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Tag: RED FM

  • Red FM to participate in mock auctions; Delhi HC to hear case on 24 July

    Red FM to participate in mock auctions; Delhi HC to hear case on 24 July

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has allowed Red FM owned by Digital Radio Broadcasting Ltd, which is part of the Sun Group, to take part in mock auctions for the third phase of FM auctions to be held on 22 and 23 July.

     

    Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notice to the Government and said it would hear the matter on 24 July.

     

    The order came after Government counsel Sanjeev Narula told the Court that it was not possible for the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to postpone the main FM auctions. He said the entire process had been lined and any postponement will have a cascading effect.

     

    The Court had yesterday (21 July) asked the Centre to consider deferring the auctions as it heard a plea by Digital Radio Broadcasting against the government’s decision.

     

    Meanwhile, the Madras High Court said it would announce its orders on 23 July. The court had reserved its orders after prolonged hearing yesterday and had initially said that the orders would be pronounced today (22 July).

     

    Red FM is among the prime bidders in the phase III of FM auctions covering 135 radio channels in 69 cities.

     

    The Ministry had last week issued a list of 21 bidders, which did not include the Sun Group’s Red FM, and then sent a formal communication to the Group on 15 July that it had been denied permission.

     

    The Court has been asked to direct the Centre to permit Sun Group to migrate to the Phase-III regime by allowing it to resubmit the application dated 20 March, 2015 to participate in the auction.

     

    The petitions also said the company was not involved in any dispute with the nation’s security, nor had it broadcast anything that affected the security of the nation.

     

    The petition alleges that the order denying permission had been issued “carelessly, with total non-application of mind and in a cavalier fashion, totally unmindful of its consequences and repercussions not only on Sun TV but also on the entire broadcasting and media industry.”

     

    Apart from the denial to participate in Phase III FM auctions, the order also implied that the sister companies of the Sun Group would be compelled to close down FM radio stations, totalling 45 across the nation, the petitioners said.

     

    “Non-inclusion of the company’s name on the list is nothing but closing the entire FM stations run by it for extraneous, illegal and mala fide reasons,” the petitions said.

     

    It has pointed out that the Indian Telegraph Act does not make any mention of security clearance, and licence can be terminated or denied only if there is violation of the terms of the agreement including any defaults in payment.

     

    Clause 2.2(b) of the Information Memorandum and Clause 3.2(b) of the Notice Inviting Application says only a company controlled by a person convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude or money laundering or drug trafficking or terrorist activities or is declared as insolvent will not be eligible to apply. The petitioners said there was nothing in the rules to deny permission to the Sun Group, which is controlled by the Maran brothers. 

  • Sun Group challenges denial of permission to bid for FM Phase III auctions in Chennai & Delhi High Courts

    Sun Group challenges denial of permission to bid for FM Phase III auctions in Chennai & Delhi High Courts

    NEW DELHI: The Sun Group’s challenge to denial of permission to participate in auction for Phase-III of FM radio broadcasting licences is expected to be heard both by the Madras and Delhi High Courts on 21 July, 2015. 

     

    The Group, in the petitions filed today (20 July), has also sought a stay on the order of the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry in this regard. The Ministry had last week issued a list of 21 bidders, which did not include the Group’s Red FM, and then sent a formal communication to the Group on 15 July that it had been denied permission. 

     

    The Court has been asked to direct the Centre to permit Sun Group to migrate to the Phase-III regime by allowing it to resubmit the application dated 20 March, 2015 to participate in the auction.

     

    When asked how case on a similar issue could be filed simultaneously in two High Courts, a spokesperson of Sun Group said the petitions have been filed by different companies which are part of the Group.

     

    A set of six writ petitions, which include three each by the company and the shareholders, has sought permission to resubmit its application to participate in the tender.

     

    The petitions also said the company was not involved in any dispute with the nation’s security, nor had it broadcast anything that affected the security of the nation.

     

    The petition alleges that the order denying permission had been issued “carelessly, with total non-application of mind and in a cavalier fashion, totally unmindful of its consequences and repercussions not only on Sun TV but also on the entire broadcasting and media industry.”

     

    Apart from the denial to participate in Phase III FM auctions, the order also implied that the sister companies of the Sun Group would be compelled to close down FM radio stations, totalling 45 across the nation, the petitioners said.

     

    “Non-inclusion of the company’s name on the list is nothing but closing the entire FM stations run by it for extraneous, illegal and mala fide reasons,” the petitions said.

     

    It has pointed out that the Indian Telegraph Act does not make any mention of security clearance, and licence can be terminated or denied only if there is violation of the terms of the agreement including any defaults in payment.

     

    Clause 2.2(b) of the Information Memorandum and Clause 3.2(b) of the Notice Inviting Application says only a company controlled by a person convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude or money laundering or drug trafficking or terrorist activities or is declared as insolvent will not be eligible to apply. The petitioners said there was nothing in the rules to deny permission the the Sun Group, which is controlled by the Maran brothers.

     

    Some financial cases – with no relation to the nation’s security – are pending against the two brothers but nothing has been proved, a Sun Group spokesperson told Indiantelevision.com.

  • Sun TV to move HC on denial of permission to bid for FM Phase III auctions

    Sun TV to move HC on denial of permission to bid for FM Phase III auctions

    NEW DELHI: The Sun TV Group is planning to move the High Court in Delhi or Chennai on Monday (20 July) to challenge the denial of permission to Red FM to bid in Phase III of FM auctions.

     

    Sun Group chief financial officer SL Narayanan told Indiantelevision.com that the Group had received a formal communication from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on night of 16 July that it would not be allowed to bid in view of pending cases against the Maran brothers.

     

    Narayanan said that the Group had so far refrained from commenting as “we do not want to fight in the media,” but was not reacting as the Ministry had given it a cause of action for a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution.

     

    The list of 21 bidders, which had got the go-ahead on 15 July did not contain the name of Red FM, which is a strong contender.

     

    Narayanan also said that the cases against the Marans were not linked to security issues and had in any case not been concluded. Further, he said that a company could not be asked to close down merely because it had some cases pending against it.

     

    Expressing his gratitude to the manner in which the Indian media had taken up the cause of freedom of the press on behalf of Sun, he said that no plans had been drawn up for moving the Courts on Sun TV since there was no cause for action as the government had so far failed to send any communication relating to the security clearance issue pending with the Home Ministry.

     

    He was particularly grateful to Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) president Uday Shankar and Association of Radio Operators in India’s (AROI) Uday Chawla for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Home Minister Rajnath Singh and I&B Minister Arun Jaitley.

     

    In addition, political parties Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and PMK had also issued statements condemning the delay by the Government in taking a decision.

  • Broad categorisation of FM radio in India; Industry has seen double digit growth

    Broad categorisation of FM radio in India; Industry has seen double digit growth

    BENGALURU:  The FICCI-KPMG Media and Entertainment Report 2014 (M&E-2014 Report) says that the private FM radio industry comprises network players (national, regional and metro-focused), single stations and some niche players. A broad categorisation of the FM radio industry is Private FM radio companies and Public sector companies.

     

    The eco-system

     

    Prasar Bharti operates All India Radio (‘AIR’), India’s public sector radio service. AIR’s home service comprises 406 stations across the country, reaching nearly 92 per cent of the country’s area and 99.19 percent of the total population. AIR originates programming in 23 languages and 146 dialects.

     

    At present, AIR operates 18 FM stereo radio channels, called AIR FM Rainbow, targeting the urban audiences. Four more FM radio channels called, AIR FM Gold, broadcast composite news and entertainment programmes from Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. With FM popular across the country, AIR is augmenting its Medium Wave transmission with additional FM transmitters at Regional stations.

     

    As mentioned above, private sector companies can be further classified into companies that have an all India presence; companies that have a metro focus; companies that are non-metro focused; niche radio stations.

     

    Some of the major private FM players in each of the categories are:

     

    Red FM with 47 radio stations in the country is the biggest FM radio player closely followed by the Reliance ADAG group’s Big FM that has 45 radio stations. The Times group affiliate Radio Mirchi with 32 radio stations and Radio City with 20 radio stations are amongst the biggest radio operators in terms of number of radio stations in the country says the report.

     

    Oye FM with 7 metro stations, Digital Radio with three stations and Fever with four stations are among the metro focused private FM radio stations in the country.

     

    The non-metro focused players in the country are My FM with 17 stations; Dhamal with 10 stations; CCL radio with nine; Radio Mantra with eight stations; Hello FM with seven stations; Club FM and Radio OOOLALA with four stations each.

     

    Radio Tadka and Radio Mango with four stations each and Nine FM, Radio Indigo and Radio Choklate with two stations each are among the niche radio stations in India.

     

    An industry that has seen double digit growth rate

     

    The report further says the overall revenues of listed radio players exhibited double-digit growth rate over the previous year, approximately 12-14 per cent. This growth was driven equally by volume enhancements in tier II and tier III cities and increase in ad effective rates (‘ER’). The industry managed to keep the Compounded Annual Growth Rate (‘CAGR’) steady in 2013 with smaller players turning profitable during the year as their networks matured. Categories like real estate, FMCG, government, retail and media and entertainment increased their spend on radio.

     

    The report further says that one witnessed a change of attitude towards radio – FM radio is no longer seen as an add-on medium; today, it is an integral part of a media plan and sometimes, campaigns are planned around it. The innovations in radio advertising along with growth of the industry and the positive vibe surrounding it have made sure that advertisers can no longer afford to take the industry lightly.

     

    The report adds that revenue growth in FM radio is expected to be driven by:

     

    Launch of stations and increase in their popularity across more tier II and tier III cities, which enables radio companies to provide advertisers with a bouquet of channels that can support brand launches across states or regions as a substitute for print or regional TV

     

    Growth in advertising ER on radio

     

    Expected regulatory reforms are likely to improve profitability and stimulate foreign investment.

     

    Implementation of an accurate nationwide measurement mechanism including allowing multiple station ownership in a single city and content networking will increase returns across FM stations.

  • Red FM takes outdoor route to create election awareness

    Red FM takes outdoor route to create election awareness

    MUMBAI: With an aim to encourage people to vote in the general elections 2014, Red FM has associated with the Election Commission of India. The idea behind the association was to motivate people to vote in the upcoming general elections. Red FM has been supporting the Election Commission of India in urging people, especially the first time voters, to come out on the polling day, and press the button of the voting machines to elect the 16th Lok Sabha.

     

    Red FM has been running campaign titled, “Dabaa Ke Bajaa” to reach out to the masses. Dabaa Ke Bajaa has Red FM RJs represent themselves as youth ambassadors of the Election Commission of India, in their respective cities. One RJ per city who is the youth ambassador takes up the responsibility of the entire population in his or her city and gets them on board as a part of the electorate who will pledge to vote this time. A series of on-air and on-ground activities are being done to engage with the listeners on the same.

     

    For the outdoor leg of the campaign, Red FM took DDB MudraMax on board to handle their OOH innovation. They have installed huge hoardings with integrated digital LED pledge-meters that reflect the number of people who have pledged to vote. The hoardings are located at strategic junctions. The number keeps changing real-time, and is a cumulative of the number of pledges received on SMS, calls, Facebook application and the tablet application that volunteers are taking to people.

     

    The meter which keeps ticking, denotes the exact number of people who have pledged to go. These hoardings have been taken in five locations including, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Pune.

     

    Commenting on this innovative marketing initiative, Red FM, GM- marketing, Rajat Uppal, said, “Dabaa Ke Bajaa is our attempt at channelizing the energy of people in all parts of India into one simple, and yet difficult act- pressing the button on the voting machine! We have partnered with the Election Commission of India to increase the voter turn-out in the upcoming General Elections. The digital hoarding and the pledge-meter have proved to be highly successful in getting people to pledge to vote, and in reminding them of their responsibility till the D-day. As a brand we have always tried to innovate and this is yet another innovation which stands out amongst the clutter of OOH. DDB MudraMax has executed the project very well. We have also been amplifying the campaign with several on-ground initiatives across the country.”

     

    “We have been proud of creating spectacles which generate word of mouth for RED FM constantly. This was an important one to get the country to stand up to a cause. An Important cause”, mentioned, DDB MudraMax OOH, retail and experiential, president, Mandeep Malhotra.

  • Bollywood on Sandalwood’s private FM Radio land rocks

    Bollywood on Sandalwood’s private FM Radio land rocks

    BENGALURU:  The FICCI-KPMG Media and Entertainment Report 2014 (M&E-2014 Report) says that the radio industry outperformed all other traditional media segments by clocking a growth of about 15 per cent in 2013. The report further goes on to say that clients are being forced to re-evaluate their media mix as their advertising budgets are constantly under pressure. There has been a tendency to shift focus from nationwide pure brand building to more tactical, local, focused promotional targeting. This has played in radio’s favour as it enables local reach to advertisers, who are looking to target specific audiences at affordable pricing.

     

    Be it a product launch, realty, education institutes, restaurants, jewellery brands, theatres, movie and movie audio launches, the elections, events or artist performance, radio is now an important part of a plan for any media planner.

     

    Click here for full report

  • Red FM’s ‘Dabaa Ke Bajaa’ campaign urges to press the button

    Red FM’s ‘Dabaa Ke Bajaa’ campaign urges to press the button

    KOLKATA: Be it television or radio, everyone is playing their part in urging people to go out and vote. Similarly, with an aim to advise people to press for vote, the radio network, 93.5 Red FM has launched the campaign ‘Dabaa ke Bajaa’ across the country.

     

    “Dabaa Ke Bajaa’ is our attempt at channelising the energy of the people in all parts of India into one simple, and yet difficult act- pressing the button on the voting machine,” says 93.5 Red FM COO Nisha Narayanan.

     

    The radio channel’s RJ Praveen has been announced as Kolkata’s official youth ambassador by Election Commission for this year’s campaign – ‘Dabaa ke Bajaa’ – targeting at increasing voter participation.

     

    RJ Praveen along with other RJs also did a flashmob on the channel’s anthem for the campaign.

     

    Red FM, being the ‘Station for Expression’ has always encouraged people to come out and talk. “We are proud to have been associated with the Election Commission of India on this. The insights and associations that they bring to the campaign are invaluable,” adds Narayanan.

     

    Talking about the initiative in details, the COO further says, “Red FM RJs will continue to pledge to vote by using the ‘Dabaa ke Bajaa’ app and flashmobs in malls across the city like Avani Mall, Quest Mall and colleges along with RJ Praveen. The idea is to support the Election Commission of India in urging people, especially the first time voters, to come out on the polling day, and press the button of the voting machines.”

     

    “The initiative is likely to receive a sprawling response especially among the first time voters. It is the best marketing strategy of connecting with citizens with a motto in mind and reminding them of ‘Bajaate Raho!” concludes a city-based analyst.

  • Puma Urban Stampede across 8 cities; ropes in partners; media plans on the anvil

    Puma Urban Stampede across 8 cities; ropes in partners; media plans on the anvil

    BENGALURU:  Sports lifestyle brand Puma India is targeting about 10000 participants in this year’s edition of Urban Stampede from eight cities in the country. Last year’s edition of the event saw 3000 participants.

     

    With the philosophy of introducing running to people who were fitness-focused but leading busy lifestyles, the idea of a corporate relay race ‘Puma Urban Stampede’ was born.  Started in Bengaluru in 2008, Puma Urban Stampede has enjoyed unprecedented growth – prompting Runners for Life and Puma to take it to other cities says the company.

     

    Flipkart has come on board as an associate sponsor, thereby increasing the scale and reach of the event. This year the event will travel to Pune, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Chennai in addition to the existing races in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad.

     

    Puma India MD Raji Mehta says, “Starting June 2014, the first Sunday of almost every month will see a Puma Urban Stampede taking place in one part of the country. This is the only national running event in India, and we’ve opened up the categories to allow more runners to participate – with the 4x5k Corporate Relay still taking pride of place in the overall event. This year, Puma will also fly down the national corporate relay winners to South Africa to participate in the renowned Safari Half-Marathon”.

     

    Further, The Puma Urban Stampede will now feature a 2x10k Open Challenge as well as an individual 5k competition in addition to the 4X5k Corporate Relay.

     

    Also, this year, Puma India has roped in Fortis as Medical Partners; Ginger as Hospitality Partners; Red FM as Radio Partners and Give India as Charity Partners.

     

    “Our media plans for promotion of the event include online, social media as well radio through our radio partners Red FM. We will be doing outdoor and are planning to work out a media plan with a print partner across the 8 cities in which the event will be held. Creative work as well as media buying will be in-house,” revealed Mehta to www.indiantelevision.com.

     

  • Yang Communications is Red FM’s creative AoR

    MUMBAI: Yang Communications, the agency from the house of Saints and Warriors, has won the creative duties of Red FM.

    The agency was selected after a multi-agency pitch that involved participation from agencies like Lowe Lintas, DDB Mudra, Law & Kenneth and Scarecrow Communications apart from Yang Saints & Warriors.

    Yang communications managing Partner Sanjay Sharma said, “Radio is a relatively neglected medium compared to TV and Print in this country but in our opinion it has the maximum potential. Since the way of the world has become multitasking radio can easily find itself as part of the consumer consumption and this will continue to be the challenge for brands in this space to be the preferred one. It‘s a big strategic and creative challenge to take this brand to the next level and all of us at Yang are looking forward to it. We predict very good times ahead for this partnership.”

  • NewsX marketing head Gareth Eswin quits

    NewsX marketing head Gareth Eswin quits

    MUMBAI: INX News associate vice president Gareth Eswin Thomas has quit the organisation.

    Confirming the news to Indiantelevision.com, Thomas said, “Yes I have decided to move on from NewsX.”

    He, however, declined to comment on his next assignment.   
         
    INX News operates English news channel NewsX. Thomas had joined the company in December 2009, after leaving Zee Turner.

    Before that he was serving at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd for five years. He has also worked with Channel [V], Red FM and Tata Indicom.