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Tag: John Catlett

  • Radio City to launch eight new shows next week

    MUMBAI: It could be the last desperate push before the curtains fall. Or it could prove to be the turning point private radio in the country is hoping for. The Star backed and Mittals’ MBPL promoted Radio City 91 FM today announced a clutch of eight new Hindi programming initiatives aimed at engaging the listener and wooing the advertiser.
    (Lto R) COO Sumantra Dutta, CEO John Catlett and MBPL director Ashok Khinvasara at the Radio City press briefing on Wednesday in Mumbai
    Beginning 2 June, the new shows, a mix of humour, satire and Bollywood, will be interspersed with the day’s programming, with the avowed objective of building a unique differentiator among radio stations and to pump in some high energy content, according to Star India’s radio division COO Sumantra Dutta. Needless to add, the shows also aim at making radio, thus far perceived as a music churner, into a respectable medium and to create a sense of high value at no cost.


    Shows like the weekly Pareshan Hoon Main will have a stereotypical moronic character speaking his heart out on the bothersome aspects of his life in his inimitable style, while Rollywood, a one hour show, will have spoofs on famous and hit Bollywood flicks representated through satire. The other humorous features to launch the same day include Public City (voices of the common Mumbaikar) at 8 am daily, Santa Banta Pvt Ltd (non stop jokes) at 8.30 am, Babbar Sher (verses that tickle, not necessarily edify) at 9 am and Kya Baat Kar Raha Hai (astounding facts coupled with public reactions) at 9.30 am. Also in the pipeline are Popat (a leg puller show) at 10 am every Wednesday and Shanta Bai (household tips), daily at 1 pm.
    The shows, to be rolled out in a phased manner in all four cities where Radio City operates and caters to an claimed 38 million listeners, will help create a large number of trials and offer a cost effective quality advertising opportunity for local businesses, says Dutta. A massive television, radio, press and outdoor campaign will roll out from 2 June to push the shows that will be repeated several times during the course of a day. 
    According to independent research conducted by Radio City, over 95 per cent of the radio listenership emanates at home and is not necessarily confined to the home bound housewife, says Dutta. While the Radio City inhouse team has been responsible for ideating on the new shows, all of them have been outsourced, he says. The ratio of music and non music programming however, is not likely to change much despite the new shows, says Dutta as most of them, apart from two shows, are of the vignette variety and will be interspersed with music.
    Star India’s Radio Division CEO John Catlett too, feels that the shows were a need of the times. “It was a need to create programming that we own, in between the music we play that is not our own,” he avers. While Catlett does not expect large numbers of listeners to tune in specifically for the new shows, the blocks do identify slots that advertisers can use to target specific kind of audiences. 

  • Radio City may pip rivals to post in Delhi launch

    Radio City may pip rivals to post in Delhi launch

    NEW DELHI: Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd (MBPL), in association with Star, may just be the first one to launch a private FM radio station, Radio City, in the capital this weekend.
     
     
    According to information available, senior executives of Radio City, including CEO John Catlett and COO Sumantra Dutta, are to announce its plans tomorrow here.

    While the P.K. Mittal promoted MBPL is the licence holder, the content, marketing and ad ales for the FM radio stations are to be taken care by the Rupert Murdoch controlled Star India.

    Radio City’s launch is likely to be followed by Radio Mirchi (tentative launch date April 28) from the stable of Bennett, Coleman &CO. Ltd, publishers of Times of India and Economic Times.

    Part of The India Today Group, Radio Today is also expected to launch its FM radio station soon in the Capital.

    However, in recent times, private FM radio players have been petitioning the government to go in for revenue sharing instead of a licence fee, which, they say, is bleeding them as the losses are more than the revenue generated.

    Meanwhile, RED FM has secured a coup of sorts by bringing Ameen Sayani, the veteran voice of Indian Radio industry back. He will host and produce programmes exclusively for 93.5 RED FM. Sayani will anchor Sangeet kay Sitaron Ki Mehfil presented by IDBI Suvidha.

    Sayani has been associated with radio since 1951. He is known and recognised for his extremely charismatic voice and his most famous show was the Colgate Cibaca Geetmala (formerly Binaca Geetmala) .

  • FM players fear community radio interference

    FM players fear community radio interference

    MUMBAI:They may be as different as chalk and cheese in their outlook and content.

    But the proposed entry of short range community radios is not being viewed too kindly by private FM operators in the country. The Indian government recently announced its plans to revolutionize radio broadcasting in the country by allowing low power radio stations in major localities. 5000 such stations will shortly spring up across the country, with educational institutions being given the first go ahead for the venture.

    Star India Radio CEO John Catlett feels that while the government move is directed by good intentions, it will only add to the clutter of frequencies available in say, a city like Mumbai. The low cost community FM radio centers with a five kilometer range are to be set up without any license fee, as per a draft cabinet proposal currently doing the rounds. The stations can be set up with an initial investment of Rs 500,000 to 1000,000. India’s spare spectrum capacity is to be utilized for allowing these stations to come up.

    The catch however is that while these stations can provide entertainment, they cannot solicit commercials and have to be funded jointly by individuals or by organizations. Catlett says that while the community stations are not a threat to commercial stations who by their very nature are market oriented, the new entrants could add to the confusion about the identities of channels and frequencies – a problem that stations are trying hard to overcome. Catlett says the private FM operators are planning to come together on an industry platform to speak collectively to the government on the issue and to convince the powers that be of the practical difficulties of the proposal.

    While private FM is available in four metros and 19 FM bands are being broadcast, community radio is expected to literally throw open the floodgates to at least 5,000 neighbourhood stations that will start airing niche content from early next year. As soon as the Union cabinet gives clearance, the wireless planning and coordination department of the telecom ministry will step in, allocating the frequencies for every neighbourhood radio centre.

  • ”Radio needs to become fashionable” : Sumantra Dutta & John Catlett

    It may have lost the first mover advantage in Mumbai, but Music Broadcast promoted Radio City is brimming with the same confidence of storming the audio market as the three players already in the fray thus far.

    A few hours into the station’s launch in the city yesterday, COO Sumantra Dutta was ecstatic that the fledgling FM channel was winning kudos for its ‘better sound and signal quality’ and ‘much better reach’. Undaunted by the prohibitive license fees, CEO John Catlett is equally positive that the key to breaking even lies in launching as many stations as possible in the country. 91, says Dutta, was delayed for want of clearance from the aviation authorities as the transmission towers are located on the tallest building in the country. Clearance finally came though on 5 May. Wit, attitude and voice marks the eight DJs who have been handpicked for the channel.

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com’s Aparna Joshi, both Catlett and Dutta were categorical that the key to 91’s success lay in a smart marketing strategy – one that would create a buzz about the brand and help the humble radio become fashionable, all over again.

    Sumantra Dutta, on the channel’s USP

    We have the entire Star library at our disposal. We will shortly be starting with shows from the library including soaps, quiz shows…the works. The long term strategy is to get people habituated to the channel. We are currently the only 24-hour live FM channel on air. Since we are using the tallest building (Shripati Arcade, Nana Chowk) in the country for our transmission towers, our reach is much better than the other channels – we reach beyond Kalyan on one side, and beyond Dahisar on the other.

     

    John Catlett, on content of FM radio, particularly that of 91

    Music by far has been synonymous with FM stations, in all the countries I have worked in the broadcast industry. Although FM content need not necessarily be only popular music, it is what is appreciated the most. However, in some cases, like in Russia some years ago, a block of western classical music inserted between hit music shows, drew a lot of positive response from listeners. Even in developed countries, radio gets an ad spend share of eight to 10 per cent, while the figures for India are less than two per cent. Ever since we started in Bangalore in July 2001, we have managed to increase the figure to nearly six per cent. We are now aiming to take it even higher in the next five years. Listenership figures in Bangalore too have gone up by 60 per cent since the launch of Radio City in Bangalore. Tracking listeners in the absence of a monitoring system remains tough, with awareness low among citizens.

    Sumantra’Sumo’ Dutta
    hn Catlett

    Sumantra Dutta, on the strategy employed to wean listeners to 91 FM

    We put up pre-launch teasers on hoardings all over the city a week before the launch. On the promotions front, TV leads the charge, with the outdoors being employed for a multiplier effect. Bus backs and bus panels are being employed to ensure recall value, and a Radio City mobile van is doing the rounds of the city. A contest that kicks off on 27 May will give away thousands of radio sets to winners as part of the gameplan to get more young people hooked to the radio habit.

    The generation that considers radio old fashioned is gone, and the new one is completely open to fresh ideas. Radio now needs a social stamp of approval, needs to become fashionable and we aim to do that in much the same way as Sony did with the Walkman.

     

    Sumantra Dutta, on advertising on 91

    Radio City in Bangalore already has 240 brands on air. In Mumbai, we already have 12 to 15 advertisers on board. Thirty per cent of our revenues are coming from the direct retail market. If direct retailers are able to return to us for continued advertising, it obviously means that advertising on Radio City is effective. Advertising is the only source of revenue for us, and given the high license fees that the government has slapped on us, it could take us six to 10 years to break even.