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Tag: Radio City

  • Radio City strenghtens workforce; appoints Mumbai, Chennai station heads

    Radio City strenghtens workforce; appoints Mumbai, Chennai station heads

    MUMBAI: Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd (MBPL) owned Radio City has, as part of its overall growth plans in the second phase of FM expansion, aggressively expanded its workforce recruiting over 70 professionals in the last 70 days.

    The appointments have been made across all levels in the sales, marketing, programming and technical departments. The two top-level recruitments have been Krishna Iyer and Madhusudhan who have been appointed as the station heads for Mumbai and Chennai respectively.

    An MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Iyer comes from the advertising industry, having worked with agencies such as Lowe, Enterprise Nexus and JWT over the last 14 years. The company claims that Iyer’s skills and expertise in working with creative teams will help Radio City, Mumbai retain its leadership position in the FM space and further strengthen and drive its innovative content and communication platform.

    Madhusudhan has over 10 years experience in organisations like ANP Sanmarg Life Insurance, Idea Cellular and HCL-Nokia. He will be instrumental in Radio City’s launch in Chennai.

    Amidst this recruitment drive, Radio City Delhi and Lucknow vice president and station head Amritendu Roy, has put in his papers citing personal reasons after a two-year stint at Radio City.

    Under his stewardship, Radio City Delhi consolidated its listenership and increased it to over two million in Delhi and the NCR. He also spearheaded major content innovations and interactive station promotions in Delhi. According to an official release, his stint at Radio City Lucknow has helped strengthen Radio City’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives by furthering private-public partnerships to support various causes.

    Radio City national HR head Ashish Gharde said, “Radio City aims to be the best employer in the media industry. Our recent recruitment drive has been phenomenal and also a huge challenge, especially due to the limited talent available within the radio space and the dynamic situation in the media industry. In such a scenario, we had to look outside and I am glad that we have been largely successful in putting together a talented team across all our stations. Retention is also a key issue and we have initiated measures to retain and upgrade skills of key personnel within Radio City. Having said that, Amrit’s decision to leave will be a setback for us and surely he’ll be missed.”

  • B.A.G plans to invest Rs 500 million in radio biz

    B.A.G plans to invest Rs 500 million in radio biz

    MUMBAI: B.A.G Infotainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of B.A.G. Films Ltd, plans to invest over Rs 500 million for its FM radio business spread over 10 towns.

    The investment includes expenses towards infrastructure, equipments and studio facilities. The company will also have to contribute to the common transmission infrastructure. “We have bid successfully at very low costs. This has given us an edge and our outgo towards license fee is just 10 per cent of our project cost,” says B.A.G Intotainment CEO Rajiv Mishra.

    B.A.G is also trying to work out an equity arrangement among a consortium of small and regional radio operators who are in the process of being formed for collectively tapping advertising. “Our feeling is that there should be a common bonding for the consortium that will make it last. This will be best served by an equity arrangement among the partners. We are in talks towards this,” says Mishra.

    The consortium of radio operators for ad sales is in the process of being finalised. B.A.G will lead this combination which will have a national footprint to present before advertisers. Besides pressuring on higher ad rates, the partnership arrangement can help drive down operating costs for these FM broadcasting companies.
    B.A.G expects to rope in 40 radio companies as members of this consortium. The idea is to counter the bigger players like Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Sun TV group and Anil Ambani-controlled Adlabs. “We hope to form the consortium by 15 July. We have already signed up with six companies including Renecka Fincon and Gwalior Farms. We are also in advanced talks with many others,” says Mishra.

    B.A.G has bagged licenses to operate stations in Shimla, Patiala, Karnal, Hissar, Ahmednagar, Jabalpur, Dhule, Jalgaon, Muzzaffarpur and Ranchi. “We expect the second phase of FM stations to be active by December. The marketing efforts should start somewhere in September-October. As for selecting radio companies who would form the consortium, we are careful that in each locality no competing operator is selected. We are selecting geographical blocks,” says Mishra.

  • Radio City to launch in Hyderabad on 30 May

    Radio City to launch in Hyderabad on 30 May

    MUMBAI: Hyderabad will have its second private FM radio channel with Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd.’s (MBPL) Radio City 106.4 FM going on air on 30 May.

    Recently, Radio Mirchi kicked off in Hyderbad.
    The station was launched today by South superstar Nagarjuna, who unveiled the Radio City logo and frequency.

    The launch of Radio City 106.4 FM is supported by 360 degree marketing campaign. Some of the off-air initiatives to connect with the listener include road shows, human inflates at high density areas, Radio City booths at malls and multiplexes, on-ground contests & events, Radio City branded buses, cavalcade around the city.

    Radio City debut in the city with an exclusive tête-à-tête with Nagarjuna and RJ Vamsee on his early morning show Kusalama…Hyderabad.

    According to an official release, Radio City 106.4 FM programming is an outcome of an extensive and in-depth research undertaken by the industry experts. This has resulted in a host of customized Hindi and Telugu programmes reflecting the ‘true Sound of Hyderabad’.

    Radio City 106.4 FM will cater to the tastes of discerning music lovers cutting across students, housewives, working men which will ultimately give advertisers a great value for their money spent.

    With shows like Re-charge Hyderabad, Chalo Chalte Raho and Life ho to Aiseech, Filmcity Express, specially developed for Hyderabad, the programming mix of Radio City 106.4 FM includes shades of romance, comedy, josh, fantasy, novelty, unpredictability & masti – something to please everyone, in every mood, adds the release.

    Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit said, “Hyderabad is an extremely important market for us and we are eagerly looking forward to engage with our listeners. Our music expertise, innovative programming line-up, and our brand promise of ‘City Mein Kho Jao’ will enthuse listeners to indulge and escape with the help of music. We hope the success we have enjoyed in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai & Delhi with listeners making Radio City an integral part of their lives would be duplicated here in Hyderabad as well. ”

    As a prelude to the launch, Radio City had organized a RJ Hunt in the city of Hyderabad. The selected RJs were provided rigorous training to hone their skills to develop them into all-round professionals.

    Radio City has lined up a host of RJ’s with RJ Anuj for Recharge Hyderabad, RJ Apoorva for Life Ho To Aiseech with RJ Kamesh and RJ Vamsee.

  • Radio City 91 FM Mumbai celebrates its fourth anniversary with panache!

    Radio City 91 FM Mumbai celebrates its fourth anniversary with panache!

    Radio City 91 FM ne mara ‘chauka’ aamchi Mumbai mein Radio City 91 FM Mumbai celebrates its fourth anniversary with panache!
    * Join the festivities and win a host of exciting prizes, as
    your only ‘Music Buddy’ becomes 4 years old
    * Meet celebrities and music experts of the likes of Sushma
    Reddy, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Tabassum, Mika, Sanjeev Kapoor, Sandeep Acharya, Parizad Zorabian, Ashmit Patel, Abhijeet Bhatacharya, Harsha Bhogle, Mahalaxmi Shankar, Roopkumar & Sunali Rathod

    Mumbai, May 17, 2006: Conceived, arrived and conquered the hearts of millions of music lovers. Radio City 91 FM, Mumbai’s favourite radio station celebrates its four years of successful existence and leadership position in the radio space in the Mecca of the Indian entertainment and music industry, Mumbai.

    4..3..2..1….Starting May 18, 2006, the four-day celebrations at Radio City Mumbai, will be a treat for the listeners with a number of on-air and on-ground activities revolving around the theme of ‘four’. With the objective of creating touch points in the city, Radio City through the series of initiatives looks forward to celebrate the milestone with its listeners and give them some memorable experiences to celebrate for their lifetime.

    On the occasion, Ms. Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City says, “It has been a memorable journey for the last four years with a number of milestones achieved by the Mumbai station. As we stand at this juncture, I am proud to say that I have an extremely dedicated & enthusiastic team working round-the-clock to build the brand. Riding on the pillars of the brand philosophy: music leadership and thought leadership, Radio City has today become a trusted & loved member of every household in Mumbai. Taking this relationship forward with our listeners as we enter the fifth year, Radio City promises to bring to its listeners a whole new set of initiatives, thus providing them with a musical retreat as always.”

    The anniversary celebrations at Radio City will be kicked of by the second edition of the ‘City mein Kho Jao Race’. Through this initiative, Radio City will help the listeners to rediscover the Mumbai City. Led by Radio City RJs, this ultimate chase will be between two teams riding on bikes. Rule of the game – Follow the clues given by the on air RJ and reach the strategic points spread across the City known as City mein Kho Jao points. The two teams will start from two different locations. Their clues will be different and their City mein kho jao Points will be different. Each City mein kho jao point will lead them to the another, leading them to a common end point- “The Final Destination”. The team which reaches the destination first will win the race and will be awarded with exciting prizes by none other than the heartthrob of Bollywood, Ashmit Patel.

    The second day (May 19, 2006) will see Sandeep Acharya of the Indian Idol 2 fame come LIVE on Radio City with RJ Lavanya on Masala Mix to promote his first album “Mere saath saara jahaan”. Also celebrating the ‘Sounds of Aamchi Mumbai’, the RJs of Radio City will air sounds typical to the city of Mumbai like the sound of the Mumbai locals, a coldrink vendor striking the opener against the bottles, inviting listeners to guess the source of the sound.

    Adding to the revelries and the spirit of Radio City, the third day (May 20, 2006) will see listeners call-in and sing the Radio City Anthem, ‘Life ki Dhun Gun Gunao, City Mein Kho Jao’ which is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and sung by Shaan, Nihira Joshi and Shankar Mahadevan.

    Fourth day (May 21, 2006) will commemorate the D-Day and Radio City will be hosting special parties all over the City in Pizza Hut outlets. Surprise celebrities will be visiting these outlets to celebrate the anniversary along with the Radio City Crew and listeners. The highlight of the anniversary day celebrations will be the anniversary cake being prepared by the celebrity cook Sanjeev Kapoor, especially for the occasion.

    With on-air contests like guess the first song that was played on Radio City, guess the first jock on Radio City, RJs of Radio City will take the listeners down memory lane. Also some of the most famous links from the past, including the first ever link on Radio City will be played on-air.

    Full with numerous contests and exciting prizes the listeners can win prizes like Agni Gold Jewellery, Home theatre systems, Barbie Dolls, DVDs, Sanjeev Kapoor’s special dessert Recipe autographed by him, 15 specially baked cakes to be given out on each of the day during the four day long celebrations and much more.

    So join the bandwagon of celebrations and ‘City Mein Kho Jao’ only with Radio City 91 FM!!

    About Radio City
    Radio City is India’s first and leading hit music FM radio brand. Promoted by Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL), the private FM network has captured the hearts of millions of listeners across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore & Lucknow. Radio City broadcasts 24/7, using state of the art digital stereo FM for unmatched quality in signal strength, clarity and brilliance. Backed by expertise in programming, sales and marketing, Radio City is characterized by exciting shows that give it unmatched popular appeal.
    Innovative programming, vivacious radio jockeys and popular contemporary music uniquely position Radio City to deliver targeted audiences across India’s most important cities.

    For further information please contact:
    Supriya Sonde / Arushi Agrawal
    Vaishnavi Corporate Communications
    Mobile: 9867035854 / 9867250201

  • Radio City 91 FM to air Raveena and Asha Bhosale innermost experiences of motherhood

    Radio City 91 FM to air Raveena and Asha Bhosale innermost experiences of motherhood

    Salute the spirit of motherhood with Radio City 91 FM ~ Catch the ravishing Raveena and the Queen of Indian Music, Asha Bhosale as they share their innermost experiences of motherhood only on Radio City 91 FM~

    Mumbai, May 12, 2006: She is an epitome of unconditional love. She is a friend, a confidant, a guide and most important of all she is your pillar of strength.

    Mother’s Day is a time of commemoration and celebration in honour of all mothers. To make the day more memorable, Radio City 91 FM, Mumbai’s favorite radio station, will celebrate the spirit of motherhood by giving listeners a chance to pay tribute to their mothers and express their love for them. On the occasion, kids will get a chance to call-in and leave messages like “My mother is the best because….” on-air for their mothers. The best messages will win exciting prizes from Radio City.

    Listeners can catch up with none other than the Queen of Indian Music, Asha Bhosale and young mother Raveena Tandon, as they share their views on the significance of mother’s day, give insights on parenthood and narrate their experiences of being a ‘mother’.

    Listeners can cook a special meal for their mothers with celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor as he shares his delicious and mouth-watering recipes on-air.
    Mother’s will also get an opportunity to interact with a well-known pediatrician and get tips on baby nurturing, adding to the special feeling of motherhood, a feeling which makes a woman feel complete!

    This and much more!! So tune into Radio City 91 FM on 14 May 2006 for some special moments that you can cherish throughout your life!

  • Radio City launches ‘Life ki Dhun with Sonu Niigaam’

    Radio City launches ‘Life ki Dhun with Sonu Niigaam’

    MUMBAI: Starting Friday, 7 April, singer- anchor-actor, Sonu Niigaam makes his radio debut as the host of a new show on Radio City 91 FM, Mumbai – Life ki Dhun with Sonu Niigaam.

    As Sonu Niigaam puts it, “I have always believed that versatility is my greatest strength. I like to explore different mediums & different kinds of performances and entertainment. This is my first on radio and I am grateful to Radio City to give me my own show on the radio station. The entire flavour of the show is fun and interactivity in a musical way, bringing the best of our music industry for music lovers in Mumbai. This will not only bring me closer to my fans but will also give me an opportunity to be a part of their daily lives.”

    Airing every Friday at 8 pm, Life ki Dhun with Sonu Niigaam promises to be a double scoop of entertainment for the listeners. The first hour of this new show will feature Sonu at his best as a Radio Jockey. During this hour, listeners can learn from Sonu about a wide array of subjects, states an official release.

    Listeners can also interact with Sonu one-on-one and request for their favourites in the “Sonu ji suno na” section and be part of his memories as he gets nostalgic in “Sonu ki suhani yaad”. “Aaj ab abhi” showcases his mood at the moment, while “Kaash” speaks of his unfulfilled desires. For instance, Sonu Niigaam talks about how he missed out on the opportunity to work with the great R D Burman on the super hit song “Ek ladki ko dekha toh…” from 1942 – A Love Story. All this and more that will make you wonder why he didn’t opt to be a professional RJ much earlier in his career, the release adds.

    In the second hour, Sonu will step up gear by inviting a contemporary musical maestro or a veteran musician of yesteryears as a special guest on the hot seat, every week. The highlight of this segment, will be a stimulating tête-à-tête between the flamboyant singer and his high-profile guest, the likes of Anu Malik, Sunidhi Chouhan, Kunal Ganjawala, and Sandeep Chowta to name a few. The listeners will be witness to a stimulating conversation full of unadulterated fun, whacky and hilarious repartee between the guest & host as they spill the beans about their professional and personal triumphs.

    Says Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit, “At Radio City we have always believed that great music, innovation and creativity in our shows is what sets us apart. We always create content with a discerning focus on Music. Life ki Dhun with Sonu Niigaam is yet another unique initiative in the station’s basket that reiterates our brand promise and urges our listeners to indulge in good music.”

    Apart from on-air presence, the show will go beyond radio sets and indulge its listeners with exciting on-ground initiatives like meet and greet events with Sonu Niigaam, contests, distributing celebrity merchandise, initiating a Sonu Niigaam fan club, SMS downloads and much more, the release informs.

    The first episode of Life ki Dhun with Sonu Niigaam features Sonu Niigaam in conversation with Anu Malik. The deadly combination of Sonu & Anu has given us a number of hits like Border, Refugee and Main Hoon Na. Anu Malik reminisces his first recording with the legendary Mohammad Rafi. He takes a dig at Sonu Niigaam for imitating Radio City’s RJ Anirudh, and also takes up Sonu Niigaam’s challenge of singing a song completely without yoddling. The engaging conversation between the two stars will leave listeners gasping for more.

  • ‘Our primetime viewership has increased 78%, revenues by 400%’ : Purnendu Bose – Sahara One Television COO

    ‘Our primetime viewership has increased 78%, revenues by 400%’ : Purnendu Bose – Sahara One Television COO

    After joining Sahara One Television in April last year as COO, Purnendu Bose has been able to steer the channel through a period of growth and turnaround. Bose has been responsible for Sahara One Television’s new fresh look and content.

     

    Bose was also a part of the team that launched Radio City, Star News and Hungama TV.

     

    Under his leadership, Sahara One has seen an almost 400% jump in revenues and a 78 per cent rise in primetime viewership. In this interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Hetal Adesara, Bose speaks about cricket, the new shows lined up on the channel and more…

     

    Excerpts:

    Let’s start with the current hot topic of cricket. What do you expect cricket to do for the channel?

    With cricket we found a lot of synergy. First of all, rival channels do not carry our ads and the second thing is that housewives don’t read newspapers. And cricket is religion in our country. With cricket we hope to increase the sampling of the channel and it has all the ingredients — drama, excitement, highs and low — that we aim to offer viewers with our soaps.

     

    Apart from this, post cricket, our viewership in prime time has gone up by 78 per cent.

    How much has the switch of Sahara One signal to Filmy impacted the connectivity of the channel considering the fact Filmy has just launched?

    There is no loss of connectivity post the switching of signals. We have encrypted our channel and in fact we have almost 99 per cent connectivity in Tam towns. Earlier it was 94 per cent. We just had 48 hours to do the needful and the team did a fantastic job of ensuring availability of the channel across the country.

    Since you have encrypted your channel, are there any plans of going pay?

    Going pay is very much on our agenda but not immediately. Maybe in the next six – seven months, we will go pay.

    Your afternoon band has completely gone off with cricket coming in. Doesn’t that bother you since after cricket gets over, it will have to be brought back and viewers may not come back?

    Our afternoon band comprised repeats of our primetime shows – Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki, Hare Kaanch Ki Choodiyan and Kituu Sabb Jantii Hai. We did not have an afternoon band where we showed other new soaps. Now with cricket on, our loyal viewers are watching those shows on primetime. When cricket does get over in April, we are sure that they will come back to our channel in the afternoon.

    How is cricket being used to build other properties of the channel? One of the things one would expect would be to make a big noise around a new or existing property during this time?

    We already have our key leading ladies from our primetime shows in an ad campaign around cricket. That is being aired on our channels (Sahara One and Filmy) and we also have online ads on the same theme. Apart from that, we keep promoting these shows during the match ad breaks.

     

    As far as launching new shows is concerned, we do have a few in the pipeline, which will go on air in April – May. These are fiction shows and are tentatively titled Sati and Kya Socha. Sati is most likely to replace Buniyaad when it ends its run in May.

    How would you define 2005 for Sahara One in terms of the programming and marketing initiatives taken? How much has the channel grown in the last one year in terms of viewership and revenues?

    Last year has been good for us in terms of programming. We had success with our shows like Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki, Hare Kaanch Ki Choodiyan, Kituu Sabb Jantii Hai and Kohinoor. Buniyaad is also doing well on the channel. As I already mentioned, our primetime viewership has increased by 78 per cent. On the other hand, our revenues have increased by 400 per cent. We have more than 260 advertisers on board. Clients are also seeing value in our programming and hence are advertising more with us.

     

    Recently we have divided our programming into two blocks and moved away from classifying shows as fiction and non-fiction. The first time band we will focus on will be the 7 pm – 9 pm one and the second will be from 9 pm – 11 pm.

     

    These two time bands will be overseen by two programming heads. Naina Toor Singh will be looking after the 7 – 9 pm band and for the time being, I will be looking after the 9 – 11 pm band — until we find a replacement for Kumud (Chowdhary).

    What was the reason behind bringing about this change?

    It’s quite simple. Viewers don’t classify shows as fiction or nonfiction They focus more on the timings of the shows that they want to watch or are interested in. Our aim will be to look at programming from the viewers’ eyes.

     

    Hence we will be looking at strengthening programming in these time slots. That’s where our new shows will also come in a couple of months.

    Apart from ‘Sati’ and ‘Kya Socha’, another property will be the game show ‘Mission Ek Crore’ with Sanjay Dutt as host. When is it likely to launch and how is the production progressing?

    We will launch Mission Ek Crore some time around the end of April or beginning May. The initial plan was to launch it before the end of this fiscal year. But we have stalled it. One of the main reasons behind this is that we first want to build our programming lineup in the 9 to 11 pm time band.

     

    Currently we have Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki, Kittu Sabb Jaanti Hai and re-runs of Virasaat and Kadam in this time band. We will be introducing new shows and once that is done, we will launch Mission Ek Crore.

    After the launch of Filmy, how much importance will the movie band on Sahara One hold? Will the premiers be on Filmy now? Would you take off movies from Sahara One and place shows in the weekend or will movies remain a part of the weekend lineup?

    Movies are an integral part of our weekend lineup and they will continue to remain so. We have introduced the concept of multiple premiers wherein the movie will be premiered on Sahara One at 12.30 pm and on Filmy at 3.30 pm and then again on Sahara One at 7.30 pm. So we will be airing the movie premier three times in a day. It’s on the model of a film airing in a theater at different time slots. The idea is that maximum number of people can watch it at whatever time is suitable for them.

    In the GEC space where would you rate Sahara One and why?

    Let the viewers say the same. Recently we did a survey with 2000 general entertainment TV viewers across five cities. And they personified Sahara One Television as the Abhishek Bachchan of Indian television – a star with the potential of becoming a super star. That’s how viewers rate us. And this is a strong endorsement and a matter of satisfaction for us.

    What has contributed to the growth at Sahara One in the last one year?

    It’s not one big thing that matters, but doing thousands of small things behind ever big decision, separates the winners from the others. It is a team effort that has resulted in the change we see on the channel.

     

    I’ll attribute this to the programming, on-air promos, off air marketing, sales and distribution of the channel. The program strategy of women are real on Sahara One, we have consciously stayed away from stereotypical programs and portrayed the real women that we see all around us.

     

    The on-air promos strategy has been cutting edge to the brief with simple and crisp messages communicating the channel differentiator. Marketing has burnt the mid night oil to evolve below the line strategies / activities to increase sampling and using mass media to reinstate the differentiator and driving traffic to the channel.

     

    Sales backed it up with exceptional revenue growth, through innovation thus creating value for money for advertisers leading to over 260 brands advertising with the channel resulting in a 425 per cent growth, in last six months over the first six months of this fiscal. Distribution ensured that we are available in over 96 per cent of 60 million cable viewing homes. All being a team effort.

    Despite the fact that individual shows are doing well on the channel, why does it not reflect in the ratings?

    We have seen an improvement in ratings over the last few months. But the reason why ratings of shows that are doing well are not reflected remains a mystery to us.

    Sahara One was due to launch in the UK before the end of this fiscal. Has that happened as yet?

    No, we have not yet launched in the UK. We want to ensure that we launch in this market with the best partner in order to ensure the maximum reach of the channel from the very beginning. We are in active talks with leading potential distributors which we would close shortly. We will be looking at launching Sahara One there in early 2007, not before that.

    How is the channel faring in the US?

    We have got a good response from our viewers in the US. We get letters from all over the States. In the first six months, we have close to 70,000 subscribers there.