MUMBAI: News, the USP of AIR’s FM channels will become the driving force of the programming in Mumbai shortly.
All India Radio launched its phone in service for news updates on 15 August, a service that enables listeners to call the public broadcaster and hear latest recorded updates on regional and national news. FM channel Gold now plans to use the 20 strong army of the news reporters to introduce newsy snippets throughout the daylong programming. Gold, in order to compete with private FM, has already introduced news updates every half hour, apart from regional round ups, market mantras (updates on the stock market scenario) as well as sports scans.
The move assumes significance as private FM has thus far been denyied broadcast of news and current affairs, despite lobbying for the same.
For the first time in the 11 year old history of AIR FM Mumbai, the entire programming on the channel was revamped earlier this year, with anchoring introduced in both Hindi and English and shows rejigged to catch the local flavour. This Ganesh festival, Gold’s RJs fanned out to several Ganesh pandals, reporting live on the goings on via cell phones. A similar exercise will be conducted during the immersion ceremony next Tuesday, with listeners getting hourly updates from all the Mumbai beaches but also about traffic updates in various parts of the city.
The channel has also been getting around the problem of shoestring budgets by getting people featured in interviews to ad lib (two 30 second spots cost the interviewee Rs 1800 during an one hour programme). While the public broadcaster has retained public sector undertakings like the Life Insurance Corporation, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority and Indian Oil Corporation as its top advertisers, retail advertising is hard to come by. Which is why, says Jayant Erande, the newly appointed station director, the programming team has roped in innovative marketing techniques that help, at least in part, to cover the production cost.
Another show Mast Bindaast, that targets the youth, will shortly be showcasing 13 career guidance options, with each episode featuring an institute that will be given the aforementioned ad libbing option. The response, says Erande, to such techniques has been tremendous, though care is taken to ensure that only offbeat and unique people are featured in all the shows.
When the two channels revamped programming in January this year, it was also decided to introduce two minute Marathi news snippets, in addition to the hourly news broadcast from New Delhi. The RJ strength at AIR FM Mumbai has now gone up to over 120, with at least 10 jockeys pressed into service each day.
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AIR FM Mumbai overhauls programming
Tag: AIR FM
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AIR FM Mumbai to pump up news content
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AIR FM Mumbai overhauls programming
MUMBAI: Private FM players have finally forced staid broadcaster All India Radio Mumbai out of its ennui.
The two channels run by AIR, FM Metro and FM Gold have just been revamped, their programming reworked to fit in with the sensibilities of a more demanding listenership. Although both stations now sound curiously like the Mirchis and Citys that crowd the Mumbai airwaves, programming heads at AIR Mumbai aver the revamp, that came into effect on 5 January was done after extensive in house research.
FM Metro, which runs on 107.1 MHz since 1991 and is the oldest FM station in the city, had been running exclusively western music for a major part of the day (4 pm to midnight). Officials realized late last year that AIR FM listeners need music and no exclusively Hindi or English comperes. The result is co-hosting of shows on both stations for a major part of the day, with an interesting mix of Hindi and English music. Competiton from private quarters has also forced AIR to spruce up its radio jockeying. Its army of 53 RJs on FM Metro and 42 RJs on FM Gold has been given a free hand to innovate and experiment, while a fresh batch of auditions for new RJs is to be undertaken next month.
Programming heads of AIR FM have also brought in a clutch of new shows, aimed at targeting different sections of the populace that clue into radio. Also on the cards is a decision to introduce two minute Marathi news snippets, in addition to the hourly news broadcast from New Delhi. This is in addition to the hourly cricket updates that have been introduced during the ongoing World Cup in South Africa. Incidentally, this is the first time that programming, either on the 11 year old FM Metro or the two year old FM Gold has been altered.
Kamal Hai Dhamal, a two hour daily live phone in show, featuring Mumbai celebrities has been added to the kitty, as has a women’s show that has been renamed from Suhasini to Sakhi to bring in the additional woman listener at 11.30 am. While the predominant AIR listener remains the quintessential housewife, the channels have revamped the morning line up to get the other TGs into its fold. At 7 am, there is a Good Morning Bharat at 7 am which includes a sports, films and current affairs update. A dial in People’s Corner has been created in the 9.30 pm slot, which has sub sections on legal recourse, medical advice and consumer guidance. The public broadcaster is also out to woo collegians with its monthly edition of Antakshari, the musical game show, in which local college students are invited to participate.
The new programming mix, says programme executive Sushma Heppalgaonkar, is designed to cater to wider variety of listeners. In house research shows that shopkeepers, beauty parlours, housewives and the traveling public, who are regular AIR listeners, now want AIR to sport programmes that can compete effectively with the private stations.
AIR Mumbai undertakes audience research on each of the FM stations every three months, to understand changing audience tastes and to restructure programming accordingly. While old music continues to top the charts for AIR’s FM channels, the two channels do not seem to be dictated by the morning and evening peak hours that define listenership on private stations in the city. One of the most popular shows on FM Metro is the Geet Mala, which attracts 3.3 lakh listeners at midnight. The top rated show, Golden Classics on FM Gold at 9.15 am, ropes in 20.5 lakh listeners, according to a study conducted by AIR in December 2002.
While the broadcaster does not rely on any outside agencies to quantify listenership figures and audience preferences, its research shows that FM Gold, transmitted over a 10 KW transmitter, attracts an average of 4.5 million listeners, while FM Metro, which uses a five KW transmitter, reaches nearly 2.2 million people in the city, says Dr L P Gandhi, head of the audience research cell at AIR. A proposal to strengthen the transmission of both FM stations using 20 KW transmitters is still pending with the Prasar Bharati, say officials.
Advertising is slowly following on the heels of changed programming. Retail advertising is catching on the two channels, says AIR Mumbai deputy director Patanjali Maduskar.
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Phase II target of I&B minister for FM Radio may not be met
NEW DELHI: Though India’s information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj would like the second phase of privatisation of FM radio to be completed within the next quarter, bureaucrats feel there may be some hindrances.
Speaking to indiantelevision.com, a senior official of the I&B ministry said, “It’s laudable of the minister to take up so seriously the second phase of FM radio, but there are certain issues which need to be looked into before this is done.”
Pointing out that a final decision, keeping other factors in mind, will rest with the minister only, the official added, “Issues like pending litigation from the first phase of FM radio sector’s opening up will have to be taken into account before the formalities for the rollout for the second phase is completed.”
For the second phase of private FM radio, around 70 cities have been identified. As for AIR FM, around 60 to 65 stations are expected to come up till 2007. At present, there are 234 AIR FM stations in 200-odd cities/towns. Private FM is present in nine cities even as more private FM stations are expected to come up in another six cities, including Delhi.
The ministry official also said that this time round the government might not go in for auctioning of the licences in various cities and evolve some other methods of giving licences.
“Past experience has shown us that auctioning of licences mean bids which at times go very high. Later the players concerned realise they have bid too high and the business model has become unviable. We don’t want a repetition of this as this point had led to quite a few private companies, during the first phase, to move the courts,” he explained.
Swaraj in an interview to indiantelevision.com last weekend had said that as part of her next year’s agenda the government would like to complete the formalities of the second phase of FM radio by 31 March 2003. As reported by us earlier, she had also said that the government is looking at working out a mechanism which would help avoid duplication of efforts by All India Radio and private players in the same geographical area.
“We are looking as to how avoid duplication. In those places where AIR already operates FM stations, we’d probably won’t like the private players to go as they can go to those cities where AIR does not operate FM radio,” Swaraj had said.
Recently Swaraj had stated in Parliament that the government had earned, so far, a total revenue of Rs. 1551.2 million on account of open auction of FM radio stations, which includes earnest money, but excludes bank guarantees lying with the government. Auctioning for licences was held for 40 cities earlier.