The media industry has recently been eyeing the advantages that radio is promising to offer, but when it comes to the monies, advertisers are still apprehensive to bet big on the medium. As the radio industry in India evolves progressively from mass to niche, the industry is setting its targets to rake in the moolah. However, obstacles are inevitable and the biggest threat is of under valuation in proportion to its reach and accessibility.
In a free flowing conversation, Radio Mirchi SVP and National sales head Naveen Chandra shares his views on the scope of the medium in India, which he believes will be fuelled following the Government's sanction of a multiple frequency approach adopted by a single radio operator. He tells Indiantelevision.com's Renelle Snelleksz that this will mark "the next inflection point in radio." Geared to take on the big guns of print and television, this radio player has set high standards for itself and demands a premium as it moves into the radio era.
Excerpts:
Could you shed some light on Radio Mirchi's sales and media strategy? The second thing about radio is that if you look at Tam data radio lures advertisers from across different product categories. While there are some categories that will use print or niche channels like FMCG, the auto, telecom and banking sectors will not advertise on GEC's. Radio in this respect is an all encompassing medium as it offers a solution to a wide spectrum of categories that advertise on different genres of print and TV. |
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Which are the biggest categories as revenue drivers on Radio Mirchi? How do they stack up percentage wise? |
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Which are the new entrants that are flocking to radio? |
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How do you justify the fact that radio exceeds the reach of Star Plus or TOI? |
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What is the current reach for the station nationally? |
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What are your plans to increase your network across the country? |
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What's the revenue growth that Radio Mirchi has seen over this fiscal? But we have marked about 50 - 60 per cent revenue growth on radio. |
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What is the current revenue generating model that radio operates on and how does it compare with television and print advertising rates? Our rate is Rs 70 per thousand people, which is very low in comparison to television and print. But as a means of comparison, one ad in print is equivalent to about 30 ads on radio, so in that sense it is much lower. |
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What's the ad growth curve that the station has seen over this year? |
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In terms of spot rates, what is the margin between Radio Mirchi rates and your closest competitor? |
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What is the current market size for radio in India? |
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Could you highlight key benefits of radio as a medium? Therefore, for radio the research we conduct points to many unduplicated audiences that are loyal to one station alone. Thus, many unduplicated audiences will continue to be present but will not be reached even if one operator were to buy out a set five to seven stations. |
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However, acquisitions will increase your presence across the country, so are you looking to buy out other stations? |
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With India experiencing a boom in radio, what are the key differentiators for Radio Mirchi in this cluttered environment? Radio has a lot of elements that a listener can identify with like for instance a radio jock. Also, every radio station has a particular 'stationality.' |
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In more mature markets, often clients only advertise on stations that are a natural extension of their brand and its values? How far away is India on that evolutionary scale? Let me give an example - There was a time when Warner Brothers would advertise on Go 92.5FM because it was English and niche, but today advertisers such as these are seeing the benefits of a mass radio stations as well. |
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With television further fragmenting into 'niche' specific channel offerings, how long before radio also branches out into the realm of niche stations? Given that Go 92.5 FM grew quickly extinct and resorted to mass appeal, what barriers would radio encounter before it adopts a niche approach? |
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What do you see as the way forward for the radio industry in India? |