FM market flares up hopes

With the FM radio rage set to the storm north India, private channels are confident of breaking even in the first year of operation. At the same time All India Radio is gearing for rising competition in the region.

Following Radio Mirchi group's successful launch in Jallandhar, Adlabs made a foray in all major towns of Punjab from Patiala, Amritsar, Jallandhar,Chandigarh, Shimla and Jammu and Srinagar.

The Bhaskar Group was successful in Jallandhar, Chandigarh and Amritsar. In Shimla, Patiala, Karnal and Hisar local populai will be tuned to the BAG films radio channel.

Maintaning the first position in India in term of coverage, revenue generation and presentation for the past three years, All India Radio, Chandigarh is gearing up to tackle the competition.

"As a public broadaster, our target is not concentrated on money, but development programs. This year we are looking to generate a revenue of Rs 2 crore from Chandigarh,"AIR Director KC Dubey said.

With the upgrade of the FM transmitor at Kasauli from 3 Kwatt to 10 Kwatt, radio station coverage has got a boost and can now be heard in Himachal pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and parts of Uttranchal, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

"The stations will slowly get more metropolitan and we are going to overhaul the programs," added Dubey.

Venturing for the first time in a private radio station, BAG Films Managing Director Anurradha Prasad is confident of breaking even very fast. "We will be bringing our know-how of handling entertainment exposure of different type in our radio programmes for the region," Prasad stated.

President of Reliance Entertainment Rajesh Sawhney said that Adlabs was the only player which had its presence in all major cities across Punjab from Jallandhar, Amritsar and Shimla to Jammu and Srinagar. "We believe the B class towns to be the engine of growth, which are awaiting to hear localised programmes," Sawhney said.

"I wish we can break even before we start the operation, which will largely depend on the advertisers and on the listeners. We are optimistic about doing a great work in a region where radio is an undeserved market,"he added.

With operations likely to start in the next six months, ground work on employment of local talent to market surveys on likely programmes and location of studios has begun in the region. Rs 10 crore has been earmarked by BAG Films for a combined investment in the four cities where it will begin operating from.

According to Sawhney the investment will depend on the place and grade of town and the facility. "On an average a good radio station will require an investment of Rs1-5 crore. As the transmitors are the same, it will be the studio equipment which will make a difference," Sawhney said.