Leslie D'Monte: Adlabs' BIG radio bet

BACKSTAGE

Just 31 year old, Tarun Katial "" Chief Operating Officer, BIG 92.7 FM (Adlabs Radio) "" projects a serene front in this highly-competitive arena. Inspired by the Buddha, he does not wear leather or eat meat and has done a course in meditation (Vipassana) "" he believes in "increasing the number of FM category listeners rather than fretting about the competition".

Katial's meditation should hold him in good stead for he has quite a task at hand, especially being a late entrant. The government issued 338 licences for 91 cities and the major players include AIR, Radio One, Radio Mirchi and Suryan FM, who already boast of millions of listeners.

However, BIG 92.7 comes from the Anil Dhirubai Ambani Enterprises stable that is known for its huge footprints. Keeping with the tradition, the radio station bagged licences to roll out in 45 centres across India. It has already launched in Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad, and will tune in to Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata in a couple of weeks, besides the Jammu, Srinagar and Aligarh territories a little later. The radio station plans to cover 1,000 towns and 50,000 villages and reach 200 million Indians by March-April 2007. By then, it hopes to cover 54 cities with nine alliances.

It has already invested Rs 400 crore in transmission equipment, infrastructure and licensing. BIG 92.7 FM will also be the first radio network in the country to rope a star like Abhishek Bachchan to be its brand ambassador. And its key shows will be hosted by the likes of Pallavi Joshi, Mona "Jassi" Singh and Sunil Pal (to tickle the funny bone).

The strategy may work. Radio may be a new medium for him, but Katial has a string of successes behind him "" his earlier stints as senior vice-president of programming at STAR India and executive VP, business head at Sony Entertainment Television (India) related to TV. "TV is more a one-shoe-fits-all medium. Radio, on the other hand, is more about local tastes and preferences," explains Katial who is excited about the new medium.

"While other stations have adopted the contemporary hit radio (CHR) model "" they play only the latest songs "" we are pioneering the adult contemporary positioning (ACP) route. This means we'll play the consumer's favourite song which is not necessarily the latest. I see this working for us," asserts Katial.

As for the competition, India currently has around 25 FM stations that generate Rs 350 crore in advertising revenue with nearly 14 crore listeners. Advertising worth over Rs 1,500 crore should be generated when the 300-plus stations are launched. Till then, Katial hopes to go along with the tag line "" "Suno, Sunao, aur Life Banao".