FM Radio in Delhi - Roar with a "meow"

It all started with Ameen Sayani…who in a big way is responsible for glamorizing and popularizing the dying profession in our country. All India Radio once used to be the pioneer in the frequency space, today faces stiff competition from the likes of industrialists like Times group, India Today group, Times group, Entertainment Network (India) Limit etc to name a few. The above mentioned have not just taken the radio to a next level but also redefined the way the entertainment to ears used to be.

The era of interactive radio started with the players like Radio City (91.1), Radio Mirchi (98.3) and Red FM (93.5) and listening to radio was never the same again. The old gold image of radio was changed to hip-hop, rocking bolly wood songs from the latest flicks with pop songs.

Though the road to sustainability in the market was never going to be easy with Government of India being reluctant to open the market for private players and creating entry barriers such as high license fee. Still the wave had to hit and it hit strong taking the market along. The increase in competition saw the quality of programming achieving new heights and with the race on to grab every audience on, the variety in terms of programs and quality to serve got better and better.

Today Radio is not just a medium of music; it is much more than that. Right from morning hours to late night “love guru” shoes, radio now captures every moment of our day. The race is stiff and no one wants to lose space. The latest additions to the family like Fever 104 (Virgin Group) has taken the medium to an interesting platform where the channel is distributing money to the audience by asking them to participate in a game. 95 Fm is another channel, which like fever focuses more on national and international hits while 92.7 Big FM that has a contract with Actor Abhishek Bachan has entire bolly wood on their platter.


In the heat of competition it is becoming difficult for the companies to keep the audience with them. And fortunately or unfortunately every person with a pair of ears in place is an audience for the market. The marketers here face an interesting challenge as unlike TV shows, audience here is bound to sway away in the absence of quality and most importantly if the mood is not right! So how do you measure that the songs which you have on your play list to offer to the audience is in sync with they’re mood?

The answer is not clear as understanding consumer behavior in this scenario would be difficult a it pertains to the “emotional quotient” of the audience and hence it becomes extremely important for any service provider to establish that emotional connect.
Radio channels hence are focusing on creating shows and more importantly RJ’s. Besides human element, these channels keep the audience on their toes by keeping them in the loop by providing weather, traffic updates, playing hourly contests and initiating debates on current or social topics. So how does one create a niche when every channel has same audience and similar challenges and opportunity?

The Cat is here with a big bang. Err I mean “Meow”. Last week saw the launch of first ever radio channel dedicated only towards women. The channel seems to be a runaway hit with callers from all class, cities (mostly women). The channel tactics are clear, to capture the audience which listens to radio most often and for longer hours than any one else. Also the time of launch seems to be perfect as staying home is a far better and preferable option for housewives and working teachers who are in the middle of there summer break.

Whatever the \is success story means for the customer, it does not seems to bother our Prasar Bharti which apparently was the first one to graduate to FM wave but at the moment is silent and has retained its original touch and following the story of how DD has reacted (or not reacted) against private players in the short screen domain.

So whether it is “Dilli ki sabse pehle uthne wali ladki, Dilli ki Mahek” or “ Khurafati Nitin” or love guru, they are here to rock you all and they will not rest till they have every second of your non-working hour devoted to their channel. So next time you buy a mobile, a car stereo or for that matter a music system, make sure that it has the potential to incorporate all of them as it will simply get bigger and better!