio Duniya
out whether the strategy is getting implemented or not.
Are advertisers still shying away from investing money in radio?
What would you say are the major issues facing the radio industry right now?
Advertisers are slowly realising the potential of the medium. Yes, radio has the smallest share in the advertising pie, but it is still larger than Internet. One of the main reasons for this is that advertisers are not sure about the return on investment, but I am very sure that radio will find its own space in the time to come. Once all the players settle down and there are listeners who are completely loyal to a station, one would not even need to hard sell the brand. When one demonstrates a reach of lakhs, the advertisers will automatically come to the brand, as they will be able to actually see and feel the power of the medium.
The biggest issue for the industry right now is that of music royalties, which I think should get sorted out in a months’ time, because the AROI has taken it up in a big way. We know for a fact that some sort of a conclusive decision will be reached very soon. After that, I think the second biggest problem would be of the lack of right talent. Also, everyone in the industry is realising now that while last year was all about expansion, this year is about consolidation of the brand and the radio channel. This could be a very big challenge in the sense that all stations will have to work towards getting the listener’s loyalty. This year all stations are going to face the challenge of keeping their brand loyalty intact. By the end of 2008, listeners are going to swear by one or two stations. At Radio City, we have our task cut out, which is to ensure that we are at the top in terms of listenership and brand loyalty. By defining content in terms of our listener’s preference and cementing the brand position, it is going to be the mother of all challenges for all industry players to ensure that their brand is consistently at the top.
In the last few years there have been so many players entering the radio market that it seems to be very chaotic right now. If you take the example of news channels, when they made a beginning, they came in by the dozens. But now if you ask the audiences about their preferences, they will swear by the top one or two channels. Nobody will have a list of his/her top 10 news channels. I see radio going the same way, in fact this has already started and in one year’s time we should see this happening on an even larger scale. Once this consolidation happens, advertisers will come to radio stations on their own.
The learnings from other cities help us as they give us a head start
What changes in the regulatory restrictions are on your wish list this year? First and foremost, News is definitely something we want and we want it the way we have asked for it. We would want to syndicate news or buy it from a more professional body and not necessarily have it completely governed by any authority. At the end of the day we are a mature industry, so it does not mean that we will be irresponsible while airing news. News is one big thing that we are hoping will be permitted on FM soon. The other thing is multiple-licenses, which will help the industry a lot. If it is allowed, we can have genre specific programmes and probably all these questions about differentiation will be put to rest. Even smaller markets in US have about 26 stations, so why can’t we have multiple channels here? There is a tremendous need for genre based programming, we can have a classical channel, a rock channel, a Sufi channel and others. With the kind of population that we have, there is a necessity for different channels and I wish this happens very soon.
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What is the scope of activation on radio to attract more advertisers? Activation is something that we have always been doing, it is nothing new. It’s just that the advertiser has realised that activation is an important tool and mainline advertising may not necessarily work always. In mainline advertising you may be a bit sure of awareness but you are not sure of sampling. Activation gives you both, it not only generates awareness but also helps in sampling. When you advertise on TV, it’s just the awareness of the product, you do not know about sampling. When you advertise on radio, you get both awareness and sampling, perhaps the RJs can help with that as well. The thing is we are ready, the advertisers are ready, but what about the middle arm? There have to be lots of creative ideas generated by the creative agencies who don’t think in terms of what we call ‘the overall spectrum’. I don’t think they do it; television is still looked at as the driver, the idea just stops there. Activation has been there, it will stay and it will only go deeper as there is a fight for brand loyalty.
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I Love the Irreverence of Radio! Malishka, the award-winning radio host at Red FM has always been in love with her voice. She began radio hosting four years back and just celebrated her third anniversary at Red FM. She honestly says the job of a radio host is a very high pressure job, but adds that its so much fun, that one does not realise the pressure everyday. She is the sweetheart of Mumbai city because she is the voice of the people and speaks her mind always!
What made you choose radio as a career? I have always loved my voice and I was always a performer, so I wanted to do something with my voice. I was essentially interested in creative writing and advertising, and interestingly private radio was not on the scene then. I guess the foundation of radio was laid in childhood, when I was talking once and a neighbour said, “Tu bol rahi thi, mujhe laga radio on hai!” Since then I’ve had this feeling of “Wah! Kya awaaz hai!”. While I was studying at Sapphires, I remember saying radio is going to be big when there was nothing to show that. I feel like a predictor because I knew once radio was allowed to grow, it would be phenomenal, because radio is the one medium which connects so well with the masses, it is live like no other. Still, I finished my course and got into advertising as an intern. After three months I decided that this “gadha-mazdoori” was not my scene. So, I took a break, after which I started doing voice overs. Three months later, the radio 26
boom happened, I auditioned and got selected for my first radio job, where I did an evening show and then graduated to afternoon. Two months later I was doing morning shows and that was like prime time! I was completely thrilled about radio and it’s been quite a journey since then! What do you love about the job? How many people out there can honestly say “I love my job!” I have said that on air so many times, because I really love my job! I love the place I’m working at and the freedom the work gives me. Radio is just the thing between newspaper and TV; newspaper is just yesterday news dolled out, if the reporter thinks of something today, he can’t put it in, it’s gone. Whereas on TV, news has a format, you have to be a certain way. But on radio, there is no such thing, there is no pretense. It is just the transition then, it’s a place where you can be yourself, it is your personality that speaks to the people. Nobody tells you that this is exactly the way you have to do the show. Thankfully, I am at August 2008 | Radio Duniya
a station which allows me to be myself totally and uses my personality well. Bajate Raho our band identity is a bold (I won’t say aggressive) stand on things. It means something, it says that you are not a fence sitter. You are not solving peoples problems, but at the same time, you are not aggravating the problem also. You are taking up issues which are on everyones minds but nobody is really talking about them. And in the three years that I have been here, people have come to trust me and they know that I will take up issues which matter to them. Also, it gives me the chance to take the mickey out of people, whether it is stars or others. I totally enjoy the irreverence and the space and how it lets you say what you want to. At Red FM, I can be myself and enjoy my time with the listeners.You are not being rude to people, but you are not trying to please everyone either. What do you hate about the job?
the money would go to the right place. Within a week a computer center was opened from the funds collected and the computers pledged by the people. Sushmita Sen was on air for an hour and she pledged one lakh rupees on the spot, and it felt so good. How do you prepare for every show? There’s a level when you anticipate what the city is going to be talking about in the day. And that is where you take the cues from. You pick up angles from the things you’ve heard or read and then you prepare for the show. Generally, the preparation for the morning show is done the day before. So, if we have to talk about a certain issue in the show tomorrow, the outdoor broadcast jock will go out and get the opinion of the people of the city. However, tomorrow maybe a completely different day, so we have to be on our toes all the time and be ready to throw our preparation out of the
I hate the time when I have to wake up really early for the show. All through school and college I was the last person to reach the class. I always wanted to work where I can do what I love, wear what I want to and come in late to work. The last one has not come true because I have to be here early for the breakfast show. Also, there are no public holidays and the regular holidays when people enjoy, you are working, but then you do enjoy the time with your listeners. Your absolute favourite radio moment? You cannot ask a radio person that, yaar! We do so much everyday, so its really difficult to recollect. I can give you an assortment of events. There have been a few landmark moments, like last year when we did ‘Bajao for a Cause’, at my second anniversary at Red FM. I wanted to do something for the people, so I selected a children organisation that works for kids who are living with AIDS. I decided to help them raise funds, and I went on air and told people that you need to contribute money for these kids, who want to study, they need computers and books and some repair work at their shelter. We gave the people a platform to do something for these kids and the response was overwhelming. In ten days the city pledged some 40-50 computers and about 14 lakh rupees. It was because of the trust people had and they felt since Malishka was involved here, www.radioduniya.in
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Radio gives me the chance to take the mickey out of people, whether it is stars or others
window. Thats the one thing about radio, its very spontaneous! It is not a one-man show, there is a whole team that works for it and there is a lot of talent and hard work involved in the background. I cannot go out there and interview everyone. So we have a team of four-five people who work together for each show. I am the on-air talent and I ideate with the producer and the assistant producer.
On the other hand, training and getting some basic knowledge is essential because, now days radio stations don’t have the time to train people. So if someone walks in with just stars in their eyes and with no clues abut how the work is done, he/she is in for a rude shock. And if they come in with the basic information and knowledge of handling the software and radio operations, they have a better chance.
A radio host is “born” or “made”? I seriously don’t know, because I was born!!! When I started off there was no level of training and I learnt on the job. It was really depressing at times, because there was no meter to know who was listening to you and how you were being received by the people. I didn’t know I was liked till I got my first award. I had not listened to too much of radio jockeying, so I had nobody to copy. I decided I just wanted to be myself. I really don’t believe people can train you if you don’t have the talent. And then you just need somebody who can nurture your talent properly, not teach you. You can’t drill radio hosting into people and make them hosts if they don’t have what it takes.
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August 2008 | Radio Duniya
Snapshot Queries: The 5 most important things in life.....
my family, cell phone, water, petroleum jelly and radio When not on-air.... I’m thinking being on-air (preparing for the show) or I gym, go out, eat good food Live by the mantra..... There are two - This too shall pass and necessity is the mother of invention Love listening to..... Bollywood music, specially oldies and country music What are the essential qualities that a radio host must have?
Love watching..... masala Hindi films and animated films
Be yourself! It has worked for me. Be original, don’t ape others. It is very important to know the pulse of the city. Plus, you have to be able to carry forward your station ideology and it is within the confines of your radio station that you have to establish yourself. Be someone who can stand out from the crowd, what are you saying that is different, what are you bringing to the table when you join the debate. Be real and never try to fool the listener’s and one must be interesting, well-read, able to think on their feet, be really spontaneous to connect with the people well.
Would love to interview... Laloo Prasad Yadav
Which is your most memorable celebrity interview? Amiabh Bachchan was the best interview ever. It was like “God! You did this, now you can do anything!?” kind of moment! We were promoting his film Nishabd so there was so much happening including the music release on air. I had to interview him being the host with a hall full of people, Ram Gopal Verma and all the other big celebs were there. I asked him, Amitabhji, “How was it working with Jiya? Woh to newcomer hai, katra rahi hongi? And he was like, “Nahi, bilkul nahi, kyo katryengi!? Aap katra rahi hai!? That’s when he told me, aap bhi to kab se patapat bolti ja rahi hai, aapke kaan mein koi machine lagi hai!? Aap kaise bol lete hai aise, main to nahi kar pata!?
Can’t stop talking about.... Sushi, I love it! And radio!!! Dream about..... A big house by the ocean for myself and also bringing about a change in society My epitaph would read..... She actually didn’t talk that much!! My dream date... Laloo Prasad Yadav for the fun of it! And Richard Gere - he is just so good (I’ve seen the way he kissed Shilpa Shetty!!)
The other good ones were my interview with Kajol, who is as nautanki as I am! And Ranbir Kapoor was great fun, we asked him about his towel falling moment and he was so cool about it. If I have to choose one, I have to say it was Ravi Kishen. He claimed to be an equally big fan of mine and he said he was never an early riser but since he spoke to me he began waking up early everyday to catch my show.
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news Industry Updates
Aahaa FM Celebrates Motherhood Aahaa 91.9 FM made an impact on the listeners mind about the importance of mother in everybody’s life, through “Complan Super Mom”, a hunt for super moms in Chennai. Aahaa FM’s main activities included bonding games especially with mother and child, “Uri Adi”- a typical traditional game, which targets on height and other entertainment in various Posh Apartments in Chennai. Aahaa FM RJs kept the atmosphere alive charming the crowds with their fun games and contests. Also as part of this contest, Aahaa FM invited listeners to share their ideas and importance of mother through SMS and mails. The winning entries bagged Aahaa FM’s goodies which were up for grabs. Listeners participated through radio, newspaper and by getting the registration forms from certain schools. The registration forms, along with poem and essays were judged by the panelists depending on which a total of 25 mothers were invited to Abirami mega mall for the grand finale to choose the winner.
Radio One presents “Dating Fataafat” Radio One, concluded its week long Speed Dating contest with an event titled “Radio One’s Dating Fataafat” held at Mumbai’s Vie Lounge. Mallika Sherawat and Ranvir Shorey stars of the movie “Ugly aur Pagli” added zing to the evening, joining in the festivities. Says Vhernon Ibrahim, National Programming Director, Radio One, “This is Dating Fataafat, because Radio One believes that today’s generation of radio listeners, is very clear about what it wants and wants it instantly, even when it comes to finding a partner.”
“Speed Dating is a fast, fun and safe way to meet like minded people, making new friends, networking and possibly meeting ‘The One’, something that may not always be possible with the very busy work schedules people have now-a-days. Dating Fataafat one of many promotions from Radio One that keep the station vibrant and exciting for its listeners.” he adds. The contest began on the 13th of July, 2008 and ran for a week. A panel of Radio One RJ’s selected the 10 most eligible men and 10 most eligible women, who were invited to participate in this fun evening. After they unveiled the curtain to launch the event, Mallika said “I think it’s a great idea from Radio One to help people find mates in this busy city.” Both Ranvir and Mallika encouraged participants to go ahead and give it their best, participate fully, as they could possibly make a friend at the event, and possibly make somebody more than a friend!
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August 2008 | Radio Duniya
From computer engineering to radio hosting. How did this happen? I was very interested in maths, even when I was studying I used to do things differently and derive theorems in my own way. So engineering just seemed like the most natural career choice. The project that I was doing while pursuing my computer degree was something that was never done before. I worked on a computer programme that could guide people when they were traveling by showing them the directions. Radio happened because I just cannot sit quietly. Just as computers have virus, I www.radioduniya.in
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and it might bring me some recognition. However with radio, I knew that I had the opportunity of being heard by thousands of people at the same time. It also gave me an opportunity to create something new everyday. I guess it is more about the kick that you get out of connecting with so many people at one time and the result in this medium is instantaneous. So, I made the switch to radio as a full-time profession keeping all these factors in mind. What is the best part about radio hosting? The best part according to me is that if you can catch the pulse of the people, you become a star overnight. If you manage to connect with the listeners, they will do just about anything for you. You develop a following among your fans, I get around 200 emails per day. Different types of people, from software engineers, students, housewives, to people who have created something new and want to share the creation with the world, all write to me and talk to me about many things, which they might not share with anybody else. Is there anything about the job that you don’t enjoy that much?
have a virus in my system and it is called humour. I was always interested in talking to people and connecting with them rather than just sitting and doing a nine to five kind of job. The work that I was doing as a computer engineer was was no doubt interesting, and I still do some projects when it is possible, but I guess I just enjoy radio more. I find it really interesting that I can connect with so many people through my show. What has the journey been like? How different is handling people compared to computers? The journey has been fun, exciting and I have to say that I have had a great time connecting and interacting with the listeners. Actually, handling people is fun and it is not at all difficult. With listeners it is a two way communication, you talk to them about something and they come up with very witty responses. I have infected the listeners with the virus that is inside me, so there are lots of Shekars in the city and they all love to talk like me. In the case of computers, they just do as they are programmed, so the fun element is missing. What inspired you to take up radio as a profession? When I was working for a software firm, it was like maybe some of my work will be published someday 32
Getting up early in the morning is something that bothers me sometimes, but I have got used to it. Now it is like an invisible energy waking me up in the morning, and preparing me to face the day with loads of energy and humour. I wake up real happy in the morning now and spread the cheer all day long among all the people I interact with. How important is sense of humour for a radio host? Sense of humour is not just very important, it is a must! If you don’t have it, you may be able to connect with your listeners in some shows, but overall you need to be humourous to really get the relationship going. Percentage wise, it should be at a level of like 99% in any radio host to be successful. You can get out of many tricky and controversial situations, just by using your sense of humour. If you have the right amount of humour in you, you can kill a person and get away with it. What are the essential qualities needed to be a good radio host? Common sense and awareness of all that is happening around you, creativity and innovation are the basic things that you need to have in you, if you want to become a successful radio host. It is important to know what to say, when to say it and how to say it. Also, you must be ready to give something new to the listeners every single day and they should be able to relate to it. The best way to August 2008 | Radio Duniya
If you have the right amount of humour, you can kill a person and get away with it. do this is to show your humour by packaging it it with daily happenings. I would say, spontaneity and saying the right thing at the right time is what works for me. Describe your most memorable radio moment? My most memorable radio moment was when a fellow RJ called in to tell me that she loved my show. It was right after I had done the 92.7 hour RJ marathon when I got a call from an RJ of a rival radio station. She said that she was tuned in to the show for the full four days and liked it very much. Of course she did not reveal her name or the name of her station for policy sake, all she said was that she is from a rival station. But I know who she is and which station she works for What is your show ‘BIG Sandadi’ all about? Initially it was a three hour programme, but now it has been extended to four hours considering the listeners demands. Every hour I take up different topics to talk about. I cannot just ask simple questions, which can be answered with a yes or no to my listeners. I give them a lot of scope to think and sharpen their brains. I am often surprised with the kind of ideas and responses that they come up with. www.radioduniya.in
In one section I just create some stuff and interact with the listeners on that. The next hour is the section where listeners have to bluff, generally it is about events that are currently in news. By the end of the hour I award the best bluff master. In the last hour I throw out a riddle to the listeners and they have to decode it. The name of the section is CCC which means clever, cunning and creative. Talking boosts up my energy, so basically I do not have to do anything special to keep my energy levels up during the show. How do you establish connect with listeners? The connect that I establish is first through the way I talk, it is colloquial, local and friendly. If you use all these elements while talking, a listener will immediately connect to you, no matter from where he is calling into the show. I was told to sound intelligent while doing my shows, but I cannot help it, humour is inbuilt in me. I start my show by saying Kemu Keka, which could be roughly translated as extremely good and now it has become synonymous with my name. In fact it has become a word in Telegu. Even the television and the cinema industry has been influenced by this word and several programmes have sprung up and are named after this term. There is also a movie coming up that is titled Keka.
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Snapshot Queries -The 5 most important things in my life ..... movies, electronics, cricket, maths and girlfriend When not on-air, I .... tease people, I ask riddles in office co-workers scream at me!! I live by the mantra ....... every second has to be new I will never forget ....... the 92.7 hour RJ marathon Love listening to ...... my music depends on my mood and the time Love watching ...... thrillers My USP is ..... creativity, innovation and spontaneity My epitaph would read I know u r here n u r reading this……… My dream date... Katrina Kaif. I don’t want to disappoint her; and Salman anyways is busy doing TV shows A decade from now, I would be ... A big director; Hollywood movie makers will want to remake my movies!
Do you choose the music for your shows or is it decided by the station? Though I would love to just talk to my listeners all through my show, my bosses make me shut up and play songs for them. As a station, we play music of all types, ranging from the latest hits to the old numbers. At times I take the liberty of choosing the songs for my show, but generally they are decided by the station. We play Telegu and Hindi songs, in the radio of 80:20. Other than that, we do not play songs of any other language. How do you prepare yourself for every show? I prepare one day in advance for the show, but the content can always change. Sometimes I might come across something while I am traveling and just want to talk about that. At times during the show, I might come across an interesting thought or idea and decide to include that in the show. I read a lot to be updated about all that is happening around me, but I do not take jokes from the Internet or any books or magazines. I create my own jokes, and if at all I have to take jokes from somewhere, I make sure that I mention the source, but as I said this happens once in a blue moon. Has there been a time when you found it really difficult to do your shows? Yes, there have been such times. Before I did the marathon, Hyderabad was going through a rough phase, there were bomb blasts in the city and there was also an incident where one of the flyovers fell down. Such situations are tense and serious. I could obviously not crack jokes and have fun when the listeners were in such a mood. Being the people’s host I had to do my best to be one with the masses in their hour of grief. As a radio host your voice needs to have a certain tone to express the angst and grief that the city is collectively feeling and you cannot speak out about all the things that are on your mind as a person.
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August 2008 | Radio Duniya
feature
Learn From the Guru Palle Bo, Founder, Radioguru is one of those radio consultants that travel around the world working with radio stations wanting to improve their product and teaching advertisers to do the same. His company Radioguru also produces radio ads for national advertisers, podcasts on writing and producing better radio advertisements and also a weekly radio show. Radio Duniya spoke to him to know his views on the Indian radio scenario and the global learnings he can share with the nascent radio industry.
What is your view of the radio scene in India? I was blown away with the radio scene in India during my visit to the country in May/June this year. I already knew that the market was very different than what we are used to in Europe, but I must say that I was impressed by the size of the radio stations and the expansion that has been going on over the last couple of years. There is a lot more that can be done and I would absolutely love to come back and work with radio stations here as I feel that I can help the radio stations make a real difference. Having seen the growth of radio in other countries, where would you place the Indian radio industry? I have heard people complaining that radio in India was growing at a really slow pace, but you must remember that the private commercial radio industry in India isn’t even in its teen years yet. I really think the industry has come a long way in a very short period of time. We must remember that there are thousands of people working in the stations who do not have years of experience in radio, like they do in other parts of the world. I was a part of setting up private radio in Denmark 25 years ago and it took us many more years to reach where the Indian radio industry is today, and in many ways I think radio here has already passed us. But don’t stop, that is what I would like to say to the industry! In my opinion if the industry keeps training people this growth can go much further. How can Indian radio stations improve their programming? Radio programming is part science and part art. Radio stations must do the right kind of research to make sure that they play the songs their listeners want to hear and also that they talk about the topics that are important to listeners. In my opinion it is an important investment to do strategic studies and music testing – an investment that most stations don’t want to
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make. They feel it is just not necessary, I have been there myself when I was Group PD and Managing Director in Denmark. I felt it was a lot of money that could come to better use elsewhere, but still I decided to do it. We did big strategic studies and a number of auditorium music tests, and both were very useful in deciding which way to go.
flawless. It became too perfect and too boring. Most stations used voice tracking and digital editing as tools to remove every single little mistake, and this took away a lot of the charm and the heart and soul of radio. The same thing happened with the radio commercials, that really have room for improvement.
After this thorough planning it is important to make sure everyone in the team knows which way the radio station is going and why. And then – and this is very important – the execution must be with passion! And all the people involved must have a lot of fun while doing it.
Also we have a very strong and extremely popular government-owned public radio station. With four national channels they have a 70% share of the total market. They are commercial free and are very difficult to touch.
What can be done to attract more listeners to radio? This is a very big question that I can’t answer in a few sentences. It depends very much on where the radio station is and which demographic segment it is targeting. Stations must make sure that they have a strong brand, which really is a promise, and ensure that the product lives up to this promise. Stations must be consistent, professional and yet, very relaxed in everything they do. The radio functioning must always be with the belief that radio is a great medium! How important is brand building and imaging for any radio station? It is very important, especially in a competitive market like the major cities in India. These years a lot of radio stations are building their brand so a lot of stations are fighting for the attention of the same population. If a station is not out there, on billboards, TV-ads, events and so on, they might as well forget catching up with the masses. Right now they have the opportunity to build a relationship with the listeners and for this brand building is most essential.
I think these are some of the reasons that radio in Denmark only gets 2% of the advertising money. At this point the Indian radio industry is way ahead of us already, and I feel that the advertising share will get to 8% before we get to even 4%. Luckily there are also a number of good stations in Denmark now, which are working hard to make a difference. It is important (both to Danish and Indian stations) to keep on training, both the programming department and the people who write and produce the radio commercials. We must keep in mind that the local radio commercials also are a part of the programming and if they “stink” or are badly made, the whole radio station will be brought down as well. What are the core issues that the RJs and radio programmers must keep in mind while creating radio content? Like I said they must always remember that radio is entertainment and it should be fun to work with. If one does not enjoy doing it why should the listeners enjoy listening to it? So, the RJs must smile and try to be the listener’s friend. And they should not be afraid of making mistakes, they must be willing to take some chances.
In a few years time it is going to be much more difficult to persuade listeners to make the switch from one station to another. One can do the best radio programming in the world and it doesn’t matter, no one will know about the station because the station has not been well promoted and publicised, it has been kept like a secret from the people. So, the idea is to go out there and make sure that everybody knows about the station and its offerings, which is possible only through extensive branding activities. How does the Indian radio industry compare with the radio industry in Denmark? The programming side of the radio industry in Denmark went from being very poor to very
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training
Hands-on Tr aining is a Must
According to Professor Avinash Singh, Executive Director, MassCo Media, FM radio is among the fastest growing genres of mass media and there is an urgent need of trained manpower. Thus, MassCo Media envisions transforming students into radio professionals through an excellent grounding in the theoretical and practical aspects of radio production, where students are put through an extensive programme to highlight production and editing for radio.
www.radioduniya.in
How did MassCo Media come into being and what made you enter the field of radio training? The institute is the result of intensive planning, on the part of a number of professionals from the publishing industry, the electronic media, and other related industries. When we thought of setting up the institute, we wanted to cover every single wing of the media, due to the boom that was taking place, and radio was always an area that had a very good scope but was being ignored in India. So, when we started discussing about setting up the institute, radio was very much a part of the plan. The institute is the result of collaboration between Delhi Press, S Chand and Co., and many mainstream print media professionals. We have all types of courses like advertising, public relations or
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their own voice and find out what is lagging and how they can improve on it. It is very important to know all about deferred transmission. Radio is not just about RJs, it is much more than that. Putting in an extra effort in production brings out the best. However, if a students comes in just for radio jockeying, we have a 3 months course. But we advise them to take up the 6 months course that includes production and programming, besides radio jockeying. We have plans to introduce a 1 year programme on radio management, which will deal with all aspects of setting up a radio station, besides many other things. All these trained manpower can be a huge asset to community radio which is slated to come up in India in a very big way. Are you also training students for news considering recommendations on allowing news?
corporate communications, event management, media marketing, animation, multimedia, graphics, gaming. We have not left out any field of media, but radio was always one of the priorities. Radio is among the fastest growing genres of mass media and there is an urgent need of trained manpower. We envision transforming students into radio professionals by grounding them in both the theoretical and practical aspects of radio production. What kind of radio training does your institute offer? Is it only focused on RJ training or it trains people for all kinds of radio related jobs? We offer a course on radio jockeying, production and programming. We want the youngsters coming in for the course to realise that in today’s context a radio jockey cannot do justice to his job without knowing programming and production. They must know that they have to start with production and then gradually move towards radio jockeying. Good production always creates a sustained listenership. Today’s market is niche market and we all know that the reach of radio is increasing. It is thus essential that the programming line up of radio stations increase with the expansion of the scope and coverage area. Multi-tasking is essential and all radio professionals entering this field must realise this and get the proper training to be able to do justice to their jobs. They need to record, edit 38
Radio has been the forte of government in respect of news, but it may be allowed shortly. In terms of some snippets or headlines, we are already seeing that many radio channels are flashing cricket scores, etc. They also give alerts and flash news. I firmly believe that radio should be allowed to give news, but not expert comments. All around us, we see private television commenting on events, and in a very insensitive manner. This shows that young TV employees do not have their basic facts right. There are certain minimum requirements of a media professional. So, we encourage our students to become true professionals, with general knowledge and all the necessary facts. As and when news is allowed on radio our students will be competent enough to handle news for radio in a very sensitive and balanced manner. What sets MassCo Media apart from other media institutes in the country? The first thing that sets us apart is our planning. We did extensive and in depth planning before we set up this institute. All that we planned in the brainstorming sessions was put up in computers, so that it was easily accessible and manageable for us. Designs were repeatedly discussed before finalising. Lots of planning, brainstorming, coordinating, and then the executing part followed. Whatever we had scheduled during the planning stage, we are still following that timetable. I would say that this is something that does not happen in many places. Our courses, ranging from three months to three years, have been designed to meet the requirements of the industry. And the hands-on training empowers students to create professional content August 2008 | Radio Duniya
right from the beginning so that, when they go for placements, they are aware of the work culture and industry expectations. I firmly believe that students must be made to work on live projects, so we emphasise on providing more live training to our students. Most of the other radio institutes are 1 or 2 room set-ups with very small studios. We have a huge infrastructure and set up, and our studios are accessible to all our students all the time. What can be done to ensure greater synergy between the industry demands and the kind of training given to students? There is lot of gap between the cup and the lip. Most of the training institutes that are operating lay more emphasis on classroom training rather than hands on training. Some of the institutes do have studios, but most of them are too small, they cannot accommodate five students at a time. I believe a radio classroom should be inside a radio studio if we want to train someone with the various nuances of radio production and jockeying. Our basic job should be catering to what the needs of the FM stations are, rather then just teaching
There are so many radio stations coming up, but where are the trained professionals? We need more institutes to come up and we want more interaction with the industry. As an institute we are ready to train for the specific needs of the industry. We have very good facilities here and are ready to train professionals from the industry. People from the industry can come with the students and we can train them as per their directions. It could be short duration programmes, for which the students have to be quick learners. What is the kind of placement guaranteed to the students by MassCo Media? Is there any tie-up with the industry? Even though we started off late in the field of radio, we are in touch with industry players like Red FM, Radio City, Radio Mantra. Today the market demand is more for trained professionals. Radio marketing and radio management also have tremendous scope, other than production and programming professionals. The students need to learn how to write proposals, how to set up things, how to reach people, how to do market research, revenue planning, etc. and all these are covered in the course. We do not use the word guarantee, but we keep providing the best training, so that our students can get the best competitive opportunities. We tell them, “We train you and ensure that you get to the interview stage, but you have to be really good and competent enough to get the job.� As it is, placement agencies do not provide sustenance, since they charge 50-100% of a month’s wages and after a few months the students are asked to leave and a new person is hired in the same position. This is an unethical practice that must be exposed.
the students something related to radio. A good training institute should have the students in the studio and this is what we do. Also, institutes need to update themselves with the latest happenings of the radio industry to cater to them. Lots of training is required in this field, and I would say we need about 10 more facilities to meet the demands of the industry. We definitely need to train students on the demands of the new FM industry and not just focus on the theoretical aspects of radio. www.radioduniya.in
Are there any plans of expansion to other cities? Maybe by the beginning of 2010 we will have a bigger radio studio, better production equipment in a new institute at Greater Noida, from then we will move on to Chennai and Kolkata. We also plan to move on with our plans for other new media like cyber media, graphics, multimedia, special effects, animation, content writing, content management, etc., fields which are lagging behind in our country. 39
news Industry Updates
Rap King Baba Sehgal live on Hello FM The King of Rap, Baba Sehgal visited Hello FM and entertained Chennai by going on air in Hello FM’s game show ‘Bigilu’. The show was hosted by RJ’s Suresh and Kaushi and the singer wore his heart on his sleeve and shared his life experiences, musical journey, and the secret behind his hair style, name, and projects. Commenting on Baba Sehgal’s visit to Hello FM, Suresh – Programming Head and RJ, Hello FM said that “Hello FM has always endeavoured to entertain its listeners and offer wholesome entertainment cutting across barriers in language, region, etc. In the past, we have interviewed well-know national celebrities and we were happy to interview our country’s first rap star – Baba Sehgal, who brought in lots of cheer and energy.” Baba Sehgal shared with the listeners of Hello FM his passion and respect for Kollywood, superstar Rajnikanth, and south Indian music. He had great admiration for the Chennaiites, whom he said are very warm and humble. Also, he was amazed
by the in-depth knowledge that most South Indians had, when it came to music and shared with the listeners of Hello FM that he was in Chennai exploring a show here, the home of December Music Festival.
Sony Ericsson launches first ‘radio’ mobile phone
“The growing popularity of the radio in the tier-two and tierthree cities has created a tremendous opportunity for penetrating such markets and we are confident that our new offering will be well received by our customers”, Mathur said.
Sony Ericsson launched its first made in India mobile phone R300 radio phone. The phone targets the entry level customers in small town. The handset comes with a unique radio-inspired design with volume boosters for clarity of sound Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications General Manager Sudhin Mathur told media persons. Alongwith the FM frequency channels the phone also comes with AM frequencies, a first for radio phones in India. This is Sony Ericsson’s attempt to address the needs of its customers in tier 2 markets, Mathur said.
Gwalior’s Radio Chaska to play English music Gwalior based FM station, Radio Chaska 95 FM plans to introduce English music content as a part of its programming soon. Says Radio Chaska Executive Director Tarun Goyal, “Gwalior is shaping up as an educational hub with an audience for English songs now. However, our English music content would constitute only two per cent of the total, besides the Bollywood and Punjabi numbers. Apart from these, we even play devotional content and have garnered many listeners and advertisers in this slot.” The station plans to play English content in the night slots in a fortnight. Radio Chaska has been involved in many outdoor brand activations in the city, which also hosts other FM players like Big FM, My FM and Lemon FM. “Brand activations help us to generate revenues and the popularity gained by RJs in the process is commendable. Visibility gained by on ground events helps us to connect with the audience and develops an instant brand recall value which further turns into brand loyalty.”
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August 2008 | Radio Duniya
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news CR News
DU takes FM waves to fight ragging Community radio service, ruling the waves in campuses abroad, has spread its wings in Delhi University, as DU FM Radio began beaming a one-hour anti-ragging capsule from 16th July, when session 2008-09 got underway. The one-hour live programme, carried antiragging messages from DU’s Dean of Student Welfare, S K Vij and several college principals, sprinkled with songs to retain the audience. Also on the menu was advice to freshers on how, and where, to lodge complaints in case rules against ragging were violated.
BNRC advises grant of CR permission for 116 stations The National Regulatory Commission on Broadcasting of Bangladesh has recommended installation of 116 community radio stations after reviewing the recommendations of the technical sub-committee of community radio. These recommendations will be sent shortly to the Chief Advisor and Information Advisor of non-party caretaker Government, People’s Republic of Bangladesh for final approval.
The series of programmes continued for a week, and the FM station was the latest tool in the university’s fight against ragging, going on for the past few sessions. DU FM had earlier been playing promos on anti-ragging rules since the admission process began in June. The FM radio programmer Pradeep Sharma says that scared of ragging, many new students initially avoid coming to college, or staying put in campus for long periods. “A part of our endeavour (through this channel) is to reassure them that everything will be fine as they enter this new phase of life,” he says.
About 180 applications had been submitted. 56 applications had been withheld by the regulatory committee after the report of technical sub committee. Emphasis had been given to establish 5 for coastal districts and 3 for each district according to the importance.
BBC programmes on community radio BBC World Service has confirmed that its programmes will be available on Vivek 90.4 FM, the first community radio station in Chandigarh. Listeners of Vivek 90.4 FM will now have the opportunity to learn English, get health tips from across the world and learn about world opinions on technological advances, environment, music, art and culture - all on their local FM radio.
In a related meeting of the National Regulatory Committee of community radio, the Information Secretary, Jamil Osman said, “These community radio stations will focus on the grass root level population’s well being, socio-economy and culture. He added, “Government has taken the right steps to start the community radio movement successfully in the light of the laws and regulations. The related process will be finalised soon.” Vivek 90.4 FM is a community radio initiative at Vivek High School, Chandigarh, and has been on air since March 2007. The radio station has been involved in spreading community awareness and information in the field of health, education, literacy and nutrition. With the BBC’s enlightening programmes, Vivek 90.4 FM will further enrich its current programming to provide its local audiences with international content. Vineeta Dwivedi, Business Development Manager, BBC World Service, says, “It has always been our endeavour to offer intriguing and informative programming to radio audiences in India. We hope that our cooperation with Vivek 90.4 FM and other FM stations, will ensure that consumers across India can enjoy the fantastic content from the BBC.”
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August 2008 | Radio Duniya
MUST Radio: A Must for Mumbai Mumbai Univeristy Students Transmission
The community radio facility of the University of Mumbai, called MUST Radio, hit the airwaves on 29th February, 2008. The station is available on the frequency 107.8 FM, and has programmes covering all issues related to the community. It has made an effort to make the radio waves truly democratic by trying to involve everyone, including the students, the community residing in the broadcast area, schools, colleges, and NGOs.
MUST Radio, the community radio facility of the University of Mumbai hit the airwaves on 29th February, 2008. Inaugurated by the President of India, Pratibha Patil, the programmes on the station are transmitted by the students of the university. The acronym – MUST – gives an idea of how the community radio station is – it is mast (chilled-out), it’s a must and it is MUST i.e Mumbai Univeristy Students Transmission. The station is available on the frequency 107.8 FM, and has programmes covering all issues related to the community. This “people’s radio” in the city of Mumbai is situated at the Kalina campus, in the western suburb of Santa Cruz. MUST community radio has made an effort to make the radio waves truly democratic by trying to involve everyone including the students, the community residing in the broadcast area, schools, colleges, NGOs and all those who are interested in infotainment. The motto of MUST Radio, Socho seekho, bolo badlo, chamka do duniya ko, jeetlo is jahan ko identifies with each and everyone listening to and associated
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A highly motivated and energetic team of about twenty students has made this station stand on its feet and become operational. More and more students are now getting involved in the day to day activities of the station. The station has a dedicated team of editors, producers, jockeys and script writers who amalgamate their creative juices to bring out the best for the people of the community.
with the community radio station. This motto was converted into a song, the music of which was composed by the students and was sung by renowned Bollywood singer and music director Shankar Mahadevan. It is also the theme song of the community radio station. This facility funded by the university has been involved in trying to set up a benchmark in community radio broadcasting. Vice Chancellor of Mumbai University, Vijay Khole deserves all the accolades, as it was his vision, along with the persistence of Neeraj Hatekar from the Departments of Economics, which resulted in the completion of a dream called MUST Radio. Being on the FM band, it is the constant endevour of the radio station to keep the programming very entertaining and at the same time informative. Away from the mundane gossip and filmy entertainment, MUST Radio is more of a talk based radio for the people, by the people and of the people. The station is run by amateurs from within the community, but they do it in a very professional manner. Though it will take some time for the idea of a community radio station to percolate among the communities, the operators are certain of seeing the results very soon. As of now, the programmes are broadcast for 6 hrs daily, viz 7-9 am, 1-3 pm and 7-9 pm. With a host of creatively designed programs MUST Radio is trying to catch the academic pulse of the people in an entertaining manner. So, at one end the station has a Munna and Circuit (characters from a popular Bollywood film) talking about management fundas, while there is also a Moniben Monitor talking about computer parts, besides school children trying to explain why ice floats, among many other things. Currently the programming is free flowing with more stress on promos for jobs, courses of study, public utility messages, free music and ‘did you know’ facts. Each hour has about 2 programs of 15 min each and then there is jock talk that is done in a very interesting and entertaining way. The programming is done in Hindi, English as well as Marathi and this has helped the station reach out to a much wider audience. 46
The programmes topics on the station include environment, folk music, astronomy, careers, classical music, book reviews, jobs and course announcements, facts, poems by students, public utility messages, economic discussions, radio dramas, auto updates, dial in shows, travelouges, history based, animation based, women issues, HIV-AIDS awareness campaigns, seminars and workshops announcements, computer related information and much more. The team working at the station includes people from all fields, including engineers, creative writers, musicians etc. who help in all possible ways to make the broadcast more interesting. Certainly the issues dealt with at the station are serious but the presentation is done in FM style which sets it apart in terms of the content. MUST is also open to content sharing with other community radio stations in the country. The station also has a strategy in place to make the best use of the 5 minute commercial time alloted to community radio per hour in order to make them self-sustainable. The advertising sales rates are very low and the station already has a decent list of advertisers ready to put up their ads on the radio station. The station has targeted clients which are directly related to the student community and the response has been very good till now. The idea is to increase the programme broadcast to about 8-10 hours daily in the next 6 months and also make the facility self driven by then. The community radio station has the latest equipment and softwares, and is turning out to be a very good training ground for young radio broadcasters who want to get into the radio industry. The station has trained a few people from the nearby slums and have tried to give them some direction. Some illiterate girls from the nearby locality will soon be on the airways as jockeys and some youngsters have already started to work with the station. Another motivating aspect of the station is that all the students who are involved with MUST community radio get a stipend and this has been one of the main reasons why many students are utilising this facility to the fullest. August 2008 | Radio Duniya
Lots of free music with all the bands and individual performers from the affiliated colleges have been generated by the station and this has helped in making the broadcast more music based, although the music content is just about 20 % of the total broadcast of the station. The station has come across many glitches in its operations, such as breakdowns in terms of transmitter and softwares, but a young vibrant team has helped it to get back to its feet within no time. Such situations will keep arising, so the new community radio stations should take note of these things in a proactive manner and share solutions with each other to improve future operations. Apart from all this, the radio station has installed radio sets all across the campus and also at certain interesting places in the vicinity of the campus where students assemble to spend their free time. MUST community radio says that they would be more than happy to share their experiences and content with other organisations who want to start up with their own community radio station facility. It all remains to be seen how much of a sustained effort will the radio station be able to put in but certainly with the response that was received, the station is aggressively pursuing to make MUST Radio a ‘MUST’ for all. www.radioduniya.in
Opinion
R. Sreedher Director, CEMCA
MUST Radio is a classic example of a station misunderstanding the terms and conditions of the CR license. It is catering to upmarket listeners and appears to be a poor cousin of commercial FM. The station has not made any attempt to ensure 50% participation by the community around the university, nor does the community have ‘a say’ in programming. The stations situated in Metro cities tend to deviate more, and Mumbai is not an exception. As the station having the support of the best Journalism and Mass communication department, it MUST carry out some baseline studies immediately using the students and faculty and come out with a clear vision of how to serve the community better.
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The Communities and Their Radio World over, community radio initiatives have shown their impact in empowering the masses by serving as a window to the world for many remotely located communities. The Government of India announced its Community Radio Policy in 2002, which was later liberalised in 2006. The governmental target is to set up 5000 community radio stations in the next five years. There are many issues and challenges facing community radio in India. This article makes an attempt to analyse them and offer some probable solutions. It has been argued worldwide that real development of marginalised communities can take place only when these communities are involved in identifying the problems. The communities must actively participate in the conscious action to tackle the problems of underdevelopment, poverty, health and education. Hence, the developmental model is to be based on a participatory approach. Radio is being used for decades as one of the most effective tool to deliver information to various sections of the society irrespective of their literacy, financial resources and remoteness. The concept of participatory development communication has since emerged that gives the underprivileged not only access to information but also their involvement to use the media. Community radio fits in best in this frame. World over community radio initiatives have shown their impact in empowering the masses through education, information and involvement. They are serving as a window to the world for many remotely located and not well connected communities. The experiments have displayed meaningful results in eradicating superstitions, improvement in farming methodologies and controlling epidemics like AIDS etc. Government of India announced its Community Radio Policy in December 2002, which was later liberalised in 2006. The policy facilitates civil societies registered under the Societies Act to own and operate a low power FM station. It allows setting up of a transmitter having maximum power of 100 watts, which is expected to cover around 150 sq. km area. Unlike the classical radio stations, either commercial or public service broadcasters, who work for the people, the community radio station not only works for the people, but also belongs to the people. The radio listeners are not mere receivers, they also form the team of programmers, announcers, performers, technicians and station administrators. Community radio gives the people a medium to express themselves, a platform to air their concerns, to be heard, considered and acted upon, thus increasing their dignity and selfconfidence. The Community Radio Policy of India has opened new vistas for development workers, civil societies and organisations to use this medium for grass-root level development and strengthen the democracy. Considering the population and area of our country, there is a possibility of thousands of community radio stations to be established. The government has set up a target of having 5000 community radio stations in the next five years. This is a great challenge and various stake-holders, including the government, UN agencies and civil societies need to act in a structured manner to achieve 48
August 2008 | Radio Duniya
centers or a 24 hour telephone / Internet helpline. Involvement of community service centers, which are proposed to be set up in various villages of the country for disseminating the information and providing necessary facilitation and help to the interested communities, may encourage genuine remote communities to get involved in the process.
this goal. Some of the key areas to be worked upon are creating awareness, facilitation, developing linkages and capacity building. Community radio station, unlike a professional radio station, cannot be set up by a professional agency over night and operated upon. In fact, the community radio initiatives have to essentially start from where the people are. The success of the policy will greatly depend upon instilling a desire among the community. Thus, there is a big task of creating awareness about community radio among the masses. As the real need of the community radio is in remote, tribal and not-so literate pockets, it will require a concentrated effort to bring the information about this policy to their doorsteps.
These remote communities, who may come forward, may have none or very little technical knowledge about broadcasting. They may not have the access to the information hub through Internet, they are likely to get confused and develop fear of technology, in case they don’t receive accurate and personalised information through reliable sources. Unlike mobile phones, which achieved deep penetration due to involvement of commercial forces, the technology part of community radio cannot be left to the market forces. There may be various models of community radio depending upon the need, aspiration and financial capacity of the community. As such, there cannot be a single solution for all the communities. Hence, there is need for a centralised reliable agency preferably a consortium of government, civil society and UN bodies to advise all such communities after evaluating their specific needs and financial resources.
The national level consultations may help the civil society organisations to get sensitised about the policy, who in turn, should act as secondary information transmitters. The task can be undertaken with multifarious and multidimensional approach such as popularising the policy using national radio / TV campaigns, through national and local newspapers, providing posters / leaflets in various local languages, audio-visual presentations in local languages, discussions at village / district level, through traditional forms of communications like nukkad nataks (street plays) etc, involving song and drama division and field publicity units of government, involving local head men, school teachers etc.
Sustenance of Community Radio Station is a key issue. The liberalised policy of Government of India has allowed five minutes of advertisements per hour, catering to the local needs, to be aired on community radio. However, the community radio operators, as they may not be professional agencies having good public relations and liasoning network, may need assistance and support. Financial dependence on corporate houses or even on government may act as hindrance towards the professional autonomy of the stations. This issue has been dealt with in various ways by different countries. Various models of community radio support mechanisms exist in countries like United States, Australia, France, New Zealand, UK etc., with government mandated community radio support programmes. They come as direct station operational subsidy or support for specific station operations like production, staff training, capacity building and equipment.
The remotely located and not-so connected communities cannot be expected to come up and interact with government officials situated at Delhi for applying for the grant of license. They will essentially need to be helped in filing the application. This can be achieved by establishing regional help
In Australia, Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF) which is supported by the government, supports the community broadcasting via various targeted granting programmes, which include local and indigenous production, distribution and exchange of programmes, station infrastructure
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and operational support, training and research etc. In France, funding for community radio is provided by a federal agency, FSCR, which collects a tax on the advertising revenue of commercial broadcasts. Subsidies are provided to new stations and for operations, training, programme production and exchange and also for replacement of equipment. In New Zealand, the government funds community radio stations through a national independent funding agency, NZ on Air, for creation of public and local content targeted for women, youth, children, persons with disabilities, ethnic population and minorities. UK government supports the community radio through a community radio fund established by Office of Communications (Ofcom). The fund is administered by a panel having representation from Ofcom and the Community Media Association. The support comes in the form of salary subsidies and costs of station management. The non-commercial broadcasting, both public and community radio is supported by Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB) in USA. This Corporation is funded through Congressional appropriation. The support to community radio is provided as operational subsidies and for programme production. As the community radio process progresses in India, it is time for the stake-holders and the support agencies to consider evolving a support mechanism for the community radio operations in the country. Unlike any professional radio stations, community radio station is generally run by a team of dedicated volunteers. They perform almost all the functions such as field recordings, editing, announcements, dubbing, play back and above all, maintenance of the hardware. A typical community radio station needs 30-50 such volunteers, the station should preferably have minimal permanent staff, which should treat the volunteers with the same professionalism. A station’s approach to the role and contribution of volunteers has great impact on organisational character and is an important factor in evaluating the station’s overall performance. It is important to determine, at the first instance, what jobs are to be done by volunteers, their rights and responsibilities, their supervision, process of orientation and training. People generally come forward to gain skills, to be part of the community group, to share their interest in music, anchoring or to increase their social circle. A carefully planned orientation process is very important to map the potential of individuals and to filter out committed volunteers to form the core team. As almost all of these 50
volunteers will have their first exposure to the broadcasting environment, they shall need a stepby-step training. Such complete training cannot be provided in typical class room environment, and hence, special efforts and mechanisms are to be developed to groom their skills and induct them in the broadcast chain. The basic radio skill course may contain sessions on access to the equipment, console operation, recording on cassette and computer, using appropriate softwares, microphone use, using the telephone hybrid systems etc. They should also receive orientation lectures on community radio history, legislation and regulations. Around a week may be dedicated for training on radio presentation which can include presentation, programme planning, change overs, links, cue sheets, writing radio scripts, vocal exercises, community announcements, sponsorship announcements etc. Radio, with its reach, penetration and cost effectiveness, has acquired tremendous power to stimulate minds of masses. Mahatma Gandhi had once said - “I see Shakti in it - The Miraculous Power of God”. Radio has the potential to transform communities but at the same time, may play havoc if not used responsibly. The spread, numbers, low investment and near portability of community radio makes it equally vulnerable. It is thus essential not to undermine the security issues involved and evolve an effective and transparent regulatory mechanism as the policy progresses.
Ashish Bhatnagar Director - IT, All India Radio abroadcaster0@gmail.com
August 2008 | Radio Duniya
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