What’s the FM Radio Scene? Do share..

By Rajesh on April 24, 2007

I haven’t been listening to as much FM, as I used to, but have been tracking some general trends etc.
Still predominantly about music (and proudly so, it would appear); some new programming and attempts to differentiate – however, one station starts something new, another follows super quickly (weekly countdowns being a case in point); new favourites are emerging – on my radar are Hits 95 (the most interactive in my opinion), AIR FM Rainbow (old fav), Fever 104 (am I the only one who also addresses it as “Ek so chaar bhukhar!?” :) – this one sounds great, am told they have invested in great equipment) and better believe it – Radio One!
Red FM – Radio Mirchi battle has turned ‘Red-Hot’, with Mirchi rolling out an extensive “Media planners are asses…” campaign – have they been losing ad. share?
I was thinking about putting up another FM Radio Poll here, but then decided to open a thread and ask readers to contribute with comments. That we can cover stations from across the country and comments can any day capture more than a poll.
Hope too that some from the stations would join in too to share thoughts, announcements and plans.
We are all waiting to hear…

More radio posts here!

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  • helo sir please please please please kindly launch red fm at metro city ALLAHABAD U.P. INDIA.WE ARE WAITING RE FM AT METRO CITY ALLAHABAD.KINDLY ACCEPT MY REQUEST AS SOON AS POSSIBLE .THANKYOU!
  • helo sir please please please please kindly launch red fm at metro city ALLAHABAD U.P. INDIA.WE ARE WAITING RE FM AT METRO CITY ALLAHABAD.KINDLY ACCEPT MY REQUEST AS SOON AS POSSIBLE .THANKYOU!
  • Santosh
    Hey Rajesh,
    Great work..Good luck bro :)
  • Nabanita Ghosh
    hi,
    my name is nabanita i want to be a cfmous rj please give me chnce to prove myself i hve done my 10+2 nd i wnt to do radio jockey course .
  • RJ ARVIND
    Come 2007 and radio buffs in 81 cities across India will be able to tune in to 287 new private radio stations. Industry experts estimate that this mini revolution will lead to 10-15,000 vacancies in the radio industry in the coming months. These numbers are set to increase manifold as, according to consultant PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the industry is expected to grow by 32 per cent over the next few years and rake in Rs 1,200 crore in revenue by 2010..now why am i saying this??...i am a radio jockey myself..feels good to be in this industry..almost 3 years for me now ....feels good abt the fact that our industry share in the pie is growing bigger with each year ..more competition would mean differentiated products on air..and greater challenges ahead for the industry professionals like us...
    its a one on one interaction with the listeners as i alwez maintain the distance between the on air mike and ur heart seems to be reducing by the hour
    if u have any feedback/suggestions do feel free to revert back on rjarvind@indiatimes.com
  • ginnie
    Wanna Be a JOCK on HIT
    Hi,
    HIT 95FM (Delhi) is giving you a chance to be on air & host a show for 1 hour....
    Yes its true..... All you need to do is call 39-95-95-95 & record a short demo (appox. 30 sec) & if they think you have it in you to host a show on DELHI's ONLY english radio station you will be on air for one WHOLE hour!!!!
    its UR chance to be in the spotlight & become world famous in DELHI!!!!
    Don't let this GOLDEN chance go...... Call now.....
    GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!
  • Suparnaa, Rekha - :)
  • suparnaa
    Hey!
    Rajesh, am all game any investors Rekha .... :)
  • Rekha - who knows maybe we will do it together. Have spoken with Suparnaa too :).
  • surabhi saxena
    For Radio jocky /Panel Producer/Programming Head
    SURABHI SAXENA- Surabhisaxena77@gmail.com
  • The radio scene in Delhi has changed so much in the past two years. While I find that AIR has not been progressive enough, it is still far better than some of the others. In terms of quality 95 and 104 are the best and they have proved that the market for content differentiation always existed (as opposed to the common refrain--that they are doling out what the market demands) and it was just a matter of someone going to the market !!! I would like to see a station that has more to offer than just music and the beginning of talk shows (not just celebrities !!) and discussions on varied topics--content beyond music---because I for one do not believe radio should be restricted to sports,news and music, when no other medium is !!!
  • Sid- Oops. You are right about that. Have you dropped them a line. I am sure if they sent you the hamper, the intent is honorable. Sometimes, packets get lost in mail or courier. My fav magazine subscription hasn't landed at all this week - sigh!
  • Siddhartha
    I really did like Red FM... till a few weeks back when I supposedly 'won' a prize on their Heinz contest. I did get the hamper (read all about it here - http://sidkhullar.com/blog/2007/04/19/bad-ass-fm/) and I was supposed to get a dinner for two coupon as well - for which i have received no response yet. i don't really want the dinner - its just that if you tell a chap he's won something, just give it to him guys!!
    Sid
  • Sonia - interesting that Fever 104 has crafted a place for itself. Neat.
  • sonia
    Fever 104 FM - "Ek so char bukhar"!! is certainly the big hit radio channel amongst most of the people I know.
    Personally speaking - in the little radio listening that I do while driving around town - I mostly end of choosing between the Hit 95 FM and Fever 104 FM. Why?.... guess these are doing something right with their show hosting and the interim advertisement bit!...
    But what Vipul said, echos my thoughts too.. 102.6 FM is a channel I miss! the way they used to play during the older days was another thing... nothing matches that - even with the red hot battles and all the numerous options to tune into... !!!
  • Vipul: Thanks for dropping by.
    Suparnaa- That's so Simply Suparnaa! Honest and from the core! :). Yes, like I said, I can see signs of change and sure things will only get more and more exciting.
    Looking forward to hear the western slot on Radio City and of course your new slot from 11 am :). It seems City is trying to come back into my list of favs. Lol.
    Glad to see you here. Keep visiting.
    R
  • Suparnaa
    Dear, Rajesh, I admire your earnestness in following the radio industry, its listeners like you that the stations require to survive and improvise. This is my first ever blog post so please excuse the lack of 'blog writing etiquettes' if there is any such thing.
    Radio, we all know is much more than it ever was before.....no one actually could have envisaged the market share radio too can possess, just a few years back... the good thing is that we've only gotten started.
    I hear so many times over comments like 'all sound same' ' no content differentiation' etc. Believe me, you know, No one would know that better and squirm further at the sound of these comments than the players themselves.... And all with in and despite the current restriction from the government of 'no current affairs' (Do you know words like 'update' invite the wrath of the babus) are trying their level best to be as different than the other guy. This, inspite of the fact that all are selling the same product which is primarily music... differntiation within the music and of course content.. yes possible!Radio City with their new FPC has taken bold new steps to implement the same (to begin with a 3 hour slot of english music every evening is already the delight for the western music starved Delhi population).........
    I personally would love to to have talk radio move in to the scenario too (And what a delight that would be) but am willing to wait...... for the audiences to mature.... So, dear Rajesh,slowly but surely its happening, differentiation in content, music etal... I hope we have enough discerning ears though, for more to happen...
  • ongoing crazed out war between channels has one thing in common........similarity of tracks......while switching to different channels one can really find at times the same track repetation.....
    besides that the NEW RADIO WAVE has considerably killed the CAR CD Players......specially with the crowd of 24 and above who are so engrossed in reaching the offices that the only music easily accesable is the Radio.....Digital quality produces amazing sound and one has forgotten that RADIO STATIC SOUND........ yet personally speaking i miss the Air FM 102.6 the way it use to play Retro and good rock numbers during older days....
  • KK- Nice link. Sums up the scene quite neatly :)
    Bids- Yes, shows the growing interest in radio. I do believe though that a lot of potential for radio is in rural India. Don't know what plans the private operators have there.
    Nandita- Thanks for the insights. Interesting to read " Kolkata has definite distinctions in Channels catering to a larger Hindi Speaking audience Vs a Bengali Speaking audience."
    Anyone has thoughts about this from other metro cities which are multi-lingual - say Bangalore?
  • Nandita
    The Red-Hot competition between RED Fm and Radio Mirchi holds true here in Cal as well.
    Music remains central to both of these mass target channels.
    Another noteworthy marketing use of Radios is tie-ups with events. Here, RED is known to be most active in this. ( Their new office here is supposed to be all glam and luxury!! - in the making)
    Rainbow is slowly becoming the least heard, though the music contant remains most diverse. Among the other channels, Kolkata has definite distinctions in Channels catering to a larger Hindi Speaking audience Vs a Bengali Speaking audience. The commonality across most channels remains playing the latest numbers.
    Local Channels like Power 107.8 are slowly losing out to the national ones as well
  • bidisha
    'Ek so chaar bukhar' is my fav too :) though its increasingly becoming difficult to distinguish one pvt channel from the other. But when it comes to pure music, AIR FM Rainbow still rules. On another note, its good to see how Radio's being used in Bollywood, Radio City in "Lage Raho Munnabhai" and Mirchi in "Honeymoon Travels"...
    wat says you?
    bidisha
  • Interesting thoughts there...IMHO understanding differentiation would be the next step for all radio channels.
    Do read a note in a lighter vein:
    http://e-drop.blogspot.com/2006/12/radiorama.html
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