Hindustan Times owner abandons Chennai airwaves

NEW DELHI: HT Media is tuning out of  its Chennai radio operations, walking away from two FM licences that generated barely enough revenue to cover their electric bills. The Hindustan Times publisher disclosed on 25 November that its subsidiaries are surrendering broadcasting rights for stations on 94.3 FM and 91.9 FM, citing the ventures as “financially and strategically unviable.”

Next Radio Ltd, an HT Media subsidiary, has already shut its 94.3 FM station as of 24 October, having surrendered its licence to the ministry of information and broadcasting. Now HT Music and Entertainment Company, the group’s wholly-owned subsidiary, is following suit with its 91.9 FM station, branded as Fever. That operation will go dark on 24 December after submitting its licence surrender application.

The numbers tell the story. The 94.3 FM station scraped together Rs 2.17 crore in revenue last financial year—a meagre 0.12 per cent of HT Media’s consolidated turnover. The 91.9 FM operation fared marginally better at Rs 4.58 crore, representing 0.25 per cent of group sales. Both licences were valid through March 2030, but the company saw no point in bleeding cash for another four years.

HT Media assured investors the surrenders would have “negligible” impact on its operations—which is corporate speak for admitting these stations never mattered much in the first place.

Chennai’s FM dial just got quieter. The southern metropolis, it seems, wasn’t tuning in.