fm stations
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RNI No. UP ENG/2008/25294
www.radioduniya.in October 2008 | Vol: I | Issue: 12 Rs. 50/Annual Subscription Rs. 540/
India’s first radio monthly
FM Ownership Norms Eased Radio to the Rescue
7
Tension Free Radio R K Dutta, Radio Dhoom
15
Promising Tons of Fun 17 George Sebestian, Club FM
editorial
The Journey So Far We are pleased to present to you the twelfth issue of Radio Duniya. The magazine that brings the radio industry closer to you every month. Radio Duniya was launched in November 2007 with a vision - that was to be the voice of the emerging radio industry. Today, we can proudly claim that we are that voice and the face too! Across the length and breadth of India and beyond, people know the Indian radio industry and its front runners through the medium of our magazine! As we turn one, we want to invite all of you who have made this journey possible to celebrate this special moment with us. Our anniversary issue will not only be a celebration of our journey as India's first print monthly for radio, but it will also be a special issue to celebrate excellence in radio and the milestones that we have crossed together! Radio is a true blue medium of the masses and we have tried to showcase that in our magazine with special focus on issues like radio for the masses, social responsibility of radio stations etc. The importance of radio as a real people's medium was once again highlighted in the aftermath of the Delhi bomb blasts and the floods in Orissa and Bihar. Radio stations – private FM, All India Radio or community radio – came to the rescue of the people in their hour of need. While presenting this issue to you, we would also like to promise that we will continue to bring more radio stories to you and keep the flame going strong!
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 Ayesha Khanom Research Assistant Design Team Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Chandrakesh Bihari Lal (James) Om Prakash Thakur Web Team Zia Salahuddin Amit Pal Anil Kumar Shyam Kishore
Subscriptions & Circulation Lipika Dutta, Manoj Kumar 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 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 and varied field. Your 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.
Content
October 2008 News Industry Updates 9, 12, 16, 43
7
Special Story 7
Radio to the Rescue
Policy
Station Launch 10
24 Government Eases Ownership Norms For FM Radio
Campaign 44
13 Tension Free Radio Ranjeet Kumar Dutta GM, Prabhat Khabar
Station Talk
17 Promosing Tons of Fun George Sebastian COO, Club FM
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Advertising 21 Tune In For Greater Profits
Programming Talk 29 Quality Radio Should Be Inconsistant Shailja Naqvi Programming Head, MY FM
Training
Host Talk 33 Pleasing the Listeners! Tuhin, Fever FM
41 Get the Right Training Noel Keymer
Community Radio
37 Glamour of Radio Aditi, S FM
45 One World, Many Voices 47 Radio: The Friend in Need, the Friend Indeed
17 33
45
13 24 37
21
47
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Dear Radio Duniya team,
Hi,
When I entered the radio field and began searching for magazines and other printed material on the radio industry I was totally surprised that there was no such magazine one year back. I was so happy when I was introduced to the only radio print monthly-Radio Duniya. I felt that a new radio revolution began in the country. Your magazine is full of information
Radio Duniya is a complete monthly magazine for radio industry in India. Radio Duniya connects all with all happenings and innovations in radio. Congrats to team for its great work!
Virendra Dhusia Radio Jockey FM Rainbow Hi, I always like to be updated with radio industry news, so Radio Duniya is my constant companion. Your magazine and website are a store house of knowledge with all the latest information of the radio industry. I would like to congratulate your team for the wonderful work that you put into the magazine. Mala Radio Jockey, FM Rainbow
Dilip Dugar Vice President, Radio Misty Dear Radio Duniya team, Thanks for a wonderful interview story on Radio Jock Meenakshi in the September issue of Radio Duniya. This has come as a great encouragement for the Chandigarh BIG 92.7 FM team. It’s a very well expressed piece of work by you. We are grateful to Radio Duniya for providing us with quality space. Hope to have a long-lasting relationship ahead. Shailja Kaushal Corporate Communication Big FM, Chandigarh Sir
Hi, I have seen your magazine and I think your team is doing a great job by showcasing the best of radio in the country. The best part is that you present the story from all possible angles – the private FM industry, the public broadcasters, the community radio movement and the other stake holders. I just want to congratulate you all and say keep up the good work! Basant Kumar Student, Patna
talk2us@radioduniya.in
Send your feedback to us at
TALK2US
Hi, I really love your magazine! I want to congratulate your team for the work they put in. I wish you all the best for the future. Please keep bringing out such great issues and ensure that we stay ‘tuned’ into the radio industry! Simranjeet Student, Amritsar
I would like to congratulate you for your admirable efforts at creating an outstanding source of information through Radio Duniya. The matter published in your magazine is very interesting and informative. However, I feel that the look of your magazine could be made a lot more stylish and flamboyant. Prateek Prakash Graphic Designer Delhi
Radio Careers Send information about job openings to
Dear Sir, I would like to begin by congratulating you for the good work you are doing through your medium. The matter published in your magazine is educating, but the look of the magazine can be made snazzier. Raja Maurya Graphic Designer, Delhi
jobs@radioduniya.in October 2008 | Radio Duniya
special story
Radio stations did their best to help people stay calm after the Delhi blasts and deal with the aftermath. Radio proved again that it was a dynamic and spontaneous medium and the best friend of the people in crisis situations. Delhi radio stations proved that they all strongly believed in being socially responsible and being the platform for people’s expression. They rose to the occasion and reverted with assurance and information that was most critical and relevant to people at that point of time. As news of the Delhi blasts filtered in, radio channels across the city swung into action to contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the city that was rocked by terror. Considered as happy go lucky and frivolous by many, radio stations rubbished all such accusations of not being in sync with the mood of the city by playing the role of a responsible and credible source of information and support for people worried about the safety of their near and dear ones. Most radio stations in the city stopped the regular broadcasts and changed the music line-up, to reflect the mood of the city. Requests to stay calm and to donate blood for the victims were repeatedly aired along with the various helpline numbers and details of hospitals etc. Stations like Hit FM, Fever FM, Red FM, Big FM, Radio Mirchi asked people to stay calm and also urged listeners to donate blood for the victims. According to most stations, not being able to air news was a drawback as they had to rely on other sources to inform about the latest and update the listeners. Also, as the telephone lines were jammed, most radio stations asked listeners to send in their messages if they wanted to check on the well-being of their near and dear ones. According to Neetu Puri Mathrani, Programming Head, Hit 95 FM Delhi, “We could not do anything special on that day as we (radio stations) are not allowed to do News. We just ran promos asking Delhi to stay calm and together and to donate blood.”
Adds Neeraj Chaturvedi, Station Head, Fever 104 FM Delhi, “ Due to regulation restrictions we cannot give out news, so we had to wait for about an hour when it was not news, to talk about it. We just told people to stay calm, and go back home if they were out. We did it in a very calm manner, so as not to cause any kind of panic. These are very communally sensitive incidents, we had to be careful about not inciting any kind of feeling or anger, so we did not have any call-ins asking people to say what they felt about it. Our programing was normal, except we weren’t joking on-air, and just passed on important messages.” Some stations were of the view that doing anything out of the ordinary in terms of changing the music that they normally played would have added to creating more panic. Thus, they carried on with the normal programming in terms of music.
academy of radio management
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Arti Mehra (Mayor of Delhi) on-air to talk about the subject. They were able to reach out to a large number of listeners and were able to inform them about the various security measures that were being taken. This was reassuring as people felt safe and looked after and got to know that things were activated towards their security.
Red FM dedicated Saturday and Sunday (13th and 14th September) as Red FM Pe Salaam Dilli. All regular segments were dropped from the evening drive time and phone lines were thrown open for people to call in and broadcast safety messages / live traffic updates all the way till 12am on the day of the blasts.
On Tuesday evening Big FM organised a candle march from Janpath to Jantar Mantar, which was flagged off by Nafisa Ali to salute the spirit of the city. BIG FM also introduced the ‘BIG Hero Award’ to celebrate aspects of Delhi that make Delhi-ites proud of what they own and to salute the true spirit of Delhi as it remains undeterred from all the recent acts of violence.
The station got tremendous response from the people and aired calls after every song. According to the station, they have never received so many calls before. The station actually connected husbands with wives, relatives, friends and family etc., on-air that evening.
At Meow 104.8 FM all scheduled programmes were cancelled and replaced by updates and messages. Various messages were sent out by the station like information about the blasts/ victims/blood donation requirements, asking people to stay calm, to avoid certain areas, details about metro services, names of hospitals and how to reach loved ones who couldn’t be contacted. Furthermore, a special promo was created on 14th itself and run on air from 15th September onwards which talked about terrorism having no religion and that all people have to fight it together.
Saluting the ‘Never say die Delhi spirit’ RJ Nitin was in the studio on Sunday to connect with the people. He threw open a platform for people to call up and express their opinions of the blasts that rocked the city. He also interviewed celebrities and influential people from all walks of life.
Realising its responsibility, Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM announced its ‘Help Delhi to Help Delhi’ campaign to extend help to the Sept 13th bomb blast victims. The initiative was aimed at providing assistance to the victims and also to protest against the increasing trend towards terrorism in the country.
According to Nitin, “I had to talk to Delhi and take the views of all the people. My thought was that it is sad that all this has happened and everybody needs to be alert, but the spirit of Delhi - of bouncing back - should be there always. It is not that after the blasts log darr jayenge aur chhup ke ghar pe baith jayenge, kyunki Dilli bahut daler hai. I just wanted people to come back to normal life soon.”
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi Shiela Dixit inaugurated the campaign with RJ Anant & Saurabh on the show Hi Delhi. In this fight against terrorism, Mirchi RJ’s, through an on-air campaign appealed and encouraged Delhiites to share their opinion, thoughts and concerns through the Mirchi Message boards which travelled across Delhi.
Speaking about the days that followed the blasts and the police work, Nitin says, “The one thing that is bothering me is the great irony in our country. When a guy gets a medal for the country in an Olympic shooting event, he gets one crore rupees and a policeman lays down his life for the people and all that his family gets is eleven lakh rupees!?” Manisha Tripathi, Station Head, BIG FM, says, “We served a very big need at that time, very quickly we got officials like
Listeners came forward and shared their thoughts by contributing on the message boards. The campaign culminated in a silent protest at India Gate on 22nd September 2008 where the boards were collated. The message boards reflecting the voice of Delhites, was then sent to the Chief Minister’s office ensuring that the voice of Delhi reached the concerned authorities. Sharing his thoughts on the initiative Srinivasa Shenoy, Cluster Head, Radio Mirchi, said, “Radio Mirchi has always stood by its listeners at all times, be it moments of happiness or grief. Through our Help Delhi to Help Delhi initiative, we have made an attempt to extend a helping hand to the victims and also voice their opinions against terrorism. We are hopeful that our initiative will be able to give voice to the sufferings of bomb blast victims and also compel the authorities to take cognisance of what needs to be done towards a safer Delhi” Radio Jamia, the community radio station of Jamia Milia Islamia University played a crucial role during the police encounter post the blasts. The station asked the people of the area to remain calm and not venture out of the home during that time.
October 2008 | Radio Duniya
news Industry Updates
Radio Hikes Ad Rates After Radio Mirchi annonced a hike in the ad rates Red FM, My FM and Radio City have also followed suit. Red FM plans to hike its ad rates by 15-20 per cent, which will come into effect from October 1, 2008. Radio Mirchi hiked its ad rates by 15-20 per cent, which came into effect from September 15 while My FM increased its ad rates by 15 per cent in the first quarter of FY09. Radio City, the latest station to hike their rates announced a 15-20 per cent hike in ad rates in their select key markets According to Ashit Kukian, Executive Vice-President and National Head-Sales, Radio City, “are the critical RAM markets”. The hike will come into effect from October 1. The radio station is targeting a 40-50 per cent revenue growth, which is higher than the previous year. Speaking on the impact that this hike would have on advertisers, B Surendar, National Sales Head, Red FM, said, “A lot has changed in the markets in the past one year; the
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erstwhile perception-based market leaders have been toppled over and there is greater accountability with the entry of RAM. We have rationalised our rates. Our advertisers understand the value proposition we offer and come to us because of a proven track record, our leadership in market shares, and our strength of providing 360-degree communications solutions.” Harrish Bhatia, COO, My FM (Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd), said, “My FM had hiked its advertising rates by 15 per cent in Q1 FY09. This came close on the heels of achieving a higher reach and listener connect in the market, thus providing much better deliveries for the advertisers.” Kaushik Ghosh, National Sales Head, Radio Mirchi, said, “September to December represents a four-month period of heightened retail sales across categories due to festivals and the marriage season. Radio is a medium that has a finite inventory since too many ads spoil the listening experience. The pricing structure is designed to maintain the low clutter on our station.”
news station launch
Radio Dhoom hits Jamshedpur airwaves
Sikkim’s first FM radio station launched
Radio Dhoom, the FM venture from Prabhat Khabar, launched in Jamshedpur on September 14. With the tagline Tension Nahi Lene Ka, Radio Dhoom is targeted at the 14-35 age group.
The first FM radio station of Sikkim went on-air this morning. Named Nine and broadcast on 91.9 MHz, it covers a radius of 30 kilometres around the capital town of Gangtok. The station will broadcast both entertainment and informational programmes from its all-digital studios.
Commenting on the launch, Kamal Kumar Goenka, Group Vice President, Neutral Publishing House Ltd (Prabhat Khabar), said, “We are delighted to announce that after the great success of Radio Dhoom in Ranchi, now it will beam to thousands of people of Jamshedpur. Radio Dhoom is targeted specifically towards the youth and their lifestyle trends. Jamshedpur is more cosmopolitan, having discos and other happening places, but our strategy will be different and we will be promoting regional songs along with the usual Hindi chartbusters.” On the programming line-up, Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Chief Administrator, Radio Dhoom said, “The morning programme, Salam Jamshedpur, highlights the achievements of the people of Jamshedpur; Kya Cool Hain Hum focuses on the unfulfilled promises of the Government; Yeh Hai Jamshedpur Meri Jaan is about the developments in the city such as a new mall, fashion trends or the latest gadgets; Dil, Dosti, Love Junction is where one can catch the latest blockbuster Hindi songs.”
Announcing the launch of the station, Bobby Gupta, Chief Executive, Chinar Circuits Limited, the promoter company, said: “The programming mix has been drawn to address the aspirations and interests of the people in Gangtok. It will include a rich mix of music; updates on sports, technology, films, books, careers, fashion and lifestyle; interviews with national and international celebrities; humour and drama. There will be special programmes dedicated to the search and promotion of local talent.” Detailing the programming format, Ayon Banerjee, Programming Head, Nine said: “All programming on Nine will be highly interactive. Listeners will be encouraged to call in live or write in through e-mail and SMS to share their views on the topics that we discuss as also to give us their requests for the songs they wish to listen to or wish to dedicate to someone. The station has put together the largest ever collection of Nepali music by a radio station in the world. Besides Nepali, the station has compiled a large repertoire of English and Hindi music across genres and periods.”
training Lady Irwin College ties up with ARM Lady Irwin College (Delhi University) has joined hands with South Asia’s first full time broadcast school - Academy of Radio Management (ARM) to launch an industry-oriented certificate programme in radio management. Students completing the course will be issued a “Certificate in Radio Management” jointly by Lady Irwin College and Academy of Radio Management, Delhi. The Course would be offered in three modules and the total course duration would be 120 hours. The course includes radio jockeying, advertising, marketing, production, management, radio programme editing and broadcast management. Academy of Radio Management is the brainchild of radio personality Simran Kohli. Says Kohli, “Our ‘Certificate Course in Radio Management’ will provide a wider perspective on radio programming as a whole. The course aims to create ‘radio professionals’ rather than just a radio jockey. After completion 10
of the course chances of placement of the students also increase manifold, allowing talented trained students a career for their lives of their choice. It would be a win/win situation for both the sides…. radio gets the much needed talent and talent gets the ‘to-die-for’ entry into the country’s most rapidly advancing industry”. October 2008 | Radio Duniya
news Industry Updates
Govt cancels bidding for vacant FM channels in Phase II The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has finally decided that the bidding of vacant channels of FM radio broadcasting in Phase II be canceled. In a circular dated 28 August 2008, the Ministry says that ‘a combined tender be floated in respect of vacant channels of Phase II and channels of Phase III’. The Government is also considering the formulation of a ‘fresh policy’ in this regard. After the formulation of the new policy in respect of Phase III, the tendering process for the vacancies of Phase II and channels of Phase III would be initiated, the notification says. The Ministry had in its notice dated 11 January 2008 informed the eligible bidders that the date of financial bidding was postponed.The bidding was originally scheduled for November 12 and 26 2007, but was canceled just five days before the bidding. The new dates given at that time were December 17, 2007 and January 7, 2008, which were later changed. These were revised to December 29, 2007 and January 10, 2008, only to be postponed yet again to January 14 and 24, 2008. MY FM launches Chandani Raatein Classics audio CD MY FM launched its first ever music label Chaandani Raatein Classics in a compact disc format in collaboration with Universal Music. The CD has been launched across the nation and shall be promoted by MY FM. Chandani Raatein in MY FM’s late night show which is a musical tribute to the golden classics of Bollywood. The CD contains 12 songs which includes popular numbers include Dil Kya Karey Jab Kissi ko Kissi Se Pyaar ho Jaaye, Wada Karo Nahin Chodoge Tum Mera Saath, Thoda Hai
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SC dismisses Union Governement’s petition on Radio Today bid The Supreme Court has dismissed cross appeals from the Centre and Radio Today challenging a Delhi High Court ruling that upheld Centre’s decision to disqualify the media firm from operating FM stations in the country. Although the high court had also allowed Radio Today to make a fresh bid, the SC bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhan dismissed the appeals on the ground that the period of one year for which the broadcasting rights were to be given has already expired. Therefore, both the appeals - the one filed by the Centre and the other by Radio Today, have become infructuous. As required by a bid document issued in July 2007 for inviting bids in two phases for vacant channels as well as some new channels, the Ministry had disqualified Radio Today after it was found that its networth was negative after deducting the one-time entry fee for obtaining seven channels in Stage I. Radio Today had moved the High Court challenging the government’s decision that disqualified it. The Centre had challenged the High Court verdict on the ground that it had allowed the media company to make another bid following its failure to clear the first stage of the bidding process as its net worth did not meet the criteria set out in the tender documents. The government alleged that Radio Today was, therefore, not eligible as per the tender parameters. Following this, the media company challenged the High Court’s judgement that dismissed its suit and upheld the government’s decision ousting it from the tender process. Thode ki Zaroorat Hai, Tujhse Naaraz Nahin Zindaghi Hairaan Hoon Mein. Elaborating on the concept 94.3 MY FM Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd COO Harrish M. Bhatia said, “It is a humble but concrete step by MY FM and I am confident that we shall move forward and create many more milestones in the field of entertainment. It shall help in establishing our brand at a wider scale and also garner new listenership.”
October 2008 | Radio Duniya
station talk
Ranjit Kumar Dutta, General Manager, Prabhat Khabar, is the guiding force at Radio Dhoom. With more than 20 years of experience in the print media, he has carried forward those learnings and established Radio Dhoom as the local radio station of Jharkhand and the people’s first choice within a short span of time. He is also the head of circulation, production, expansion, projects HR and IT at Prabhat Khabar.
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How and when did Prabhat Khabar decide to enter the radio scenario? We were basically into the print business coming out from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Deoghar, Patna, Kolkata and Siliguri. The company decided to expand into the field of radio so that we could serve the people of Jharkhand through this medium as well. We conceptually had decided to have a multimedia platform like print, radio, SMS, Internet, outdoor, etc. However, it is worth mentioning here that radio was a foresight of our CEO Harivansh ji, who assessed that radio has immense potential in future. This is the reason we decided to enter the radio scenario. How did you decide to name the radio operations ‘Radio Dhoom’? Can you elaborate on the brand name? Radio Dhoom is the name given by our Chairman Basant Kumar Jhawar. We knew that our radio operation had to be in the minds of the people, so it had to have a name which is common to local dialect, simple and appleaing. Dhoom is a word which expresses something joyful, 13
ceremonial, and denotes sound/music. Therefore, the name Radio Dhoom. You launched with the tagline, Tension nahi lene ka, can you elaborate on this tag line for us? This tagline was given by our Jharkhand Editor Anuj Kumar Sinha. The tag line has relevance to the programs that we have designed. We aim our radio operations to ease out the daily tensions related to different spheres of life of our listeners and make them feel relaxed while listening to our channel. Our RJs have been trained to speak in a very refreshing manner. We aimed to make listeners feel that Dhoom is a station which gives complete peace of mind, through it’s content. What were the challenges in setting up the first Radio Dhoom station? As it was a new project for us, we had no experts in-house to set up the station. We took out Sanjeev Singh who headed our Internet section and made him the Chief Administrator for this project. R R Adhikari, who is the systems manager was given charge of IT. Myself and Sanjeev visited several running radio stations to have a feel of the same. Later on, we went into the minutest details of each and every aspects of an radio station like transmitters, codecs, studio transmitter links, sound cards, softwares, servers, consoles, mikes, UPS, etc. We went into details of government regulations and music licence formalities, as well. Thereafter, we had discussions with different vendors. We got our studios constructed through our own designs complying with acoustic standards. We then ordered equipments which are considered to be best in the industry standards. The integration was done partly by us and partly by engineers of the equipment suppliers. This took a little while to start, as we were trying to understand something which we had never known. One thing is very important to mention here. It is that we never hired any consultant, we never inducted any professionals for this project. We did not have any technical staff for the project. We only had a team of local Jharkhand technicians who were from different fields altogether, to help us. We had a determined will to accomplish, the challenge to do something new, passion for the job and the management’s backing to complete the project. Till now both our stations are managed
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by all local technical staff, local RJs, local programmers, local schedulers and local marketing people. All of them were and still are being trained on the job. It has a few months since Radio Dhoom was launched, how has the journey been? Radio Dhoom was launched three months back in Ranchi and we have been in Jamshedpur for a month now. There were three competitors established in Ranchi and two in Jamshedpur. These channels are national radio stations and had already made their presence felt. It was therefore a challenging task to place Dhoom among the listeners. A lot of research was done on how it’s content should be. Here it is important to mention that Dhoom is the first private FM radio channel of Jharkhand which has it’s head quarters in Jharkhand. Therefore one can call it a home radio or local radio. Dhoom has been able to reach out to maximum listeners through it’s local content and orientation. The journey has been tough but exciting and I can confidently say now from our internal researches that the channel has now become the most popular channel in Ranchi and Jamshedpur. Who is your target audience? And what are the special shows that you have developed for them? All those who listen to radio are our target audience. Plus, we play local music which other’s don’t, so we have some extra audience. This composition of locals is a good amount. We have targeted non-listeners also and hope to convert them soon. However our prime target group is the youth. Besides the normal shows, we have special programmes which facilitate interaction between the public and eminent personalities / doctors / lawyers / government officials, informative shows, children shows, etc. We have outdoor broadcast facility through which we can transmit live shows from anywhere. The other stations do not have such shows. Also, we have special shows of local content like Nagpuri songs, Bhojpuri songs, Gazals, etc. Can you elaborate on the music and programming line up at Radio Dhoom? Programs are prepared considering the time, activity and want of the listeners, spread over the day. Music programming has
October 2008 | Radio Duniya
been aimed with a mix of local items like Nagpuri songs, Bhojpuri songs and Punjabi songs. This has been our USP. You now have two stations – Ranchi and Jamshedpur, how different are the listeners and the markets? Ranchi is the state capital and main business centre. All big corporates are here, their head offices are here. The advertising market is different from Jamshedpur, which is like a metro. Spending patterns of buyers are same of buyers in both cities. However listenership is different in both cities. In Jamshedpur we have a mix of South Indians, Marwaris, Punjabis, Muslims, Bengalis, Upites,etc., besides the normal Bihari and local Jharkhandi population. So our programming is different from Ranchi. We prepare our programmes keeping the city or area specifics in mind. Where would you rate Radio Dhoom in terms of listenership and reach? We have live interactive programmes both in Ranchi and Jamshedpur. We get numerous calls from distant places. The telex or the lines keep buzzing in these programs. So, you can assess our reach and listenership. We receive over 2000 letters each day from listeners. We receive greeting cards, sketches, etc. from listeners each day in considerable quantity. How has the print base – in the form of Prabhat Khabar - been useful to you in launching and promoting Radio Dhoom? Does it help add value to your offering to advertisers as well? Prabhat Khabar is the largest circulated daily of Jharkhand. It reaches to each and every corner of the state. It is the most reputed, worthy daily of Jharkhand. Certainly it has helped in promoting Dhoom. Readers are sentimentally attached to Dhoom as they are close to Prabhat Khabar. How has the response of advertisers been to Radio Dhoom? Who are your prime advertisers? We have a long list of advertisers. Some of them are local and some are national. These include Anmol biscuits, Koutons, Sahara, NIBM, Avlon, BSNL, Care eye donation society. Then there are the local shops, saree companies, etc. Advertisements are pouring in due to the tremendous response our advertisers are getting in the festive season. Do you have any plans of launching a portal for Radio Dhoom? Definitely. Listerns will not only have a portal soon but they can hear Dhoom on the internet as regulations allow. What would you say are the major issues for the radio industry today? Major issues are definitely listenership data, awareness of advertisers that radio is a medium on air 24 hours targeted at all, strict Government regulations which need to be eased, allowing www.radioduniya.in
Radio Dhoom has been able to reach out to maximum listeners through it’s local content and orientation. The journey has been tough but exciting. of news broadcast on private FM radio. Also, music licence fees, government licence fees etc. should not be determined as per population, rather the criteria should be the amount of advertisement revenue that is generated in a city for radio. What are your views on the recommendation to allow radio stations to air news from certain agencies? One must understand that there are hundreds of TV channels and radio channels that are broadcasting news all over the day and night. Right to get information is fundamental. So why bar radio stations from broadcasting news? However, TRAI has to regulate what news to broadcast. One simple formula may be broadcast what has actually and factually happened and no sensation or prediction or comments on what may happen, to begin with. You have worked across media – in print and radio. How is the experience of handling radio different from print? Print is different altogether and radio is different as the target group of both are different. We have no right to broadcast news on radio whereas print is mainly about news. One has to adjust to different situations and regulations. But both have their uniqueness and that is their USP. The target group and reach of both are different. One may buy a newspaper but not listen to radio. Again, one may listen to radio and not buy a newspaper. There may be both or vice a versa. But one has to understand that we are both reaching out to people – interests / presentation formats may be different. Also, print has a cost for readers, while radio is free! How would you compare the mediums and which would you say has been more challenging? Every medium has it’s uniqueness. FM radio targets mainly the youth. And newspapers have realised that prime target and future readers are the youth. So, both have a common agenda to attend to. However, print is visible and radio is not. Print has to be read and preserved but radio can be only be heard. One is written and the other is on air. One has a berth life of 3 hours maximum to sell in the morning and the other has everlasting life throughout the day. Newspaper has to be brought whereas radio is free. So both are incomparable mediums. One common thing for both is that they are all reaching out to people. However,once news is on air on radio, things will be different and more challenging for print. Both mediums have different parameters of working; both mediums have competition; both have challenges. One thing is sure - only that will survive which delights the readers / listeners. 15
news Industry Updates
Radio Misty to celebrate Durga Puja
Radio City premieres Shafqat Amanat Ali’s Taabeer
Radio Misty 94.3 FM will celebrate Durga puja with fun and music. The station has a series of programmes and promotions lined up to celebrate the festival with their listeners. Radio Misty will make trips to puja pandals with lot of contests or to get the vibe of the festive spirit. The theme for puja is Pujar Anando Misty Sanghe.
Mumbai’s Radio City premiered renowned Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali’s firstever solo album Taabeer on Whatte Fun Mornings with RJs Singh-Chana. Shafqat Amanat Ali (of ex-Fuzon fame) has been the voice behind popular Hindi soundtracks Mitwa (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna), Ye Honsla (Dor) and Caravan from the upcoming movie (Hello).
Radio Misty is celebrating the spirit of Durga Puja with a high-powered on-air musical welcoming Goddess Durga on Mahalaya on 29th September 2008.The show will feature live recitals by well-known Bengali artistes. The show ends with the legendary Birendra Krishna Bhadra chanting the Mahalaya Strotras. Nishant Mittal, Chief Executive Officer, Radio Misty said, “Radio Misty is a station for all age of people. We have designed all shows with innovations. This is our first puja and we will give our listeners the best.”
As part of the association, Radio City has exclusive access to all song-tracks from Tabeer. Joining the RJs live in-studio, Shafqat Amanat Ali spoke at length on an array of topics. Talking about his album, he said “Tabeer means completion of one’s dreams and with this album, his own dream has come true. He revealed that one of the lines in a song Khedenaal vaa - main naee jaanaa is an original track but he picked this line since he could relate to it”. its nearest competitor! At a show level, Morning No.1 with Malishka, the most popular and awarded show in the country, has a weekly average of 21.88 lakh listeners, while Mumbai Local with Mantra, has a weekly average of 19.90 lakh.
RED FM celebrates 52 weeks at the top The latest RAM report of 52 consecutive weeks of listenership data has shown that RED FM is a consistent No.1 in the highly competitive radio market of Mumbai. Celebrations began with a traditional Puja and distribution of sweets and will continue for the next few weeks with a lot of festivities and big prizes for listeners and partners alike. The scale of RED FM’s domination is evident as it enjoys the No.1 position in shares, cumulative reach & TARP, across all TGs and both at an overall station level and across key dayparts / shows. At an overall level, RED FM clocked a weekly average of 44.89 lakh listeners over 52 weeks and a 7.3 lakh lead over
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Commenting on the success of the station, Abraham Thomas, COO, RED FM said, “52 weeks on the top, 36 awards in our kitty, Best FM Brand of the country…all in a day’s work! RED FM not only dominates at an ‘all people’ level; it also dominates in TGs like SEC AB, 25-44 that other stations base their sales pitch on. This indicates that RED FM’s brand positioning, content and marketing appeal to audiences across classes and in many ways unifies them.” He further added: “Apart from being No.1 amongst our competition, we are also No.1 in advertising share! Our leadership in advertising share reflects our status as a preferred destination for advertisers.”
October 2008 | Radio Duniya
station talk
George Sebastian, COO, Club FM 94.3 has helped establish Matrubhumi Group’s radio operation as the leading radio network in Kerala with four stations across the state. George has over 27 years experience in the media business and started his career with Times of India group. He has worked with India Today group, Gujarat Samachar, Business Standard, Mathrubhumi group, Hinduja Media Network and MTV. In addition to his present role, he is also in charge of all the marketing activities of Mathrubhumi print titles in the national-metro markets. When were the stations launched and how different are the cities they operate in? Trissur was launched on December 14th 2007, Kannur was launched on December 30th 2007, Thiruvananthapuram was launched on January 29th 2008 and Kochi was launched on May 17th 2008. Thiruvananthapuram is the state capital; Kochi is the commercial capital; Thrissur is the cultural capital; and Kannur symbolises the Malabar region. All four stations are based in cities that represent the rich and varied culture so unique to the region. There are clear differences in dialect, food and art forms as well. What is the target group for Club FM? Our core target group is 16 to 35 years, SEC AB. But we do not exclude anybody, in the sense, if you are youthful at heart and love music, you will enjoy listening to Club FM. www.radioduniya.in
What all are the fun elements at Club FM? The standards were set with clear cut programming with day-parts which cater to our target group all through the day. From dawn with fresh Good Morning, to recharging the listeners with Kalakkan Recharge, saying a sizzling ‘Hi!’ to the outspoken ladies with Ladies Neram, to setting a trap (keni in Malyalam) in cinema-world through Balkkeni, playing a youthful Kabadi Kabadi in the evening, to finding new friends through Clubmates, of course with a touch of love through Love Bytes. Weekend has unique live and interactive composition with the first - time - on - radio concept called Sunday Talkies where every Sunday, we re-script and present one of the popular films in a unique and whacky way, with all the wit and humour, using dialogue delivery by some of the most renowned mimicry artists in Malayalam. 17
Another key feature which has caught up well with the people here are the humour elements which have won accolades. What are the kind of special in-house sparklers that you have introduced at Club FM? Sparklers doing their rounds across the station are : Binocular Mani (He roams the streets and reports on happenings – an invisible omnipresent guy. He has no pani (ie; work), no money), Gulmal Bhai (a frustrated film-lyricist whose passion is to find fault with every film song), the RAPA award-winning Pachakaratnam Mahilamani , and Ragaramaiyer MBI (a spoof on actor Mamooti`s eternal film character, exposing copy-cats in malayalam film music), amongst others. How do you ensure the connect with your listeners? Our marketing team connects with listeners on-ground with regular activations at colleges, schools, shopping fests, etc. People today expect Club FM to be present at every entertainment event and college do, with our own variety of games and fun events. Can you elaborate on the music mix offered by Club FM? Well we have 70% Malayalam, 20% Hindi, and 10% Tamil music. However, we have a English rock music show called Lose Control, which is doing well in Kochi and Thiruvanantapuram. We have had focus groups in place for music research for some time now, and we do take these inputs seriously. How is Club FM different from the rest ? Club FM delivers Tons of Fun and Tons of Music. That is the brand promise. And we do it differently. We don’t talk to our listners; we talk with them. Our programmers and RJs package content in a locally relevant format; knowing the audience they are talking with, we add a bit of irreverence to the delivery. We are different becouse we listen to our audience, understand what they want and deliver that.
effort in training and research. It was a good investment. Focus groups were set up in all four cities, which included adequate sample size from amongst our target group. At Club FM we take research pretty seriously. What do listeners want ? The tone of music (melody vs fast numbers), language of music (Malayalam/ Hindi/ Tamil/English), and kind of music (classical, Ghazals, etc) are being continuously evaluated, and certainly has a bearing on what you hear. Similarly, we lay equal stress on training – both technical (using the software) as well as RJ talk and delivery. Where would you rate Club FM in terms of listenership and reach? A recent listenership survey report by Hansa Research has validated what we knew all along – that Club FM is the most popular FM radio station in all four cities – Kochi, Thiruvanantapuram, Thrissur & Kannur. Club FM has been able to emerge as the most popular radio brand in Kerala. This is evident from the huge response generated in our listner-interactive programmes; it is a fact that we have more such programmes than any other station in Kerala. Club FM is the only FM radio brand in Kerala to bag three RAPA awards this year, and that too within just three months of the launch! How has the response of advertisers been? We had focused on getting the listening experience right; which got us the listeners. And advertisers followed. Our initial effort was to evangelise FM radio; and so even before Club FM was launched, we were already talking to clients as to how FM radio can help their businesses. Fortunately, since FM radio was already a popular advertising medium in other states, there were relevant examples of brands using the medium successfully that we could talk about.
What is the kind of background work that went into creating this different content?
We have been able to successfully demonstrate Club FM`s commitment to providing opportunities to clients for customerengagement through both on-air initiatives as well as on-ground activation. Our relationship with advertisers is based on a long-term association. We believe in working with advertising agencies to deliver value to their clients.
We had most of our programming staff in place more than a year before launch. We spent a lot of time, money and
Club FM has more advertisers on board than any other network in Kerala. It has more repeat-buyers among its advertisers than
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October 2008 | Radio Duniya
any other station. We indeed take pride in the fact that Club FM has a good portfolio of prestigious brands – both in the retail as well as corporate domain that have been advertising exclusively with Club FM. How does Club FM deliver value to its clients? We believe we have to target our activities towards two audiences, ie; the listeners and, advertisers. A great deal of effort goes into consistently improving the listening experience. And advertisers come where listeners are! Our partnership
reporters, bureau offices, advertisement / circulation offices, representatives, etc. We therefore understand the local markets very well. On a national level, we already have our own business offices in all metros /mini metros, which gives Club FM the unique advantage of reach among national advertisers and advertising agencies. National networks will certainly have the opportunity to sell combination packages to advertisers. But most of them adapt their same standard programming format across all stations. This may not work always, as like in Kerala, there are regional differences among cities that are just 100 to 200 Kms apart. In Thiruvananthapuram, for instance, where there are three national players, Club FM is rated most popular, followed by the local AIR FM Ananthapuri. What do you think are the major issues for the radio industry? There are many important issues. The first being the issue of music royalty. We believe that content must be compensated; but it should be to the right organisation, and the royalty payment must be based on a pragmatic policy. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, and Ministry of HR must not delay any longer in formulating a uniform policy pertaining to music licence and royalty. The Copyright Board does not meet often enough to settle the matter. There are numerous cases pending in court and with the Copyright Board. We need a pragmatic policy on music royalty that is binding on all players, and resolves grey areas relating to sound recording rights and performing rights.
initiatives with clients take into account communication / marketing objectives of clients, and then create solutions to address these objectives / concerns. Internally, four teams work together to formulate on-air and on-ground initiatives; the radio solutions team ( ad. sales / servicing), marketing , programming, and activation teams. All four stations have matured from a programming and marketing perspective; but we believe we must constantly innovate and be responsive to requirements of listeners and advertisers. What are the advantages and disadvantages that you have over nation-wide networks? Stand-alone individual stations without any media experience will find the going tough without alliances. At the same time regional FM radio networks which are part of a larger media house can benefit from the synergy. Club FM is a division of Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co, which has a host of leading publications. Mathrubhumi daily is one of the top newspapers of India with circulation exceeding 11 lacs. The group is over 85 years old and is present in every town and village in Kerala in the form of editions, www.radioduniya.in
Also, News, sports and current affairs must be allowed on FM radio. If 300 odd TV channels can broadcast news from day one of operation, where is the hitch in permitting FM radio the facility? Also we have to consider that most of the FM radio licences have been acquired by existing media companies. Secondly, how does the Ministry want FM radio stations to be local and relevant? By broadcasting film songs? And thirdly, the listenership research must cover all cities as soon as possible. Are there any major technical issues that need attention? The major technical issue is the overlapping of frequencies. Our signals from Kochi and Thrissur stations are overlapping in places, as a result of which broadcast gets distorted. The distance of Thrissur is around 72 kms from Kochi. Prasar Bharti, Ministry of I & B and BECIL all say that licence holders had requested for a single frequency and that was allowed. Why was it allowed without technical feasibility? This issue is yet to be resolved. In Phase III, a station is proposed at Alleppy; now it is sure there will be interference and over-lapping of signals from Kochi, creating another similar scenario. There are also issues with BECIL claiming to have executed CTI, whereas most of the operators are still running on DG power. This is because BECIL has still not managed to obtain electricity from the relevant state boards. 19
A
s the entire country celebrated the 11-day long Ganesh Mahotsav, FM stations lined up various on-air and onground activities to celebrate the occasion with their listeners. The stations had lots of interesting and interactive initiatives in store. There were a mix of on-air shows, contests, call-ins, and on-ground events and competitions which were organised to celebrate the birthday of Lord Ganesh. Red FM’s RJ Anurag Pandey visited various Ganesh pandals across Mumbai and shared his experiences with the listeners. Big FM tied up with Lalbaug cha Raja (the biggest Ganesh idol in Mumbai); Radio City adopted an eco-friendly stance through its contests; while Radio Choklate had set up a mobile Ganesh mandap atop a truck that brought Ganpati closer to the devotees. Speaking on the initiative, Anuj Singh, National Marketing Head and Station Head (Mumbai), Red FM, said, “Ganesh Utsav is celebrated with great pomp and splendour across the city. Keeping in mind Mumbai’s enthusiasm for the festival, Red FM’s Pandit Pandey will join Mumbaikars in worshiping Lord Ganesha through his aarti yatra across pandals in the city and bring alive the same experience through the Ganesh Diaries. Not just that, with our association with mypopkorn.com, listeners can also catch all the action online.” Big FM ran on-air contests asking listeners to nominate their ‘society pandals’ for the Big Bappa Morya contest. The station
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roped in personalities from various fields to shortlist the top three pandals of Mumbai. The best pandal was judged on various parameters like décor, whether it is eco-friendly or not, the idol of Lord Ganesha, etc. The winner walked away with the Big Bappa Morya trophy. The station also urged its listeners to adopt an eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturti this year. Radio City, urged its listeners to bring home eco-friendly Ganesha idols. The FM station celebrated the festival with the Bol Pandal Bol contest, wherein the most environmentally friendly Ganpati was adjudged the winner. Radio City RJs visited and showcased Ganesh pandals across Mumbai to identify the most eco-friendly ones, which was judged by a host of celebrity judges. The listener who predicted the winner out of the selected pandals also won prizes. Radio Choklate’s mobile Ganesh mandap visited various pandals throughout the city. The mandap was accompanied by Radio Choklate RJs decked up in traditional costumes, giving live performances of devotional songs dedicated to the Lord Ganesh. This year the radio stations spread the message that Ganpati celebration should be done in an eco-friendly manner. The message was sent our loud and clear as most stations urged listeners to get environment friendly idols for their homes and society pandals for the festival. Keeping the fun quotient real high, the message was also sent to people to do their bit for the environment and show that they care.
October 2008 | Radio Duniya
advertising
Radio has to be seen as much as it is heard. In fact, even more. The present article aims to tell us what radio marketing is all about.
With so many brands in the AIR – pun apart, and near-parity in terms of music and content – largely because of the current restrictive scope, thanks to policy guidelines and commercial compulsions, marketing assumes paramount importance in positioning a certain radio name indelibly in the minds of the listeners, far more than even in the ears of the listeners. So, the name of the game is ‘radio marketing’ But what’s in a name? Just about everything. Any mouse cannot be a Mickey. Not all James’ share Bond as their second name. Most small things may be cute, but only a Beetle is beautiful. A lot of them could go for it, while it takes a Nike to just do it. These are just a few icons in their respective fields, to highlight the single-most important lesson that successful marketing of a product often begins with a right and relevant name. Let’s start with the calling cards. Name it, and you have it. From a mirchi to a mango; reds to indigos; big city to street smart; meows to mantras…it’s time to say hello to radio brand names, that even a Maneka Gandhi could not have conjured up. Name taken, a number given, next comes the task of adopting a positioning stance. Some of the positions embraced by radio brands will make a Vatsayana blush. However, the positioning of a certain radio has to necessarily translate into the soundscape that it offers its listeners, and when I say soundscape, the reference is to the overall aural experience jointly provided by music, talk, content, style, substance, design, delivery etc. This aural experience for a listener almost always morphs in to a clear visual imagery for the brand – ranging from a living, flesh and blood character, to an inanimate environment, to an www.radioduniya.in
indescribable emotion etc. I listen to a certain radio because it gives me the rush of watching MS Dhoni wield the willow; I tune in to another frequency to relive my days in college; and I freeze the knob at another number when I want tranquil for company. Others may have other reasons and other imagery associations, as they commit their respective engagements to radio – either remaining faithful to one brand, or savoring polygamy with many. This is further proof that radio is as much seen as it is heard. All fine. But how does one make people see radio, let alone listen to it? Welcome to the challenge of radio marketing? The task is as exacting as it is exciting. Simply because marketing jockeys will need to straddle two horses, in this case – two extremely different animals…advertisers and listeners. Sample this to understand their contrasting nature. Mention the simple word ‘number’, and the interpretation by these two breeds would be akin to chalk and cheese.
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Firstly, allow me to introduce you to the ‘advertiser’ – often misunderstood as the new-age Shylock, only because he demands more than just a bang for his every buck. But why would he not, considering ‘buck’ is a fourletter word in today’s business. In an effort to reach out to him, radio brands often travel in tried-andtested B2B media vehicles viz. trade magazines, e-mailers, cocktail parties, complimentary gifts and the like. But my personal submission would be to try out something that I have, more often than not, met success with - when it comes to earning a sincere smile, instant trust and a release order. Something that I fondly call the ‘B2B’ model – Biscuits to Business. Modus operandi. Call the client to make an appointment. Should he ask for the agenda, simply tell him that
you are craving for the biscuits that his office usually serves their guests. Time fixed, show up, shake hands, take a seat, crunch the biscuits, share a joke, blue-tooth him a ring-tone, critique a new film release, compliment his screen saver, and along the way blurt out a few cute tricks that your radio station has churned out which may excite his potential customers. Time to leave, appreciate the biscuits, excuse yourself, thank him for his time, and tell him that you’d definitely discuss business the next time. Trust me, his business will come your way, well before the next biscuit-date. Fine, now what does it take to market radio to listeners? This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there has to be a continuous indulgence of marketing initiatives, directed towards shepherding together the flock of current listeners. In a fiercely competitive environment, this not being enough, there is also a constant ask for crafty game plans to woo fresh listeners of other radio as well. And this exercise to increase the size of the family has to be designed with such uncanny tact that it does not destroy existing fidelities.
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Keeping the current flock of listeners together is pretty much like a flanking a family together, keeping them content and happy. Firstly, make sure that their basic needs are addressed, and every now and then, pop pleasant surprises on them. For this you ought to know your listener well. After all, he is a valuable member of your family. Interestingly, what warm the cockles of their hearts are some very simple yet pure gestures, often outside their listening experience. Say for instance, an anniversary card personally signed by all the jockeys, slipped under the door early in the morning on that special day; a telephone call to share your angst and aguish over an Indian failure against Pakistan the previous night etc. Of course, also include the usual hamper of pleasantries like community clubs, first-day tickets, meet-and-greets, gifts and goodies et al. Which door do you open, to lure in new listeners. One called ‘B2C’. What I interpret as ‘Be to See’. Just be around, to be seen. In places, at moments, touching people tenderly, sharing their joy, lending a hand, putting a smile, wiping a tear, throwing a surprise, pulling a prank, partnering their pride… Now, do you get the picture? Radio has to be seen as much as it is heard. Radio marketing is all about it.
S K Ramesh Executive Vice President and Head of Content, Hello FM 106.4 remy@hellofm.in
October 2008 | Radio Duniya
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Radio Duniya Magazine G-4 Sector 39, Noida Tel: +91-120-250 2180-85 Fax: +91-120-2500060
policy
The Union Cabinet has eased ownership norms for private FM radio. Many radio players are of the view that this step will help the growth of the nascent radio industry. However, they assert that this is just one small step towards the future and many long standing demands are still to be considered by the government. This story takes a look at the decision and the response of the industry. The Union Cabinet took a step towards radio reforms when it eased ownership norms for private FM radio, allowing for greater financial flexibility for the existing players. The move was in response to demands from companies who were keen on setting up subsidiaries or merging group firms. On ownership, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has now provided for an enabling clause by which a company can request for transfer of shares for the purpose of creation of
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a subsidiary company, amalgamation of companies of the same group, de-merger of companies etc., subject to certain criteria within the period of five years of obtaining the licence, as is mandatory at present. “The I&B Ministry has been authorised to grant permission to FM broadcasting companies for creation of subsidiaries, mergers or de-mergers or amalgamation of companies by way of transfer of shares,� Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said after the cabinet meeting.
October 2008 | Radio Duniya
According to the enabling clause, if a company approaches the government for transfer of shares to create a subsidiary, to merge firms in the same group, or de-merge a unit, then it would be allowed to do so once within the five-year period, subject to conditions like promoter/majority shareholder maintaining 51% stake in it and new entities keeping the FDI component within the permissible limit. Says Apurva Purohit, President AROI, “This comes as a very favorable move for the industry especially for broadcasters who had applied for this de-merger. We’re hoping that this announcement will also pave way for further deregulation of the industry by way of increased FDI, multiple licensing and allowing news and current affairs on FM radio. We eagerly look forward to Phase III and hope that the Government works on expediting the process.” Harrish M Bhatia, COO MY FM, agreed with these views and said, “The decision is a step in the right direction and will help the industry in going forward. As of now, it does apply to some players in the industry and will help in streamlining their business. Further deregulation in terms of allowing news and current affairs broadcast will pave way for the next phase of growth in the industry.” Reacting to the cabinet decision on the de-merger of radio companies, Tarun Katial, COO Big 92.7 FM said, “Our application for de-merger of the radio business from Adlabs Films Limited to Reliance Unicom Limited would now be approved in the light of the cabinet decision.” Katial felt that the move would help radio business to have their own separate legal identity. According to him, “It would help companies having multiple businesses carve out the radio business into a separate legal entity. Being an independent legal entity it would have financial flexibility to raise resources for future growth. Valuation of the FM radio business on stock exchange would help substantial unlocking of shareholder value.”
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prescribed limit and would not violate the terms and conditions of the tender document and Grant of Permission Agreement The new corporate entities should have minimum prescribed net worth and adhere to all the terms and conditions of the tender document and the provisions of the agreement. The new company shall sign a fresh agreement with Government on identical terms and conditions (except for transferability of shares as provided herein) for the remaining period of license of the original company. Such transfer of shares would be permitted only once during the first five years period from the date of operationalisation. No new tax regime will be designated to provide any incentive to encourage creation of subsidiaries, merger / de-merger, amalgamation of FM Broadcasting companies. Any tax implication arising out of such mergers / demergers or amalgamation would be governed by the provisions of the Income Tax Act,1961 as applicable from time to time. The processes / action taken by the licensee companies including for formation of new companies / subsidiaries / mergers / amalgamations and /or disinvestments of undertakings, or part thereof, of existing companies etc., need to be compliant with the companies Act, 1956. The applicant shall not dilute such requirement through its Articles of Association or any Agreement.
Expressing his views on the cabinet decision, Nishant Mittal, CEO, Radio Misty said, “There will be a positive effect on the radio operations. This is the step in the right direction and
Requests for transfer of shares for the purpose of creation of a subsidiary company, amalgamation of companies of the same group, de-merger of company etc. would be allowed within the period of five years also subject to the fulfillment of the following conditions :•
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The majority shareholders / promoters would continue to remain as majority shareholders / promoters and together should hold at least 51% of the total shares. The new corporate entities would maintain their FDI component within the
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R O F T U E U O S CH RY IS T A W RSA E V I N AN
The anniversary issue will celebrate our achievements in the last twelve months. It will also commemorate the milestones that the radio industry has crossed and the various landmarks that it has established over the last one year. We have grown together and now is the time to celebrate and recount the success stories created over the year goneby. Our anniversary issue will feature -
Radio Duniya 2008 Conference
Radio Duniya Awards 2008
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Exclusive Interviews with:
Special Stories on:
Governmental Agencies
The State of the Radio Industry
Policymakers
Various Issues Facing the Industry
Public Broadcasters
The Way Forward
Heads of Radio Stations
Radio Advertising
Directors of Advertising Agencies
Creating a Radio Brand
Engineers and Broadcasting Specialists
Successful Radio Programming
Media Professionals
Social Responsibility of Radio
Radio Duniya Magazine G-4 Sector 39, Noida Tel: +91-120-250 2180-85 Fax: +91-120-2500060 www.radioduniya.in India’s first radio monthly
will help the radio industry as a whole. It would help companies having multiple business to put aside their radio operations as a separate entity. This would help increase efficiency and better functioning of the radio business.” He felt that the radio industry was growing rapidly, and after being an independent legal identity, it would be flexible to gather resources for further growth. The industry has by and large welcomed the decision and according to most players, it is the right step for this nascent industry to grow. Still, there are other difficulties faced by radio companies which they believe are hampering the growth of the medium, which is the country’s most affordable and accessible form of entertainment. On behalf of the industry, FICCI has raised these issues with the government. Apart from the need to allow multiple frequencies and tradability of licence, FICCI has asked for automatic renewal of licenses at the end of the initial term of license, a level playing field between FM and satellite radio, resolution of music royalties issue and permission for news and current affairs on radio. Thus demands related to ease of ownership norms were not the only demands of radio operators, nor was it the most important one. According to Vineet Singh Hukmani, CEO Radio One, “This step of de-merger is actually not related to the IIIrd phase of licensing in any critical way. It only allows for current improvement in structuring of business. We feel that phase II problems must be sorted with the government like the music royalty issue as otherwise they will amplify themselves in phase III and go out of control. Anyone who has radio experience will tell you that embarking on such an ambitious phase III expansion of 800 odd licenses with news etc., is not possible until the government puts a proper monitoring infrastructure in place and this will take time.” He also adds that “Multiple licenses in the same city will allow the blocking of all ad sale price points by the top three players and result in unfair monopolies. We are clearly headed for an industry divided into players who are consolidators versus
dominators and the government must take into account both sides of the story before proceeding.” Obviously, the wish list of the radio industry is exhaustive and easing the FM ownership norms is no doubt a step in the right direction. With this favorable move the industry hopes that some of the long standing demands of the industry like allowing news on radio and permitting multiple licenses in a city among others will be given serious thought by the Ministry. Radio companies have also been demanding that the government should release additional frequencies in all markets so as to allow broadcasters to operate multiple frequencies in the same city, as this would allow them to run more than one radio channel in a city. The radio industry in India is a sleeping giant and now it is up to the industry and the policy makers to decide how they would like to shape the future of this industry. Steps must be taken to help radio become a medium that can truly reach out to maximum number of people and help in the dissemination of information. However, a lot needs to be done by the government to help radio grow as a medium. There is a need to realise that radio has huge potential and this can be used fully only when the policy makers frame rules accordingly.
Conclusion:
Easing the FM ownership norms is no doubt a step in the right direction, but the wish list of the radio industry is exhaustive. This move will surely allow for greater financial flexibility for the radio operations and the industry hopes that its other demands will also be fulfilled now. These include demands related to news on radio, music royalty and multiple licenses in a city among others.
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October 2008 | Radio Duniya
programme talk
Did your experience of television help you in working for the growth of radio? Frankly speaking, I feel my experience will be very useful once news comes to radio. I was part of the core team that set up India TV and I believe many of the TV formats can be used for radio. If you go back a few years you will see that a lot of things moved to TV from AIR. These included the chat show, the news bulletin, the run order, the number of stories that went in etc. A lot of television people have learnt from AIR and with news lots of the same format is going to be followed on radio.
Shailja Naqvi, Programming Head, 94.3 MY FM has been with the station for a few months and has already revamped the programming line up. She plans to innovate and experiment continuously in order to cater to the demands of the listeners. With her background in television programming and packaging, she never had any issues in quickly grasping the nuances of radio. She was handling the radio operations of BAG Films and established all their stations before joining MY FM.
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I would also like to add that I was a programming person and I have done lots of lifestyle and entertainment programmes, so I understand what kind of script is needed to make a good radio programme. TV programming is much more elaborate, but radio is the theater of the mind, so the script has to be really powerful. On radio, one needs to make people imagine with sound alone. Since I have handled programming and packaging, all that experience comes in really handy in radio. Since you joined as Programming Head of MY FM what kind of changes have you introduced? I joined MY FM more than three months back and it has been great. I have already introduced a couple of changes. I have changed the jingle completely. I have also changed the packaging to give the brand more attitude. I have tried making the programmes more viable for our target group. Having said that, I feel there is lots more to do yet, certain best practices need to be introduced. MY FM has a tremendous resource base, the people here are really good, and all that it needs
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is the need to look at listeners from a different perspective and figure out what they really want from us. We know that there are many choices that are available to the listener besides radio, so what is it that makes him/her tune into radio? We believe that programming is the king and we are looking at making content the real differentiator; besides packaging and refreshed songs on a monthly basis. All radio stations now claim to be different and innovative. How is MY FM different from the others? The one thing that we are looking at is the factor that consistent quality of subtle words does not belong to radio. Quality radio programming must always include inconsistency, if you want it to work tomorrow as well. Consistency normally leads to boredom, so we have decided to change our packaging and programming practically every one and a half months with new promos and sounds. We are gearing up to cater to the youth. We are not being consistent (and boring) by dishing out the same fare all the time, without any changes. We have introduced four jingles, instead of one main jingle and each jingle has been done keeping in mind the youth. So, we have experimented with jazz, hip-hop, reggae and other formats of music and now it is sounding much more stylish, happening and peppy. is a little bit of grooming and some direction. As a brand MY FM is really aggressive and I’m sure we’ll do something really big by the end of this year. Let’s talk a bit about the brand name. Why MY FM? Personally speaking, I feel, initially the brand was trying to engulf the entire plot. With radio, things are still at a very nascent stage. The whole idea of figuring out what your target group is going to be, is a difficult decision. MY FM as a brand was more mellow earlier, but now we have changed our tag line – from Dil Se to Jiyo Dil Se. The new tag line is much more directional and aspirational. We are catering to the youth now, without neglecting the other age groups. The positioning is youth, but the brand caters to the other age groups as well. And radio is a very personal medium, it talks to one person, so MY FM is the name that gives the listener that feeling of “Ok, this is my radio!” It helps establish that one to one connect with the listeners through the brand name. We are telling the people that we are catering to ‘your’ needs and this is ‘your’ radio! Where would you rate MY FM among other private FM channels in terms of listenership? How important is innovation in keeping ahead of the competition? In the markets that we are present, we are doing pretty well. In many markets we are number one or we are neck to neck with the competition. I guess now we have established our brand and moving forward, we have to create the USP – that special thing which we are offering to listeners. The challenge 30
We are trying to experiment as much as we can with the programming, by bringing in a lot of intelligent humour. We are going to be inconsistent in terms of the pattern that we are devising at MY FM. For example, in terms of jock talk we are doing a lot of OBs, a lot of invigorated and innovative programming and a lot of interaction, which other radio stations are also doing but we would do it differently. We have devised a new pattern for our weekend offerings and we are also trying to acquire new audiences. What is the strategy of MY FM in terms of deciding the kind of content for each city that it operates in? As I told you, the local connect is very important and achieving that connect is essential to make a mark in the hearts and minds of the listeners. For listeners, radio has to be local. Within the confines of the brand, we devise strategies to cater to the local taste. We have to maintain a particular stand of the brand as well. If we are a youth brand and by extension we are happy and peppy, we have to keep that positioning in mind. So, keeping that main skeleton, we fill it up with a lot of local flavour. As we have a solid print base (in the form of Dainik Bhaskar), we also get into a lot of smart integration, where we have devised new shows that will entice our readership base and convert it into a listenership base for us. How is the programming style of smaller cities different from that of the metro cities? I feel radio has a particular language and I don’t personally feel that we can work with the metro structure in the regional areas. Many metros have a morning drive time and an evening drive time shows, but this may not work in a small city like October 2008 | Radio Duniya
Hissar or Karnal, where there is hardly any drive time. So, the whole concept is - at what time band is my listener really active? - this is a very important question. Right now, more or less, at the regional level also, the basic model being followed is the metro model, where the jock should talk like this and we should play this music but I don’t think this makes any sense. Also, we don’t have a very mature audience and they are not very familiar with the medium of radio. With time definitely, regional elements will grow and compared to the way the metro station runs, we are catering to a different set of audience. I also feel the real challenge is from television, because people get all the information through TV, and our task is to create a good relationship with these listeners. This connect is very important and it comes from the local and regional elements in the programming. Various researches are being done in order to ascertain the real demand of the people as that is what will determine the content.
soon. Even right now, we are getting researches done to help us answer this question. There are some regulatory restrictions in operation as of now. What kind of changes in these regulations would you welcome? The restrictions are there for current affairs and news, but I am sure once news is allowed on radio, we will have very mature radio stations. Many different formats will come in. I also believe that we should follow genre based programming with multiple frequencies coming in. So, like WorldSpace you can have five frequencies of MY FM running within the same city and a particular frequency could be retro music, another could be English. So, all those changes are expected, I hope the sooner the better. It will open the forum for radio and the scale of operations would be much bigger.
What is the profile of your target audience? What are the kind of special initiatives that you are planning with them in mind? We are actually talking to the youth, but even as I say that, we do cater to the masses. It is a mass crystallization effort as we are not neglecting other age groups. The sound of the station has changed, we are not mellow any more, we are more directional and aspirational. The jingles are very youthful, the promos we are running are very tight, and our main tag line has been changed as well. We would keep changing the minor tag line every few months, it was – Jiyo Dil Se – na tension lene ka na dene ka. And now it is – Jiyo Dil Se – change the rules, stay cool. We want our jocks to just crackle with humour, we plan to make the jock talks really invigorated. Also, we will have a lot of youth oriented and aspirational programming. All our shows are essentially targeted at the youth. As the Programming Head of MY FM, what is your vision for radio in the country and what are you doing to achieve the same? Radio has a bright future and once news is allowed, things will really change. I believe the average radio listener is already tuning in for more than two hours a day, which is just a step behind television. Capturing mind space is now a priority for radio players and marketeers. We don’t have very mature listenership till now, but I feel that listenership will mature with time. In many of our regional set-ups radio is a new experience and people are just excited about what is being thrown at them. I feel in a few years time, we will have deliver what the listener wants to hear. We still have to debate on the question, “what is it that the listener wants” and I feel most radio stations will have to answer this question and find out exactly why people listen to radio. Is it just for the jock talk, or it is just the humour quotient, or the music, or is it for information (as it is the listener is bombarded with information from all sources)!? So what is the demand really for? That question has to be answered www.radioduniya.in
What do you think are the major challenges, in terms of radio programming that the industry needs to find solutions to? As I told you, the challenges are many! All radio stations have to answer the question - What is the special niche that they are creating? We also need to understand that the challenge for radio now is to how best to generate and sustain new audiences and revenue streams through various new technologies that are coming in. At the same time, as I said, music content is similar, so the challenge is how to establish the distinction through song selection, content, packaging, humour, jock talk, the look of the channel. All these are daily challenges and they would only increase as the canvas gets bigger. 31
BIG FM gave Delhiites a rocking evening with the Rock On!! team performing live at the Select City Walk, Saket. This marked the cast’s second live concert in India, with the first being in Mumbai. Much to the delight of the audience, the entire star cast of the movie along with renowned music composing trio - Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy performed live. To make the concert all the more exciting BIG FM had initiated the ‘Rock with Rock-On!!’ campaign, which had the station’s RJs visiting various college campuses and giving a chance to few lucky students to jam with Farhan on stage. The event also marked the culmination of the Coolest Fresher contest, a BIG FM activity that started a month back. Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, Rock-On!! is directed by Abhishek Kapoor and cinematographed by Jason West. The film marks the debut of Farhan Akhtar as an actor and singer. It is also the first big screen appearance of small screen actor Prachi Desai, who plays the role of Farhan’s wife. The movie also stars Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Shahana Goswami and Luke Kenny. The film was released on August, 29, 2008 and has enthralled cine goers with some great foot thumping numbers. The music scored by Shankar Mahadeven, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa with Javed Akhtar’s lyrics has struck a chord with millions of music lovers. “Delhi’s only 100 chartbuster station, BIG 92.7 FM brought the best in music and movies together in Delhi, all on one evening, one stage, live-in concert. This was a unique experience that we brought to our listeners in Delhi and one that will be remembered for a long time to come,” said Manisha Tripathi, Station Director - BIG 92.7 FM 32
October 2008
| Radio Duniya
RJ Tuhin hosts the Fever Hot 20 at the Delhi station of Fever 104 FM. Though the station is all about the music, he tells us that talk is important too. More so as he gets less time to talk as compared to RJs at other stations. A lawyer by eduction, he decided to take the plunge and give radio a serious shot soon after completing his law studies. He joined Fever FM to understand the whole concept of radio and has learnt quite a lot in the one year that he has been with the station. He loves interacting with new people; it could be anybody in ofďŹ ce, or even on the streets and that is the reason he connects well with his audiences.
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What made you choose Radio Hosting? I was into voice overs, acting and related activities all through my school and college life. In my fourth year of law I heard a lot about radio and so I decided to give it a shot. I made a demo CD and sent it to a radio station, but then I did not really pursue it nor did I hear anything from them. Then, after I completed my education, I decided to give radio one final shot before starting my law practice. I made a new demo CD and gave it here at Fever. It was selected and that is how I got into radio. From law to radio... how did this happen? Well as I have already mentioned, I was always involved in activities that took me beyond my books, so I was into music, mimicry, drama and stuff all through college and that interest was carried forward during my law days as well. I guess my love for music and my interest in extra curricular activities just culminated in radio as a medium. I took the plunge once I finished law and I decided that I would give radio a shot as that was something I just wanted to do for myself. Whether it was meant to happen this way or not is something that I really don’t know but its been fun! Well lawyers do have the gift of the gab, so has your educational training helped you in doing radio? In both law and radio, you are paid for speaking and the way you talk is what decides how successful you really are. I guess the gift of the gab is central to both professions and I am surely doing what I would be doing as a lawyer too.... and that is talking! What are the similarities and differences between the two? Both involve a lot of talking and to be really good, you have to have a way with words! Okay... jokes apart, they are two 34
very different fields and it would be wrong to compare them. Still if I have to, I’d say, being a lawyer involves a far more serious manner of conducting oneself and talking, while as an RJ you can have a lot of fun while talking. As an RJ also one has to be professional and conduct oneself in a particular manner. There are different elements of fun at both the places, but there is a great element of fun in RJing which is absent in a court of law. How has it been working with Fever? How long has it been now since you began doing radio? I joined Fever as an intern to understand the whole concept of radio. It has been a year now and the time I have spent here has been fantastic (touchwood!). I’ve got to learn so much and I have grown a lot in this one year. My bosses here never behaved like ‘bosses’ they were always around to guide me and played the role of teachers. The other RJs also kept on correcting me, which boosted my morale. Tell us more about your journey.... from being an OB jock to hosting the Fever Hot 20 now. As I have already mentioned, I joined Fever as an intern and worked for three months as an intern. Then I joined the company as an Associate Producer. I practised on how to October 2008 | Radio Duniya
present the show and there by started with early morning live show (4 to 6 am), which lasted for 2 months. Moving on, I started doing a feature in the morning show called, Sadak Chap, which went on to become a big hit. Besides being an outdoor broadcast jock I used to do the late night show (1 to 4 AM) and then I moved on to host the Fever Hot 20. Now that I think about it, it has been quite a journey yaar! I should be proud of myself... hai na? Do you get to enjoy doing theatre now or does radio take up all your time? To do theatre one needs a lot of time for practice, specially during the evenings and that is when I am hosting my show. So, I hardly get any time for theatre now. But I am not complaining... I absolutely love what I am doing. I am pleasing so many people with my show everyday!!! What do you feel are the pros and cons of the job? Well I can say that at times people just don’t understand the serious business that radio is. They have this misconception that it is a whole lot of fun and games, which it is not! There are times when people are like “Radio karte ho! Uske ilava kya karte ho!?” (Besides radio what else do you do?) They think its just talking for four hours and playing songs, and that is a wrong image about the work RJs do. There is a lot of hard work that goes into each link that we have to speak on-air. If not Radio Hosting, then what? Then a lawyer, for which I am trained! Describe your most memorable radio moment? Has to be the time when I got to do the drive time show! I just could not believe that my bosses had such faith in my abilities to pull off a show like that! I was so shocked when I got to know that they wanted me to do that show! I was like “Me!? And drive time!? Are you serious!?” So the first time I actually did the drive time show.... there was this amazing sense of joy, pride and I was like “Man! You have arrived!”
I talk to my listeners in my normal voice and about the usual stuff. I don’t give gyan on radio, I talk just like I am talking to you right now or the way I chat with my friends. What are the essential requirements for being a Radio Host? I think its very important to be confident, to be yourself, have faith in yourself and your abilities. Also, one should have a good voice, one that sounds nice on air. Just saying that “I talk a lot or all my friends say that I am a chatter box so I can be a good jockey” won’t be of much use. One has to have the ability talk in front of the microphone, with nobody else around and be good at that to really be an RJ.... and contrary to popular perceptions its not an easy task! What about sense of humour? I think, if one is confident and talks well, humour is not absolutely essential. Also, one should not try to put humour in everything that one says, as that just kills the show. When I started off, I used to do that because I felt RJs just had to be really funny! One day my boss told me that I must not go over the top with humour. He said I was looking for humour where there was no scope and that was not a good idea. I would say, one can be funny if there is a scope for fun in the show format and just putting in humour for the sake of it is not good. How do you prepare yourself for every show? I need to be in the office at least three four hours before the show. I prepare along with my producer, we scan newspapers together and decide what all we are going to talk about. Our station is all about the music and we don’t get all the time in the world for bakbak unlike other stations. We have to talk sense and give our listeners what they want in a much shorter span of time. So, a lot of preparation goes into each show that we do, a lot of brainstorming happens. I have a clear idea about
Was there anyone or anything that inspired you to take up this profession? My mother, she has hosted shows on Yuva Vani and encouraged me all through. Also, my father, who is a lawyer by profession, he told me if radio is what you want to do, go ahead and do it. Actually, all my friends and family members have been very supportive, they have all been with me and encouraged me to excel in my chosen field. Even now, when I talk to me peers - those who were studying law with me – they tell me, “Yaar! Its really good that you chose to do radio as you are doing something you really love!” What is your USP? I am very witty and I just be myself on air! I’m not a put-on, I don’t fake accents and try to fool people while I’m on-air. www.radioduniya.in
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what I will say during the show. At times the whole script of the show is written.... from the Aahs! to the Ohos!, but mostly, I work with just the basic concepts in place and then the words just flow. Does hosting a particular prime slot matter to you? Having done a late night show, an early morning show and now the drive time show... I can say that time slots do matter a lot. You see, the audiences tuning into a particular show are very different and so is the show. In the mornings, people are looking for information and updates along with some good music to prepare themselves for the day at office or college. In the evenings, when I do my show, people are on their way back home and are looking for fun and relaxation. So, hosting a particular time slot matters in the sense that you have to be prepared and be in a different frame of mind for each day part. Where do you see yourself a decade from now? A decade is too far away! I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow! I may be the CEO of some radio station or in a national team or probably not be in India. Then again, I maybe be with Fever FM ten years from now (not continuously though ) We’ll all have to wait and watch I guess! A radio jockey is “born” or “made”? I think you cannot be born to be a radio jockey. You might have certain traits that help you be a good jockey, but first you’ll have to find out for yourself – what is it that you really want to do in life. There are many people out there who sound better than the RJs on-air, and these people are working in a different field, where they are not using the potential of their voices, but they are happy in their line of work. Being born with the gift of the gab is just one part of the story, a lot more is needed to be a good RJ. As far as training is concerned, I really did not undergo any radio training other than my stint here as an intern. I think the most important aspect is that one has to work on one’s potential and polish it the right way. It is a lot of hard work and one must be careful that he/she does not copy the style of an already established RJ. Radio has its set of famous personalities and many a times a new kid comes in sounding just like a famous RJ, but that does not lead to any success... trust me on this one! 36
Snapshot Queries: The most important thing in my life... My voice (meri aawaaz) When not on-air, I am... Doing research, reading, listening to music, playing guitar, catching with friends I live by the mantra... Keep smiling and finish what you start I dream about... To make it big very soon Will never forget... The people who supported me all throughout and my roots Love listening to..... Bollywood music, Bon Jovi, GnR, Johnny Cash, Billi Joel and the list goes on and on Love watching... Comedy and action movies I never leave home without... My wallet, cell phone, handkerchief, watch and my attitude My USP... I am my self that is - funny and approachable My epitaph would read... I still have to find words for that. Don’t worry I am not going that early Would love to be marooned on an island with.... Drew Barrymore
October 2008 | Radio Duniya
RJ Aditi always wanted to be a part of the entertainment industry. She hosts Tafri Junction and Style Dhaba on S FM Ahmedabad and confesses to be suffering from ‘verbal diahorrea’ She believes that her USP is her spontaneity. Apart from RJing, she dabbles in music, dance, modelling and fashion show choreography. The best aspect of being a jock for her, is that she gets to meet many important people, which would not have been possible otherwise.
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What made you choose radio hosting?
If not radio hosting, then what?
Actually, it was more of an accident than a conscious choice. I had dabbled a bit in modelling and dancing during my college days. Radio happened when I had just finished my graduation exams and was waiting for the results. Around that time, a friend told me about this new radio station coming up in Ahmedabad. I decided to give it a try, though I had no clue of what I was supposed to do. I always wanted to be a part of the entertainment industry as I knew I had some talent. I gave the interview my best shot and to my surprise, I was selected as an OB jock. But, it didn’t take me long to get my own prime- time show, which was a great experience.
Apart from music, I also enjoy dancing and choreographing. In fact I have choreographed a couple of shows and have also done a couple of fashion shows during my college days. So, I guess I would have ended up either starting my own dance academy or doing some modeling assignment. But one thing is for sure, I would have always been a part of the entertainment industry.
How has it been working with S FM? How long has it been now since you began doing radio? I have been doing radio for one and a half year now, and it has been only two months with S FM. I think this is one of the coolest places to work with, my colleagues are wonderful, the environment here is second to none. I mean, where in the world can you play cricket inside your office, without your bosses frowning upon you!? I think the work environment makes a lot of difference to your output. And luckily, I have good mentors who understand the creative needs of radio jockeys. What are the pros & cons of the job? Music is my first love and it makes me happy. This translates into a positive energy that I can transfer to my listeners. I firmly believe that I have the best job in the world and I don’t think I have got anything to complain about. Apart from the glamour aspect, I get to meet so many important people of the society, which would not have been possible otherwise. It is really interesting to know about the success story of their lives. There are a few drawbacks, like sometimes I have to work on public holidays as well when everyone else is enjoying. But then you get some, you lose some! 38
Describe your most memorable radio moment? I was working with this other radio station, and India was playing Pakistan at the 20-20 World Cup. We were supposed to give out match updates. I was inside the studio and someone came in and said that one of the Indian players was out. So, in my link, I screamed in excitement that an Indian player was out. Just after my link, the Programming Head came inside the studio and said “Hey you sounded so excited when the batsman got out! Please tone down a bit, the batsman’s on our side”. We won the match, and in a surprise move, the Programming Head decided to extend my 3 hour show to a 5 hour to celebrate India’s victory! Also, once Parthiv Gohil was with me in the studio. Out of nowhere, he started flirting with me on-air. He said, “Ramzan ke din mat nikalna, warna koi chand samajhkar roza tod dega”. I was completely embarrassed, and we had a nice laugh. Was there anyone or anything that inspired you to take up this profession? I always thought that the most interesting part of being an RJ is that one gets to interview a lot of celebrities. That’s one thing that always interested me. I must admit that this is probably a big reason why I took up jockeying as a serious profession. Also, whenever I listened to other stations, I always felt that I could do much better, and probably play a better song list. After becoming an RJ, I used to look up at RJ Dhwanit for October 2008 | Radio Duniya
inspiration. He has a wonderful radio personality and has a strong fan following in Ahmedabad. What is your USP? Where do I start!? I am blessed with ‘verbal diahorrea’, so I can go on and on without breaking into sweat. I love talking to people and have been accused of eating people’s heads off. I am very spontaneous about my responses, I talk straight to the point, and I think people really like my in-your-face attitude. Most of the time I don’t sound politically correct. But I think they recognise me and appreciate me with this attitude. I am also well tuned to the vibes of the people and the city, and can speak in their lingo with ease. This gives me a definite advantage over others. What are the essential requirements for being a radio host? More than anything else, it is confidence and having a good radio personality that matters the most. The listener should create a picture of the RJ in his mind whenever he or she listens to the Jock. It is important to be in sync with the listeners and try to be as understanding as possible. You should also have a good sense of music, and should know how to go with the flow of the music. What I say on-air and the music that I play should not be tangential. Also, you should know every nook and corner of the city, as well as all the hotspots, and what is happening around you. Yes, sense of humor is a must and being technology savvy also helps.
What is your show all about? I do two shows everyday. One is called Style Dhaba, which is all about style and style quotient. Its not just about clothes or jewellery, but about individual styles as well. It can be regarding the latest styles of excuses, styles of talking, styles of impressing girls, styles of mobile ring tones… the list goes on. I was surprised to find style hidden in so many facets of life. And the other one is Tafri Junction. Tafri is Urdu for fun. Everything fun goes in here, all my PJs, all the bollywood gossips, interviews, weird news etc. I get to comment on anything and everything with a dash of humor. I have also created a fictional character called Pappu for this show, who reacts to everything I say through weird sounds. Does hosting a particular prime slot matter to you? Definitely, it matters to me as I have been doing prime time shows right from the start of my career. I enjoy doing the evening prime time more because I feel that I can pep up my audience who are probably driving home from work and need to be lightened up. I keep the mood light and try to be as humorous as possible without sounding too corny.
Tell us more about your journey that brought you to the show you are doing at present. It has been a dream journey till now. I have not achieved much, but what I have got till now is nothing short of a dream. I mean, from a confused collegian to a prime time RJ, that too in such short span of time, is nothing I ever dreamt of. Yes, there was a lot of hard work and long hours involved, not only by me, but also by my mentors and seniors, who knew my potential. When I started doing the evening show at the last station where I worked, I was able to connect to the listeners easily. I was very good and had developed a loyal base of listeners as well. The Programming Head of S FM knew me and he thought that I would be perfect for that slot here as well. He believes that I do full justice to the show, and I don’t think I have let him down, yet! How do you prepare yourself for every show? I prepare thoroughly for every show, and make sure that my producer is aware of the exact content that would go on-air. I discuss the fabric of the show with the Programming Head and the Producer, and then I go about preparing the script. I make sure that I add a lot of humor to my script. One secret is that I listen to all the other radio stations and, make sure that I do not repeat what has already been covered by all other stations. That way, my show sounds fresh and unique. www.radioduniya.in
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Snapshot Queries: The most important thing in my life.... Love When not on-air, I am.... On the ground!!! What is that one most important factor that makes listeners connect to an RJ?
I live by the mantra....... Do it before you die and live to tell the tale!
The most important thing is to be original, and not sound artificial. I take my listeners through the same mood that I am in. If I don’t like something, I say so point blank. It is also important to be able to connect to the people via their local lingo, people should feel that this RJ is one amongst us. In this way, they will be able to relate to you and everything that you say.
I dream about...... Akshay Kumar giving me CPR!!
Where do you see yourself a decade from now? I have not looked that far, but I guess I would still be associated with the radio industry. I would probably be the National Music Manager of some radio station, where I get to decide what kind of music should be played. I also want to do some sort of modeling in the future. So don’t be surprised if you find me posing for some magazine. A radio jockey is “born” or “made”? I think that a radio jockey is almost always born. But it is important to nurture this skill. Many people have good voice, but cannot hold a conversation. Many can do that too, but do not project a good radio personality. A successful radio jockey has to be a bit of everything for everyone. And I think that it takes a fair bit of practicing to be good.
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Will never forget ....... The first time I was asked for an autograph! Love listening to...... Trance, soft music, electro and hard rock Love watching...... Horror flicks and psycho thrillers. I never leave home without.... Guchu-puchu (my soft toy dog) and an extra pair of shoes! My Epitaph would read..... Finally she is quiet! Would love to be marooned on an island with.... Definitely with my hubby and I am looking for him
October 2008 | Radio Duniya
training
Classes in progress
Noel (R) with a student
The radio industry in India is at a nascent stage, but the time is not far when the industry will grow in huge proportions. There are close to 250 private FM radio stations on-air right now and the number will more than double, as and when the third phase of licensing takes place. In such a scenario the role of the radio jockey becomes all the more important as it is this voice that establishes the real connect with the listeners. So how does one become a good radio jockey? We spoke to former RJ Noel Keymer to know more...
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Noel calls himself “RadioActive” as he belongs to the generation that grew up listening to radio, not television. He did his first show on AIR Mumbai way back in the late 80s. In 1999 he got on the FM bandwagon with AIR Rainbow and also did a short stint with Red FM. He is a radio professional who has worked in various capacities and has done everything related to the medium. From scripting, hosting, writing, producing, making jingles, lecturing budding radio professionals to spot selling, he has done it all. Noel lectures on radio to the ADMA (Advertising & Marketing) PR and JR Post Graduate students at Xavier’s Institute of Mass Communication. He also runs the ABCDE (Announcing, Broadcasting, Compeering, Dubbing and E book Narration) course at the institute. On being asked why he decided to enter the field of radio training, he says,“When I made a comeback to radio in 1999, the one most asked question was, is there somewhere I can learn RJing, and the answer was a sad no! So I decided to cash in on this vaccum and started India’s 1st RJ class, and there has been no looking back!”. According to him the industry is still in its infancy, but it is picking up real fast. Whatever we are witnessing now he feels is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Most channels are playing it very safe, sticking to the tried and trusted formula. But getting listeners to tune in to a radio show, day in and day out is a huge task, specially in this age when there are so many radio stations vying for the listeners attention. Despite all the odds if listeners do tune in to a show again and again, chances are that it is the radio jockey who is drawing them to listen to the show. What radio needs is new ideas, new programmes, new voices and in another three to four years from now radio in India will be really rocking. Radio jockeying is an art, which unfortunately not many of the jocks in the country, have been able to master. There are several radio training institutes operating the country and some are still in the pipeline, yet the industry laments the lack of trained manpower. Clearly there is a lack of synergy between the industry demands and the kind of training given to students by the institutes. In such a scenario the course offered at XIMC promises to deliver something different to the students. Understanding the ever changing needs of the radio industry, the course puts special emphasis on hands on training for the RJing students. The curriculum includes training students in various nuances Noel’s courses include training on : • Understanding, exploring and exploiting of voice • How to write a radio friendly script • Auditioning for AIR and other stations • Auditioning for music shows, interviews and dial-in shows • Breathing exercises • Overcoming common speech problems • Voice modulation • Hindi RJing • Live presentation • Overcoming tension before a show • Correct pronunciation • Dubbing and news reading 42
of jockeying like various styles of speaking, announcing, making one’s voice marketable and factors like clarity in public speaking while doing shows on radio. The maximum number of students that are enrolled for the course at Xavier Institute of Mass Communication is ten. The aim of the course is to impart quality training about RJing and personally groom the students who are enrolled. The institute is constantly researching to know about all the latest trend that are coming in terms of technology and other aspects of RJing so that they can give the best training to students. Xavier’s is also slated to join the list of community radio operators in the country. Work in regard to setting up the station is on full swing and it should be operational by January 2009 according to Noel. Often people mistake that jockeying is all about talking and nothing else matters. Any jockey will vouch for the fact that you need to be prepared in many ways to ensure that you give to your listeners exactly what they want to listen to. Radio is said to be the theater of the mind and for a listener to be able to create and connect to that theater, many things need to be given to them in just the right proportion. A person can be born with the gift of the gab, but he or she needs to put in lots of effort in the way they talk to be able to connect to the masses through radio. There is absolutely no disagreement on the view that radio is going to be the next big thing in the Indian media scene. If the Government approves the long standing demand of allowing news on radio, then a whole new avenue will open up for jockeys. They certainly need to keep themselves ready so that they can face the challenge ahead. Noel has recently came out with a book on radio jockeying called “Everything you Wanted To Know About Radio Jockeying... But Didnt Know whom to Ask! The book aims to help just about anybody who wants to become an RJ. The book begins with all the basic inherent qualities that one essentially requires to become an RJ, and then goes on to talk about scripting, voice modulation, presentation skills, auditioning etc,. This book has been written keeping in mind the requirements of those who are interested in becoming an RJ but don’t know how to go about it. With a large number of radio stations springing up, the RJing craze is catching up in a big way with the people. And with more stations slated to enter to the scene radio broadcasting this craze will only increase. In fact most mass media training institutes have already added or are in the process of adding courses on radio to their curriculum. The book primarily focuses on the qualities required to train as an RJ, the art of scripting, ideas to crack the RJing auditions, voice modulations, command on languages etc. Referring to the target audience, Noel says, “The book is basically meant for the small towns where there are no RJ training institutes and youngsters need to know about the profession. Also, RJ courses are often costly and before spending money for such courses, the youngsters can find out if they are qualified to be an RJ by reading and knowing about the profession.” October 2008 | Radio Duniya
news Industry Updates
Suno Lemon completes one year Suno Lemon 91.9 FM celebrated its first birthday in a grand style! The entire birthday week was like a carnival, where everybody was busy in making the week titled Lemon Rasila Week a success. The station was launched on 7th September 2007 with the concept of Imaan ka Asar. To celebrate its first anniversary, Suno Lemon launched a radio reality show titled Harra-ab Ayega Mazza. The winner of this show will get an opportunity to work with Suno Lemon and a cash prize of Rs. 50,000. On the day of the anniversary, from 7 am to 11 pm the team from Suno Lemon went to various places and celebrated the birthday with listeners. Rock band Mad or What made the occasion an unforgettable event for listeners with its performance. Guests who attended the function included renowned poets Jatin Daas, Shubh Parsanna, S. Harshvardhan and Udayan Vajpai. Ruchi Singh, Station Director, Suno Lemon 91.9 FM said, “In last one year we have done lots of activities but this birthday was unique for everybody.” Young Achiever’s Award for Red FM’s Anuj Singh Anuj Singh, National Marketing Head & Station Head (Mumbai), RED FM received the Young Achiever Award for ‘Business Leader’ for his outstanding skills in business and creative intellect. These awards were introduced by Ad Club for the first time this year to felicitate CEOs and CMOs for their commendable effort in taking their organizations to success and recognition. The awards have been created to recognize and encourage young talent in the advertising and marketing communications industry.
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Arjun Rampal rocks at Radio One Radio One 94.3 FM had Bollywood star Arjun Rampal in the studios in conversation with RJs Jaggu and Tarana on the Good Morning Mumbai show. The star of hit movie Rock On spoke about his experience shooting for the film, his friendship with the cast, learning to play the guitar, his tryst with modeling, and his upcoming Bollywood films The Last Lear and EMI with Sanjay Dutt that will release soon. Arjun also met with winners of a contest the station had run, spoke with callers and gave away passes to the premiere of The Last Lear. Said Arjun, “I think Jaggu and Tarana really rock! I enjoyed this morning of interviews with them and conversation with listeners and fans.” Speaking about his movies Arjun said, “Indian movie going audiences have really evolved. The three films we talked about are very different in nature. I’m glad there’s space in Indian cinema today for all three to coexist.” In the course of his tenure, Anuj has been instrumental in conceptualising and executing numerous successful marketing strategies and campaigns which include the now famous ‘Touch Points’ strategy of Anytime Anywhere Marketing and award winning campaigns like the Red Mike which led RED FM to the numero uno position in Mumbai in RAM. Amongst the other campaigns of RED FM where he has played a pivotal role, are, the award winning Bajaao for a Cause & the Bajaate Raho Awards. At Red FM, Anuj has been responsible for establishing and raising the bar of the marketing function to unprecedented heights. He has been a part of the core team which has led Red FM from success to success, be it the numerous Awards and Accolades such as the Emvies for the Best Media Marketer in 2006, ERA for the Best FM Brand in 2008, the nomination for the Emvies for the Best Media Strategy in 2008 or RED FM’s consistent No.1 position in Mumbai since the inception of RAM last year. Post receiving the coveted award, Anuj Singh said, “I am really happy to receive this award, and am very grateful to my mentor Abraham Thomas for his guidance and support. I would also like to thank him for giving me the tremendous opportunity to do what I wanted to in the organization, for building a culture which encouraged all of us to think out of the box and for always being a guiding force.”
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news campaign
Tadka’s emotional CSR drive
Radio One launches literacy campaign
95 FM Tadka contributed in saving the life of a 6-year of girl in Kota who was suffering from Acute Cardiac Disease (ACD) i.e a hole in the heart. Her father could not afford the expenses of operation in his meager salary
Radio One, in association with Concern India Foundation and Crossword Bookstores, has launched a book drive called Radio One Literacy Drive.
When RJs of 95 FM Tadka came to know of this tragic story they started a campaign Meenakshi ko Bachao wherein they urged the people of Kota to help the kid. RJ Sanjal initiated the drive and whoever heard about the child’s plight deposited the money in to the account of the child’s father.
Listeners can take the books they wish to donate to any Crossword bookstore near them. The books will be collected by the store and Radio One will then give them to Concern India Foundation for use in their programmes. The book drive is being promoted on-air, as well as through print ads in MidDay, all week long.
People came in groups to Tadka’s office to express their concern. Students in Kota went out of the way by donating their pocket money for the treatment of Meenakshi. Rs.1 lakh was collected in just 7 days through this campaign. With enough financial support and thousands of prayers, Meenakshi has been operated upon now.
Radio One CEO Vineet Singh Hukmani said, “Literacy and learning can open new doors in life. By donating books that you have enjoyed you make sure that others who may not have that opportunity due to financial or other constraints are also able to benefit and learn. Radio One’s Literacy Drive is an example of Radio One’s constant efforts to provide relevant links for listeners who want to lend a helping hand.”
Radio City to support ‘The Red Ribbon Express’
Radio Choklate lends helping hand to flood victims
Radio City 91.1FM is partnering Gujarat State AIDS Control Society to support The Red Ribbon Express, a train with a mission, in the cities of Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. Championing this national community mobilisation initiative in the state of Gujarat, Radio City has extended its support to this holistic and comprehensive campaign in the nation’s ongoing crusade against HIV/ AIDS. To this effect, the station has conceptualised - Radio City Cares Zindagi Zindabad, an on-air awareness campaign offering an all-encompassing and sustained support to The Red Ribbon Express.
Radio Choklate lend a helping hand to the flood victims in Orissa. Team Radio Choklate made a humble request to all its clients to pool in all kinds of resources and join in its efforts to extend support to the victims. Emotional appeal to the public were aired by the radio jockeys on all their shows to generate monetary help for the Choklate Relief Fund. The jockeys went on a door to door campaign and appealed for relief items from all housing colonies of the twin city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Commenting on this initiative, Rana Barua, Executive VicePresident, National Head - Programming and Marketing, Radio City 91.1FM said, “It is a matter of great pride for us to partner an initiative of such scale and be able to contribute to a national cause. The sheer compelling reach of radio makes it an excellent vehicle to take such a critical message across to the people of Gujarat. As a condition looming large on humanity, every step towards HIV/ AIDS awareness counts.” 44
The effort was fruitful, responses poured in like a water fall, and the station collected sarees, cash and medicines. A relief squad was immediately formed comprising of marketing, technical and programming executives along with RJ’s which swung into action and went to the worst flood affected areas. October 2008 | Radio Duniya
One World South Asia’s latest initiatives on local content exchange aim to facilitate communication at the most basic level. The tools will further the cause of development by giving a platform to voices that would otherwise go unheard. OneWorld South Asia (OWSA) launched Ek duniya anEk awaaz, a portal that facilitates local audio content exchange and the latest version of Open eNRICH 4.1, a content sharing tool jointly developed with UNESCO and National Informatics Centre. These initiatives are expected to enhance the communication opportunities at the grassroots level. Both these initiatives are important milestones in OWSA’s journey towards creating a host of enabling technologies and platforms for poor rural communities to share knowledge and content that would best herald their progress. (EDAA) is a portal that aims to catalyse audio content exchange and collaborations amongst communities. A community-oriented audio content exchange bank, EDAA offers free and open access to local knowledge in regional languages. It serves as a South Asian archive of development and Millennium Development Goals (MDG) related audio clips that community radio stations with limited resources can leverage to ensure high quality of content.
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Launching the portal, Minja Yang, Director and UNESCO Representative in India said: “There is a need to create space for everybody and to make sure that it is not encroached upon by the dominant voices.” Through EDAA, one can upload the audio content, which on approval by the moderator will be visible on the site, to be shared and exchanged with others. The audio clip to be uploaded will need to be of a certain quality (technologically) and the content must not be vulgar or abusive. Audio content is already available at the EDAA site related to topics like education, health, poverty and livelihood, environment and development, climate change, gender issues, media and development, cultural issues and governance among others. The audio content exchange bank offers free and open access to local knowledge in various local languages. EDAA is the ideal place for community radio stations with limited resources to ensure that their voices are heard even beyond the community
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where they operate. The audio content can also be used as a leverage by these community radio stations for timely and regular broadcast.
initiative of OneWorld. The software can be extensively used for gathering public opinion, which would bring more relevance in getting first-hand data from the rural sector.
The EDAA concept was born out of OWSA’s experience of initiating people’s radio; producing and broadcasting radio programmes on socially relevant issues. Through its programme EK Duniya EK Awaaz, it has been building competencies of grassroots radio broadcasters across the region, and creating a library of community-oriented audio content on a range of issues related to the MDGs and beyond.
This software is currently in use in the WHO Health InterNetwork Project, UNESCO’s INFOYOUTH project, and in the District Rural Development Agencies of state governments, including northeastern states of India. OKN’s partners in six countries - India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kenya, Senegal, and Zimbabwe - are using the software to create local content in 14 languages.
Speaking on the occasion, Naimur Rahman, Director OneWorld South Asia said, “The underlying principle of EDAA is to help community radio and radio broadcasters in communities, to
Launching this unique software, B.K. Gairola, Director General National Informatics Centre: “Today various such platforms are available. What is needed is to make people in remote areas contribute to knowledge sharing.” He further added that we need to empower the people so that they can make the best sue of the latest technologies and software available. In a developing country like India, rural communities severely lack resources that can enable them to get on to the road of development. Taking this into consideration, the software has been made user friendly and has been tested over a period of time to detect the errors if any. This was done just to ensure that users do not face any problems while working with these software.
share content on an open content exchange principle and to try and create a platform for the community to own it and make it a community oriented tool.” He also said that these two initiatives would take local content to communities at the grassroots level. Introducing the Open eNRICH version 4.1, D.C. Misra, Senior Technical Director, NIC, pointed out that such initiatives had been undertaken in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Africa too. This is the first product brought out by NIC which is public domain under license, it can be downloaded and customised by anybody for non-commercial purposes. It can be used for content addition, modification, updation, contribution and content publication. Open eNRICH 4.1 is the latest version of Open eNRICH, a content sharing tool developed jointly with UNESCO and National Informatics Centre (NIC), Government of India. Open eNRICH is a customised, user-friendly software solution on open source software platform that facilitates content sharing in local languages even in rural areas, where there is limited Internet connectivity. It has been used to support the requirements of the Open Knowledge Network (OKN) 46
The software will be installed at a community multimedia center or tele-centre where rural communities can use it for exchanging and accessing information. The personnel from the tele-centre will be trained on how to use Open eNRICH and the community center will take the responsibility of getting the community to use the software. The software is also compatible with WAN, LAN and the Internet and allows for communities to independently upload, download, print and share any information that is of use to them. Ashish Sen, President, AMARC Asia and Pacific and Executive Director of VOICES, Bangalore said, “The road has been laid for us. We now need to walk on it to ensure that those who follow do not find a dead end.” He added that to sustain such initiatives it was important to channelise collective energies and strengthen efforts to generate relevant local content. He also spoke about the potential benefits of the portal, including highlighting the needs of the most needy, networking at local to global levels, and campaigning, and urged the practitioners of Community Radio in India to collaborate and share content on the portal. These tools will surely help the cause of community radio in the country. It was in 2002 when the Indian government decided to open up the community radio broadcasting sector by announcing a new policy, under which, CR licenses could be granted to educational institutions and organisations recognised by the central or the state governments. But community radio took off in a real sense in November 2006, when the government opened up the sector to NGOs as well. October 2008 | Radio Duniya
This story, related to the Bihar floods is one that will help us rediscover the power of a small local radio station to reach to the hearts of the people and truly make a difference. Radio played a great role in disseminating information and helping people get connected with their loved ones. For the disillusioned masses of the state ravaged by Kosi, radio played the constant supporter and comforter as it helped re-establish the bond of love amid the chaos.
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Amjad Khan, not the dreaded Gabbar of Sholay, but an 8 year old lad in a new shirt, given in the camp, is gazing at faces, on the platforms of Bathnaha railway station, which has been turned into a mega relief camp for flood affected people of Bihar. Eyes dried in search of his abba (father) and two aapas (elder sisters) who have been swept away by the cruel Kosi. Embracing a branch of tree for five days and fighting for life without any food and drinking water, he was rescued by army personnel and brought to the relief camp of Batnaha. It took 10 minutes for the AIR team to make this boy speak and then he spoke, live on radio through a mobile phone. Voice choked with emotions and fear “Abba, ahan kahan chee? I am alone here. Please come and take me back”. Hundreds of eyes surrounding him in the camp swelled with tears. Anil Tiwari of AIR Purnea, who was accompanying the team could rediscover the power of his small local radio station to reach to the hearts of the people. This team from AIR Directorate was dispatched to Bihar on 8th September to address the post flood distress of the victims of Kosi. The IT team at Delhi had developed a software which could transfer all the messages coming to a telephone number to a centralised database and load it on a server space. A provision had also been kept for uploading the missing persons’ information and posting messages from the field via internet. Apart from enlivening the AIR stations, this team travelled extensively deep into the flood affected areas and mega 47
relief camps. There were heart touching moments at every spot. People in groups with their invaluable radio close to the heart gathered around the team and poured out their despair as if they had found the most trusted relative for years. Akashvani had visited them for the first time after the catastrophe. The staff of local AIR stations worked relentlessly with a great sense of responsibility and dedication. The AIR team, after reaching Bhagalpur on 9th September coordinated the implementation of the special helpline module from the AIR stations of Bhagalpur, Patna, Darbhanga and Purnea. Once the module was publicised SMSs, messages through message box and information of missing/found person started pouring in, which were broadcast at regular intervals by these stations. The team visited some relief camps and marooned villages around Khagaria and Sonbarsha. Travelling in
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October 2008 | Radio Duniya
wooden boat for two kilometers through the flood water, the AIR team reached Aakah villages in water to find the villagers waiting for food, clothes, medicines and drinking water. The roads in the village had become like canals and had converted the single village in to a group of small islands. At AIR Darbhanga the situation was amazing. P.N. Jha, A.K. Roy along with engineering friends were busy answering the phones at the console and directing the presenters in the studio. The phone-in programme being broadcast from AIR Darbhanga, thrice daily, was getting a wide response and was highly awaited by thousands of listners. On 12th September at 6.40 PM a choking voice in the live phone-in programme of AIR Darbhanga, is searching for his father who was missing for the past 10 days. The message was on air. At 7.20 PM a brimming voice came in the same hour long live phone-in programme “Don’t worry; your father is safe at Saharsa”. Radio again united a family. Manikant Jha, popularly known as voice of AIR Darbhanga, who was sleeping for three hours for past 15 days smiled again. All the messages received through SMS on the AIR helpline number were automatically transferred to a data base and uploaded on a central server at Delhi created by IT division of AIR. The frontline stations of Bihar i.e. AIR Darbhanga, AIR Bhagalpur, AIR Patna and AIR Purnea would access this message and within no time it would be on air, reaching every nook and corner of Bihar. Some of the announcements carried by AIR, Darbhanga, Bhagalpur, Purnea and Patna were: Shri Bijendra Mishra, who is safe at SSB Camp, Bathnaha is searching for Sh. Shankar Mishra and his family who were at Balua Bazaar, Saupaul. If they are listening to this broadcast, they may contact Bijendra Mishra. Sh. Bhavnath Singh, aged 65 years is missing since 01-092008. Shri Prafull Kumar Roy from Naruar, Madhubani, is impatiently searching for him. Information about missing or found persons can also be given to AIR, Darbhanga, Purnea, Patna and Bhagalpur. Akashvani stands with you during this testing time and will spread your message throughout the State. We are sure, with our efforts, www.radioduniya.in
your prayers and blessings of the Almighty, your families will be re-united. Hundreds of such messages are still reaching All India Radio through SMS, phones and internet, which are being broadcast regularly. Scenes of tens of people surrounding a radio set and listening curiously, waiting for the news of their dear ones is a common phenomenon across the relief camps, in the marooned villages and in the temporary hutments lining both sides of the roads. For people who have left their homes for the relief camps with just their clothes they could gather and the radio set this is the only medium to get information. In line with AIR Darbhanga the AIR stations of Purnea also started dedicated phone-in programme for flood victims of thirty minutes duration a day. The phones kept ringing and the messages kept pouring in. After two days, keeping in view the public demand, the programme was extended to one hour daily. The dedicated staff of All India Radio in Bihar was busy in production and broadcast of programme for the flood affected people, which is a praiseworthy effort. The current floods in Bihar were not just floods, the people who have seen it and have saved their lives staying on tree tops, stranded in the waters call it pralay (a disaster). It was a national catastrophe. It was a challenge and All India Radio has proved that it is the only source of information and mode of communication, a trusted friend and above all the ray of hope. It had already proved this role during the tsunami, the super cyclone of Orissa and many other natural calamities. It is well publicised for the people in the areas that are regularly experiencing the anger of the mighty nature to keep a torchlight and a radio set ready to face it. In the absence of electricity and uprooted communication towers the battery powered radio set is the only link with the outer world. Thus, these were testing times for radio and it proved that even amidst the glare of hundreds of television channels and glossy magazines it remains the trusted well wisher of common folks.
Ashok Kumar Panigrahi Programme Executive, TPES, AIR ashokkpanigrahi@gmail.com
Bharat Bajaj Executive, Central Store, AIR bharatbajaj@yahoo.com
V R Hari Senior Engineering Assistant, IT Unit, P&D, DG AIR vrhari@air.org.in
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