Time to tune in

With private FM due on air anytime soon, it's celebration time in north India.

Given the experience of FM radio in the metros, why would anyone bid close to Rs 16 crore for a single city's FM radio licence, and that too, for a city nobody has yet termed a "metro"? Reliance-Adlabs' jaw-opening bid for Chandigarh has posed the question: Is FM radio set to storm the North Indian state of Punjab?

Out of the 338 FM stations to be launched, as many as 24 will be in the region, with two in Chandigarh, four in Jalandhar, four in Patiala, four in Amritsar, four in Hissar and two in Karnal.

This would be a major shift from the sedate coverage of AIR Chandigarh that has been serving a belt of 100 million across six northern states and one union territory (Chandigarh).

For now, the focus is on employment, as radio jockeys, voiceover artistes, scriptwriters, and technicians get into the act. It's a multilingual game, with Punjabi, English and Hindi fluency in hot demand.

"It's going to be boom time for radio producers, broadcasters and all those related to this profession," says Rhythmz Infotainment's director, Richa, who predicts the rise of training institutes as well.

Radio jockeys are being sought after like never before, says Hardeep Chandpuri, director , Radio Buzz. "The market is up, and advertisers are keen."

AIR director K C Dubey, meanwhile, puts up a brave face. "It's going to create competition," he says, "and local artistes will benefit.We have retained the number one position for many years (above Delhi AIR), and are going to lose no listeners. Infrastructure wise, we are quite sound, so we have nothing to fear." Stay tuned.