Table of Contents

Chapter
No.

4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Topic
Preface
Acknowledgement
Executive Summary
Research Methodology
1.1
Research Objectives
1.2
Scope of study
1.3
Type of Research Design
1.4
Quantitative Research
1.5
Data Sources
1.6
Methodology
1.7
Research Tool
1.8
Questionnaire and Sample Design
Entertainment Industry in India
Introduction to Radio Industry
3.1
History
3.2
Radio Characteristics
3.3
How Radio works?
3.4
Radio in comparison with other media vehicles
3.5
Evolution of private players
3.6
Future Scenario
3.7
Porters Five Force Model
Key Private Players in Radio Industry
My FM Company Overview
5.1
Introduction
5.2
Departmental Analysis
5.3
Management Control System
5.4
Marketing Plan 7 Ps of marketing
Data Analysis & Interpretation
Perceptual Maps and Performance Matrix
Hypothesis Testing
Conclusion
Recommendations
Bibliography
Annexure

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1

Entertainment and media

industry

Entertainment and media industry

The Indian media and entertainment (M&E) industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the
country. Its various segmentsfilm, television, advertising, radio, prints media and music among
othershave witnessed tremendous growth in the last few years.
According to a report jointly published by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) and KPMG, the media and entertainment industry in India is likely to grow 12.5 per
cent per annum over the next five years and touch US$ 20.09 billion by 2013.
The media and entertainment sector consists of the creation, aggregation and distribution of content,
products and services, news and information, advertising and entertainment through various channels
and platforms. The media and entertainment industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the
world.
Indian Entertainment Industry
Post reforms the media and entertainment industry in India has made tremendous strides. The M&E
industry can be further classified into film, television, advertising, print media and music. The Indian
entertainment industry came off age and gained global recognition when A.R.Rahman and Resul
Pokutty won the Oscars for their work in Slum dog Millionaire.

Television
According to the study by FICCI and KPMG, the television industry, which is currently valued at
about US$ 4.63 billion will expand by 14.5 per cent between 2009 and 2013.
Digital distribution platforms such as direct-to-home (DTH) and Mobile TV are transforming the
industry. Mobile TVwhere content will stream in on mobile phoneswhich is currently at a
nascent stage is poised to grow big with the advent of 3G, according to experts.
Viewership across various segments is increasing and marketers are launching new channels to meet
this growing demand. Turner and Warner Bros Entertainment, Hollywood's leading studio have
launched WB, a new Warner-branded channel in India that will showcase blockbuster motion pictures
and acclaimed television series.
3

Further, Television channels such as Cartoon Network, Pogo, Disney, MTV and Star Plus are
expanding their product range to tap India's growing US$ 125.9 million licensing and merchandise
market.
BT's Media and Broadcast Sector has entered into two new agreements with New Delhi Television
(NDTV) to be its global network supplier.
Leading television channels, Sun Network and Zee Entertainment, have maintained their number one
and two positions, respectively, in the Asia-Pacific pay broadcaster ranks for the second year in a row,
according to a report by Media Partners Asia (MPA), an independent international research agency.
Most of the Indians have a Home - Office - Home life and that wouldnt change much hence
Television is something that would not stop growing and there is sort of mimicing localization effect
which seems to work very well. One successful show in Hindi or English - convert into a regional
show and you have the local audience glued to the TV. Even with poor service from cable operators
or DTH, people can live without food but not without TV. But these guys have to be more cautious
while treating their young and influential audience - as these people are now spending more time on
social networks and social media. The more you dumb down the more you would loose the creamy
audience for which the advertizers pays for.

Music
Industry experts estimate that the current size of the music industry is about US$ 149 million.
According to a PwC study, the industry is likely to grow by 2 per cent over the next five years and
will be a US$ 164.56 million industry by 2012.
While cassettes and compact discs (cds) have traditionally accounted for most of the sales, future
growth will come from non-physical formats such as digital downloads and ringtones, among others.
Digital music sales are expected to account for 88 per cent of the total music industry revenue in India
by 2009.

Radio
The cheapest and oldest form of entertainment, reaching 99 per cent of the population, this segment is
likely to see many dynamic changes.
According to the PwC study, revenues from radio are likely to grow at a compound annual growth
rate (CAGR) of 24 per cent over the next five years and the industry will grow from US$ 150.52
million in 2007 to US$ 370.22 million in 2012.
Private FM radio has emerged as the fastest growing segment in the media, notching up an average 30
per cent growth in advertising revenues, compared to the industry's average of 18 per cent, according
to ACNielsen's Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) service. Moreover, it is expected to increase to
US$ 218.49 million over the next two years from the current US$ 133.52 million. FM radio
broadcasting has expanded at a rapid pace and India today has over 300 FM radio stations.
Recently, Sun TV Network has decided to allow South Asia Multimedia Technologies Ltd, an
investment arm of Malaysia-based Astro Group, to increase its stake in its FM subsidiary, South Asia
FM, to 20 per cent from the current 6.98 per cent.

Advertising
Advertising trends showed a healthy growth in the last five years as marketers sought to woo
customers for a wide range of products. Radio, internet and cinema have been the traditional
mediums of advertising and according to a survey by Adlabs Cinemas and research firm IMRB, in
cinema, the 30-second in-theatre advertising accounts for 95 per cent of cinema advertising. The
remaining 5 per cent comprises activities in the lobby area such as new car or bike displays, etc. Of
the overall advertising spend, currently only around 0.4 per cent (around US$ 15.42 million) is spent
on cinema. Print and TV account for the majority of the ad spend.
The number of brands advertised on television witnessed an 82 per cent increase during 2008
compared to 1999, according to a survey by AdEx India, a division of Tam Media Research.

Going forward, digital media advertising (internet, mobile and digital signage) is expected to emerge
as the medium of choice for advertisers. Of the available media, it was the fastest growing segment in
2008. According to a FICCI-PwC report, online advertising it is expected to touch US$ 212.03
million in 2011 from the current US$ 57.83 million.

Cinema
The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced per year.
The FICCI-KPMG study values the Indian film industry at US$ 2.11 billion and projects its growth at
9.1 per cent till 2013.
The opening of the film industry to foreign investment coupled with the granting of industry status to
this segment has had a favourable impact, leading to many global production units entering the
country.
Recently, Anil Ambani's Reliance ADA Group has entered into a production deal with DreamWorks
Studios promoted by Hollywood director, Steven Spielberg, to produce films with an initial funding
of US$ 825 million for the first three years.
Walt Disney has partnered with Yash Raj Films to make animated movies, the Warner Group is
funding the Sippys' film projects, Viacom has a joint venture with the TV 18 group to form Viacom18, and Sony Pictures Entertainment has co-produced Saawariya with SLB Films (Sanjay Leela
Bansali Films).
Buoyed by the success of its maiden production in IndiaChandni Chowk to China (which garnered
US$ 8.67 million globally in the first three days of its release)Warner Brothers Pictures India is set
to invest US$ 38.6 million in film production this year.
Fox Star Studios, a joint venture between Twentieth Century Fox and Star, has entered into a
multiple-film deal with producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah, marking its foray into the Indian film industry.
R-ADAG-owned Adlabs Films is betting on its integrated film service business and movie exhibitions
to drive its growth. The company is spending US$ 41.13 million to expand the two businesses.

The cinema-viewing experience is also undergoing major changes. One perceptible change has been
the rapid growth of multiplexes, which meets consumer demand for quality entertainment and has
also helped boost production of niche films targeted at niche audiences.
The nation's multiplex industry is all set for an unprecedented boom buoyed by positive regulatory
changes and booming consumerism. According to an estimate, the number of multiplex screens in
India is expected to touch 5,000 by 2012, constituting around 40 per cent of the total cinema screens.
Multiplexes /megaplexes have been instrumental in contributing 28 per cent of the total theatrical
sales for the film industry according to a report by Systematix Institutional Research.
Buoyed by the growth in the sector, Mexican global multiplex operator, Cinepolis, plans to invest
US$ 360 million in India for its film exhibition business over the next seven years.

Others
Segments like print media, animation and gaming are also likely to see interesting growth rates. The
country's growing literacy and new technologies have resulted in India emerging as the second largest
newspaper market in the world, according to latest research by the World Association of Newspapers
(WAN). Indian newspaper sales increased 11.2 per cent in 2007 and 35.51 per cent in the five year
period. Newspaper advertising revenues in India were up 64.8 per cent over the previous 5 years.
According to the FICCI- KPMG study, the gaming segment, which is currently estimated at US$
125.29 million, is expected to grow at 33.30 per cent till 2013, while the US$ 119.51 million Internet
is seen growing at 27.9 per cent.
The Indian animation industry, currently estimated at US$ 460 million, is expected to grow at a
CAGR of 27 per cent to touch US$ 1,163 million by 2012 according to a report titled Indian
Animation and Gaming 2008', jointly prepared by NASSCOM and Ernst & young.

INTRODUCTION OF RADIO
INDUSTRY

HISTORY OF RADIO INDUSTRY

Radio broadcast commenced in India in the early 1920s. It is one of the oldest and the most
accessible segments of the entertainment industry. The history of radio broadcasting in India dates
back to 1923, when the first radio program was broadcasted by the Radio Club of Bombay.
All India Radio (AIR) established and operated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
(MIB), was the only player till the FM radio privatization process was initiated an the year 1999. The
phenomenal reach of radio in India, more than any other medium of entertainment or information,
makes it hard to ignore.
For more than 4 decades, the government of India did not permit private radio station to broadcast in
India. Then history changed its course. In 1993, the government in its wisdom, allowed private FM
operators to buy blocks on All India Radio, prepares programming content, book commercials from
advertisers and broadcast the whole lot. Within 4 years (1997-98), the FM radio advertising and
sponsorship business grew to Rs 93 corers with Times of Indias Times FM & Mid-day groups Radio
Mid-day becoming the main players.
History was destined to change course once again. In June 1998 the Government, through its
electronic media regulatory body Prasar Bharti, decided not to renew contracts of private FM
operators. Not surprisingly, the advertising revenue fell 50% with in a year.
As destiny would have it, history changed course once again. This time, the government gave the
green light to privatize radio in India. July 6, 1999 was the history day when the government
announced that 150 new FM channels would be licensed across 40 cities.
And in 2000, the government auctioned licenses for private FM channels to bolster the revenue. The
highest bidder wins was the order of the day. And the focus on metros was evident in the bidding.
Expecting to collect Rs 800 million from auctioning 108 licenses, the government had to actually face
mass withdrawal of the bidders of the huge license fee. A handful of serious bidders choose to remain.

In 2001, some of these players have started launching their channel. The governments tenth plan
stipulates that private operations are to be encouraged to provide FM radio service in metros and
9

small cities. They announced Phase 2 of the privatization of FM radio, which was an initiative in line
with the road map laid out in the tenth plan. A total of 338 channels in 91 cities across the country
were made available for bidding by Indian private companies. FM Policy Phase-II has been well
accepted by all stakeholders, which resulted in huge growth not only in FM radio industry but also in
employment opportunity and has also created a demand for FM radio in other cities The government
has recently also announced Phase 3 of privatization of FM radio which is expected in April 2010. At
present the industry is seeing the upward trend

RADIO CHARACTERISTICS
10

Radio is a cost effective medium to advertiser.

It offers reach, frequency, impact and economical advertising solution for the advertisers.
Radio advertising rates are low on cost per thousand (CPT) basis as compared to other media.

Excellent complementary medium.

Radio forms an excellent complementary medium to television and print. It can extend the
reach of a campaign, focus the delivery, and enhance or reinforce a message.

Interactive medium.
Radio speaks to its audience in a highly personal manner. Listeners build a relationship with
their local radio personalities-a rich resource into which the community can tap.

Low content costs

Unlike television, radio does not require any commissioned original content. Most of the
content n radio is live. The biggest content i.e. music, requires a royalty which is payable to
the relevant societies viz. Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and Indian Performing
Rights Society (IPRS) and certain music companies.

Prime time differs from television

The prime time for radio listenership differs from prime time television viewing. Radio
listenership peaks in the morning, afternoon and late night time slots, while television
viewership reaches its peak during the night slot.

Delivers relevant audience

Listenership of radio as indicated by the Indian Listener ship Track (ILT) survey is the highest
as a percentage among the younger audience.

Ambient Medium
Easy to consume, you dont have to make an extra effort to entertain yourself
Encircles the audience

A Good Partner
It travels with the audience, wherever they go all the time. It begins where the print ends. Last
medium consumed before purchase.

Local
11

Radio is a local medium. Provides a good platform for area-specific campaigns. Very Low
Spill-over.

Reminder Media
People generally tend to forget things. Here radio helps the ad-messages by reminding the
people at the right time & place

Clutter Breaking
Radio helps in breaking the clutter for any advertiser as ad-avoidance is very low in this
medium

Innovative
We can execute n-number of innovative ideas. Can generate quick response of any campaign.

HOW RADIO WORKS ?

Radio waves" transmit music, conversations, pictures and data invisibly through the air, often over
millions of miles -- it happens every day in thousands of different ways! Even though radio waves are
invisible and completely undetectable to humans, they have totally changed society

AM Waves
AM stands for amplitude modulation.
AM was the dominant method of broadcasting during the first eighty years of the 20th century and remains
widely used into the 21st.
AM radio ranges from 535 to 1705 kHz. These are the numbers you see on your AM radio dial.
AM radio technology is simpler than FM radio.AM radio waves are of a lower frequency than either FM radio
or TV waves.
Stations can theoretically be placed every 10 kHz, along the AM band. This means that there are a total of 117
different channels available for AM radio station.

12

One cannot put stations on the same frequency that are too close together in geographic area. They will
interfere with each other. Therefore there is a limitation in the number of radio station in an area.
Since the signals of station tend to be limited in their range, the frequency can be used many times- as long as
the stations are far enough apart geographically.
How far an AM stations signal ravels depends on such things as the stations frequency, the power of the
transmitter in watts, the nature f the transmitting antenna, how conductive the soil is around the antenna, and, a
thing called ionospheric refraction.
Ionospheric refraction is a very big issue, since AM radio waves can end up hundreds and even thousands of
miles away, and in the process interface with all other stations on the same frequency.
AM radio stations the ground wave doesnt go very far. This means numerous stations can be put on the same
frequency without interfering with each other.
The problem arises-if you want to see it as a problem-with the sky wave, which can end up in other states and
provinces, or even in other countries.
The ionospheric is much more effective in reflecting these radio waves at night.
Thats why at sunset most AM radio stations:

Reduce power
Directionalize their signals (send it more in some dorection than others), or
Go off the air

This may explain why your favorite AM radio station goes off the air at sunset,or becomes much harder to hear

FM and TV Waves:
FM stands for Frequency modulation.
FM and TV waves dont act in the same way as AM radio waves.
FM are on a higher frequency.
The FM radio band goes from 88 to 108 MHz. FM radio stations must be 200 kHz apart at these
frequencies, which mean that theres room for 200 FM stations on the FM band. But unlike, AM

13

radio station, FM station dont end up being assigned frequencies with nice round number like 820 or
1240. Thus, an FM station may be at 88.7 on the dial.
You may have noticed that FM stations dont reduce power or sign off the air at sunset. Thats
because ionospheric refraction doesnt appreciably affect FM or TV signals.
For the most part FM and TV signals are line of sight. Although this means that FM stations dont
interfere with each other, this characteristic creates a couple of other problems.
First, these waves go in a straight line and dont bend around the earth as AM ground waves do. They
quickly disappear into space-which may be fine if you are sitting on mars trying to listen to your FM
radio
If not, then the farther away from the FM or TV station you are, the higher you have to have an
antenna to receive the FM or TV signal. Note that the earth is round-we hope this does not come as a
shock to anyone-and, therefore, these signals will literally leave the earth after 50 miles or so.
Since FM signals are line of sight, they can be stopped or reflected by things like mountains and
buildings. In the case of solid objects like buildings, reflections create swishing sound when you
listen to FM while driving around tall structures

The higher the FM transmitter antennas are the greater area they will cover-which explains why these
antennas are commonly very tall, or placed on top of the mountains. AM radio doesnt need that kind
of advantage, since, as weve seen, AM radio waves dont behave in the same way. Note also from
the drawing above the FM signals tend to go through the ionosphere rather than refracted form it.
Again it means that no matter what the station power, its signal at some point leave the earth.

Radio in comparison with other media vehicles

14

Medium

Start Date

Current Reach

Newspaper

17th Century

32 Cr Readers

TV

1960

45 Cr Viewers

Radio

1975

17 Cr Listeners

Internet

2000

5 Cr. Visitors monthly

Mobile

1996

44 Cr users connections

RADIO + TELEVISION

Radio boosts the effect of TV Advertising when used together The Multiplier Effect.

Radio delivers 15% lift in Brand Awareness, when 10% of TV Budget is re deployed on Radio
-Millward Brown Study, UK

Dramatic increase in frequency of message exposures

Message reaching out to light TV viewers also.

15

Radio works during the hours in the day when TV audience is lower

Radio works when product relevance is higher (like Pizza advertising in evening band on
radio coinciding with snacking time)

Radio adds Rs 5crore exclusive listeners to a TV plan

Thats an incremental reach

of 11% to a TV plan
53

54
52

51

50
48

48
46

46

44
42

TV

TV + Print TV + Radio

All media

Populati
on
reached

Source: IRS 20009 R1

16

RADIO + PRINT
Brand Awareness Increases Dramatically For Print + Radio Campaigns

The audience exposed to radio generated almost three times the brand recall compared to the
audience exposed to newspapers only.
Source: A Study by US Radio Advertising Effectiveness Lab (RAEL)
Radio adds an exclusive audience of 11 crores to print.

17

Great medium to support / boost any

28

30
25
20

17

15
10
5
0

Press

Press + Radio

Populat
ion
reached
in

The Audience Are Able To Provide Much Better Message Playback, For Print + Radio
Campaign

18

Radio Offers Effective Targeting

Brands can focus their activity around Key Target Groups on Radio

Audience Profile Varies Across the Day; thereby allowing Day Part Targeting

19

Evolution of private players

The Indian television system is one of the most extensive systems in the world. Terrestrial
broadcasting, which has been the sole preserve of the government, provides television coverage to
over 90% of India's 900 million people. By the end of 1996 nearly 50 million households had
television sets. International satellite broadcasting, introduced in 1991, has swept across the country
because of the rapid proliferation of small scale cable systems. By the end of 1996, Indians could
view dozens of foreign and local channels and the competition for audiences and advertising revenues
was one of the hottest in the world. In 1995, the Indian Supreme Court held that the government's
monopoly over broadcasting was unconstitutional, setting the stage for India to develop into one of
the world's largest and most competitive television environments.
Broadcasting began in India with the formation of a private radio service in Madras in 1924. In the
same year, the British colonial government granted a license to a private company, the Indian
Broadcasting Company, to open Radio stations in Bombay and Calcutta. The company went bankrupt
in 1930 but the colonial government took over the two transmitters and the Department of Labor and
Industries started operating them as the Indian State Broadcasting Corporation. In 1936, the
Corporation was renamed All India Radio (AIR) and placed under the Department of
Communications. When India became independent in 1947, AIR was made a separate Department
under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The early history of radio broadcasting in independent India is important because it set the parameters
for the subsequent role of television in the country. At Independence, the Congress government under
Jawaharlal Nehru had three major goals: to achieve political integration, economic development and
social modernization. Broadcasting was expected to play an important role in all three areas.
The most important challenge the government faced at independence was that of forging a nation out
of the diverse political, religious, geographic and lingual entities that composed independent India. In
addition to the territories ruled directly by the British, over 500 hundred "independent" princely states
had joined the new nation, some quite reluctantly. The country immediately found itself at war with
Pakistan over one of those states--Kashmir. The trauma of the partition of the country into India and
Pakistan and the violence between Hindus and Muslims had further weekend the political stability of
the country.
20

Broadcasting was harnessed for the task of political nation building. National integration and the
development of a "national consciousness" were among the early objectives of All India Radio.
Broadcasting was organized as the sole preserve of the chief architect of this process of political
integration--the State. The task of broadcasting was to help in overcoming the immediate crisis of
political instability that followed Independence and to foster the long-term process of political
modernization and nation building that was the dominant ideology of the newly formed state.
Broadcasting was also charged with the task of aiding in the process of economic development. The
Indian Constitution, adopted in 1950, mandated a strong role for the Indian State in the economic
development of the country. The use of broadcasting to further the development process was a natural
corollary to this state-led developmental philosophy. Broadcasting, was especially expected to
contribute to the process of social modernization, which was considered an important pre-requisite of
economic development. The dominant development philosophy of the time identified the problems of
development as primarily internal to developing countries. These endogenous causes, to which
communication solutions were thought to exist, included traditional value systems, lack of
innovation, lack of entrepreneurial ability and lack of a national consciousness. In short, the problem
was one of old ideas hindering the process of social change and modernization and the role of
broadcasting was to provide an inlet for the flow of modern ideas.
It was in the context of this dominant thinking about the role of broadcasting in India that television
was introduced in 1959. The government had been reluctant to invest in television until then because
it was felt that a poor country like India could not afford the medium. Television had to prove its role
in the development process before it could gain a foot-hold in the country. Television broadcasts
started from Delhi in September 1959 as part of All India Radio's services. Programs were broadcast
twice a week for an hour a day on such topics as community health, citizens duties and rights, and
traffic and road sense. In 1961 the broadcasts were expanded to include a school educational
television project. In time, Indian films and programs consisting of compilation of musicals from
Indian films joined the program line-up as the first entertainment programs. A limited number of old
U.S. and British shows were also telecast sporadically.
The first major expansion of television in India began in 1972, when a second television station was
opened in Bombay. This was followed by stations in Srinagar and Amritsar (1973), and Calcutta,
Madras and Lucknow in 1975. Relay stations were also set up in a number of cities to extend the
21

coverage of the regional stations. In 1975, the government carried out the first test of the possibilities
of satellite based television through the SITE program. SITE (Satellite Instructional Television
Experiment) was designed to test whether satellite based television services could play a role in
socio-economic development. Using a U.S. ATS-6 satellite and up-link centers at Ahmedabad and
Delhi, television programs were beamed down for about 4 hours a day to about 2,400 villages in 6
states. The programs dealt mainly with in- and out-of-school education, agricultural issues, planning
and national integration. The program was fairly successful in demonstrating the effectiveness of
satellite based television in India and the lessons learnt from SITE were used by the government in
designing and utilizing its own domestic satellite service INSAT, launched in 1982.
In these early years television, like radio, was considered a facilitator of the development process and
its introduction was justified by the role it was asked to play in social and economic development.
Television was institutionalized as an arm of the government, since the government was the chief
architect of political, economic and social development in the country.
By 1976, the government found itself running a television network of eight television stations
covering a population of 45 million spread over 75,000 square kilometers. Faced with the difficulty of
administering such an extensive television system television as part of All India Radio, the
government constituted Doordarshan, the national television network, as a separate
Department under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Doordarshan was set up as an
attached office under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting--a half-way house between a
public corporation and a government department. In practice, however, Doordarshan operated much
like a government department, at least as far as critical issues of policy planning and financial
decision-making were concerned. Doordarshan was headed by a Director General appointed by the I
and B Ministry. The Ministry itself and sometimes the office of the Director General as well, was and
continues to be, staffed by members of India's civil services.
In 1982 television began to attain national coverage and develop as the government's pre-eminent
media organization. Two events triggered the rapid growth of television that year. INSAT-1A, the first
of the country's domestic communications satellites became operational and made possible the
networking of all of Doordarshan's regional stations. For the first time Doordarshan originated a
nation-wide feed dubbed the "National Programme" which was fed from Delhi to the other stations.
In November 1982, the country hosted the Asian Games and the government introduced color
22

broadcasts for the coverage of the games. To increase television's reach, the government launched a
crash program to set up low and high power transmitters that would pick-up the satellite distributed
signals and re-transmit them to surrounding areas. In 1983 television signals were available to just
28% of the population, this had doubled by the end of 1985 and by 1990 over 90% of the population
had access to television signals.
1976 witnessed a significant event in the history of Indian television, the advent of advertising on
Doordarshan. Until that time television had been funded through a combination of television licenses
and allocations from the annual budget (licenses were later abolished as advertising revenues began to
increase substantially). Advertising began in a very small way with under 1% of Doordarshan's
budget coming from advertising revenues in 1976-77. But the possibility of reaching a nation wide
audience made television look increasingly attractive to advertisers after the introduction of the
"National Programme" in 1982. In turn, Doordarshan began to shift the balance of its programming
from educational and informational programs to entertainment programs. The commercialization of
Doordarshan saw the development of soap operas, situation comedies, dramas, musical programs,
quiz shows and the like. By 1990 Doordarshan's revenues from advertising were about $300 million,
accounting for about 70% of its annual expenditure.
By 1991, Doordarshan's earlier mandate to aid in the process of social and economic development
had clearly been diluted. Entertainment and commercial programs had begun to take center stage in
the organization's programming strategies and advertising had come to be Doordarshan's main source
of funding. However, television in India was still a modest enterprise with most parts of the country
getting just one channel except for the major cities which received two channels. But 1991 saw the
beginnings of international satellite broadcasting in India and the government launched a major
economic liberalization program. Both these events combined to change the country's television
environment dramatically.
International satellite television was introduced in India by CNN through its coverage of the Gulf War
in 1991. Three months later Hong Kong based StarTV (now owned by Rupert Murdoch's News
Corp.) started broadcasting five channels into India using the ASIASAT-1 satellite. By early 1992,
nearly half a million Indian households were receiving StarTV telecasts. A year later the figure was
close to 2 million and by the end of 1994, an estimated 12 million households (a little less than one-

23

fourth of all television households) were receiving satellite channels. This increase in viewership was
made possible by the 60,000 or so small scale cable system operators who
have mushroomed across the country. These systems have redistributed the satellite channels to their
customers at rates as low as $5 a month. Taking advantage of the growth of the satellite television
audience, a number of Indian satellite based television services were launched between 1991 and
1994, prominent among them ZeeTV, the first Hindi satellite channel. By the end of 1994 there were
12 satellite based channels available in India, all of them using a handful of different satellites. This
number was expected to double by the end of 1996, with a number of Indian programmers and
international media companies like Turner Broadcasting, Time-Warner, ESPN, CANAL 5 and
Pearsons PLC, seriously considering the introduction of new satellite television services for India.
The proliferation of channels has put great pressure on the Indian television programming industry.
Already the largest producer of motion pictures, India is poised to become a sizable producer of
television programs as well. With Indian audiences clearly preferring locally produced program over
foreign programs, the new television services are spending heavily on the development of indigenous
programs. The number of hours of television programming produced in India has increased 500%
from 1991 to 1996 and is expected to grow at an ever faster rate until the year 2000.
Despite the rapid growth of television channels from 1991 to 1996, television programming continues
to be dominated by the Indian film industry. Hindi films are the staple of most national channels and
regional channels rely heavily on a mix of Hindi and regional language films to attract audiences.
Almost all Indian films are musicals and this allows for the development of inexpensive derivative
programs. One of Doordarshan's most popular programs, Chitrahaar, is a compilation of old film
songs and all the private channels, including ZeeTV and music video channels like MTV Asia and
Channel V, show some variation of Chitrahaar. A number of game shows are also based on movie
themes. Other genres like soap operas, talk shows and situation comedies are also gaining in
popularity, but the production of these programs has been unable to keep up with demand, hence the
continuing reliance on film based programming.
International satellite programming has opened up competition in news and public affairs
programming with BBC and CNN International challenging Doordarshan's long standing monopoly.
Most of the other foreign broadcasters, for example, ESPN and the Discovery Channel, are focusing
on special interest programming. Only StarTV's STAR Plus channel offers broad-based English
24

language entertainment programs. Most of its programs are syndicated U.S. shows, for example soap
operas like The Bold and the Beautiful and Santa Barbara and talk shows like Donahue and Oprah.
However, STAR Plus has a very small share of the audience in India and even this is threatened by
the launch of new channels.
A peculiar development in television programming in India has been the use of hybrid English-Hindi
program formats, popularly called "Hinglish" formats, which offer programs in Hindi and English on
the same channel and even have programs, including news shows, that use both languages within a
single telecast. This takes advantage of the of the audience for television (especially the audience for
satellite television) which is largely composed of middle class Indians who have some knowledge of
English along with Hindi and colloquially speak a language that is primarily Hindi intermixed with
words, phrases and whole sentences in English.
Commercial competition has transformed Doordarshan as well and it is scrambling to cope with the
changed competitive environment. Satellite broadcasting has threatened Doordarshan's audiences and
self-preservation has spawned a new ideology in the network which is in the process of reinventing
itself, co-opting private programmers to recapture viewers and advertising rupees lost to ZeeTV and
StarTV. In 1994, the government ordered Doordarshan to raise its own revenues for future expansion.
This new commercial mandate has gradually begun to change Doordarshan's perception of who are
its primary constituents--from politicians to advertisers.
The government's monopoly over television over the years has resulted in Doordarshan being tightly
controlled by successive governments. In principle, Doordarshan is answerable only to Parliament.
Parliament lays down the guidelines that Doordarshan is expected to adhere to in its programming
and Doordarshan's budget is debated and approved by Parliament. But the
guidelines established by Parliament to ensure Doordarshan's political neutrality are largely ignored
in the face of the majority that ruling parties have held in Parliament. Doordarshan has been subject
more to the will of the government than the oversight of Parliament. Successive governments and
ruling political parties have used Doordarshan to further their political agendas, weakening its
credibility as an neutral participant in the political process. There have been periodic attempts to
reconstitute Doordarshan into a BBC-like public corporation, but governments have been reluctant to
relinquish their hold on such a powerful medium.

25

The government drew its right to operate the country's broadcasting services as a monopoly from the
Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 which empowers the government with the exclusive right to "establish,
maintain and work" wireless services. In addition, the Constitution lists broadcasting as the sole
domain of Parliament, effectively shutting out the states from making any laws with regard to
television. Within the ambit of these provision it was assumed that media autonomy or liberalization
in any form was the prerogative of the government to grant. But the government's monopoly was
challenged in the Indian Supreme Court in 1995. The Court held that the government monopoly over
broadcasting was unconstitutional and while the government has the right to regulate broadcasting in
the public interest, the Constitution forbids monopoly control over any medium by either individuals
or the government. The Court directed the government to establish an independent public authority
for "controlling and regulating" the use of airwaves. The Court's decision holds out the promise of
significant structural changes in Indian broadcasting and the possibility that terrestrial television may
finally free itself from governmental control.
It is evident that over time the State's control over television will continue to diminish. As its revenue
structure begins to change and Doordarshan begins to respond to increasing commercial pressures,
the character of its programming will begin to increasingly reflect the demands and pressures of the
market place. In the meantime, caught between the government and the market, Doordarshan
continues to struggle to maintain its mandate of public service programming. But the Supreme Court's
recent decision ordering the government to establish
an independent broadcasting authority to regulate television in the public interest holds the promise of
allowing Indian television to escape both the stifling political control of the state and the commercial
pressures of the market. There are a number of other constituencies like state governments,
educational institutions, non-governmental organizations and social service agencies who can
participate in a liberalized broadcast system. The Supreme Court has provided an opportunity to
develop a broad based television system. How the country responds to this opportunity in the next
few years will determine the future of broadcasting in India in the next century.

26

India's private radio broadcasting industry exhibits a strong growth potential

FM Radio Broadcasting Industry - India FM Radio Broadcasting Industry - India. Radio broadcasting
revenues are growing at 29% per annum. Growth in this sector is being propelled by increasing radio
listener base, favourable demographics, opportunities in Phase III expansion, political advertising,
increasing advertising by small local brands and introduction of new performance measurement tool.
The report begins with privatization of radio. The market overview section gives a quick overview of
the market with estimated advertising revenues and share, and profile of advertisers on radio. The
drivers and challenges explain the factors influencing growth of the industry including increasing
radio listener base, opportunities in phase iii expansion, increasing advertising by small local brands,
favourable demographics, political advertising and introduction of new performance measurement
tool. The key challenges identified include royalty, lack of content differentiation, government
regulations and bargaining tactics used by advertisers. The report also highlights the current market
trends namely emergence of visual radio, satellite radio, community radio, internet radio, sales
alliances and players going niche.
The report identifies the current market trends including emergence of visual radio, satellite radio,
community radio, internet radio, sales alliances and players going niche. The competitive landscape
profiles the major players in this sector in terms of business description, number of FM stations and
FM frequencies of each player. The report also provides details key developments in this sector.
The competitive landscape profiles the major players in this sector including their business
description, number of FM stations and FM frequencies of each player. The report also provides the
key developments in this sector.Government has liberalized radio broadcast and this has resulted in
most media houses diversifying to offer radio services.
In Mumbai, for instance, five private FM radio stations have been launched. Mumbai listeners can
tune in to any of the seven FM stations (five from private broadcasters and two from AIR).
Government has indicated that its long-term plan is to have 150 FM stations across 40 cities. Is this a
case of one too many? Can Indian market sustain so many radio stations? Going by the International
benchmark, even 150 stations across India is a sustainable proposition. There are more than 6000
radio stations in US and even a developing country like Nigeria has 18 FM stations. In most markets,
radio manages to garner around 4-5% of the mass media spend. In some countries like Sri Lanka,
27

radio accounts for 20% of ad spend. It is estimated that in 2001, American radio commanded US$3.2
Billion out of US$60 Billion spent on mass media. In India, currently radio is able to garner less than
1% of the total ad pie of Rs.8, 600 crore. Madison media estimates that by 2004, advertisers will
spend around Rs. 500 crore on radio. This will constitute around 4 % of the enlarged ad pie.
While growth of the radio broadcast industry looks exciting, there are numerous issues facing the
radio broadcasters. Chief of them being the license costs and licensing policy. After bidding
aggressively, many players have realized that high license cost is making the business unviable.
As per reports, bidders license for 37 stations. This translates to around Rs.4.2 crores as license fee
per station. The broadcasters now want the government to scrap fixed license fee and move to a
revenue sharing regime. However, the industry feels that these are mere start-up issues; radio should
feature in the media planner's radar as a serious medium.
Today, media planners are quite at loss as there is inadequate information on this medium. This study
attempts to provide better insight by exploring other markets where radio is a more established
medium and then extrapolate the same to Indian markets. We will examine three aspects relevant to
media planners:
1) International trends in Radio Business
2) Radio Measurement
3) Best practices that have evolved in using the medium

International trends
International experiences show two distinct trends in evolution of radio business
Consolidation - Typically, there is a surge of activity when the media is liberalized but over a horizon
of five to six years, consolidation is inevitable and stations groups are formed that controls most of
the revenues. For instance, in UK four media groups control nearly 60% of ad revenue. We expect
similar consolidation exercise in India. Radio stations that are part of established media houses would
do well. Publications having strong city edition will do have an advantage as they already have
infrastructure to marshal local advertisers and also keep a tab on the pulse of the city citizens.
28

Specialization - Internationally, radio stations have grown by attracting niche audiences (like a
Hispanic channel in US or a Malayalam channel in gulf) and local advertisers. As of today, if one

goes by Mumbai experience, the concept of niche programming has not yet caught the imagination of
the broadcaster and audiences find it almost impossible to distinguish one from another. Madison
Media expects that the evolutionary pressures will prevail in India and radio stations will increasingly
find their own niche. For instance, we expect that by year 2004, emergence of stations that address
only specialist audience groups - like a special radio station dedicated to south Indians residing in
Mumbai or a station that caters exclusively to college going population. Such specialist channels will
be ideal medium for advertisers, as they will have access to well defined captive audience.

Radio Audience Measurement

The question haunting most advertisers and media planners is regarding the audience measurement
that will be adoptedfor Radio. As it is early days in India, station owners and advertising agencies on
ad hoc basis are conducting research. We expect the trend to continue for some more time till
significant advertising monies are committed on radio.
Even Internationally, radio audience research has not matured to the extent of television audience
measurement. The popular rating system for radio that is used in US is the Arbitron's RADAR
(Radio's All Dimension Audience Research) audience report. It measures National radio audiences
and the audience size of radio commercials aired on 31 radio networks operated by large radio
networks. Till recently, RADAR report was based on a 12,000-person telephone survey. However, the
next round of RADAR plans to shift reliance from telephone survey to diary-based panel for data
collection. There has been some academic discussion on use of "meters" in radio sets to determine
listnership. However, these are many years away from being put to commercial use. The prime reason
for inadequate advancement in radio audience measurement technique has been the small share of ad
pie that radio commands and also the vast geographic spread.

29

We expect that over a period of time, audience measurement technique for radio will improve and a
currency will be established for buying commercial time and selection of alternatives. In the mean
time, we suggest that advertisers should not ignore the media owing to non-availability of any
established audience measurement data. Indicative surveys are being conducted and published
periodically by research agencies. Advertising agencies also conduct periodic dipstick surveys.
Madison Media routinely undertakes studies on radio usage.
Key Findings from Madison Media Research

Radio has a reach of 56% and there is a distinct skew towards males.

Radio Mirchi is the most popular station and is tuned by people in SEC A and B.
People listen to FM at home (70%), while driving (32%), at public places (9%) and at the
office (7%).

Almost 51% of the people listen to FM for an average time of one hour and another 39%
listen to FM for a longer period of 1-3 hours.

Sunday listenership is dramatically low with only 10% of the people tuning in to FM vs.
weekdays where the number of tune-ins is as high as 94%.

Majority of the people listen to Hindi film songs (63%), followed by Hindi pop (40%),
remixes

(37%)

and

English

pop

(33%).

Best Practices that have evolved in using the medium

While the audience measurement is still in infancy, users of radio as an advertising medium
can benefit from extensive work carried out in area of media effectiveness. Most of these
studies have been conducted in developed markets like UK and USA. The most impressive in
this genre of research has been the Radio Recall Research (RRR), which tested 1200
commercials with 200 respondents per commercial.

30

This exhaustive study was conducted in early 1980s and subsequent research added to the body of
available knowledge. It will be incorrect to directly transplant those learning's in Indian context.
However, they are invaluable in providing directions and we at Madison Media have distilled these
findings, adapted to Indian context and arrived at set of best practices for radio advertising.

Create Unique Properties - studies clearly demonstrate that properties created on radio are
cost effective and have advantage of high recall. International experience suggests
that music oriented properties targeted at youth last long and provide immense benefit to advertisers.
Closer home, "Binaca Geet Mala" on radio was as one of the best media properties. To create such
high decibel properties, advertisers should be willing to enter early and commit long term investment.
It might take some time before the properties start to reward the advertisers and advertisers should be
willing to fork out the extra premium now before the medium gets established.

Exploit Drive Time Audiences - the traditional bastion of radio has been the "In car" listening.
However, given the low penetration of ownership of personal cars in India, we do not expect car
owners to be the largest audience for radio. It is not important whether in-car listeners will form the
bulk of listnership base. It is more important to understand that radio will be the best medium to
target upwardly mobile high spending executives and businessmen. Studies have demonstrated that
in-car listeners are light consumers of other media like television, making radio a very effective
medium. A study by Voice of British Advertisers shows that radio is the most effective medium to
target businessmen. There are mixed reports with regard to station switching behavior among in car
listeners. A research by Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), UK indicates, contrary to popular myth,
that nearly 85% of in-car audience do not shift stations frequently. However, other studies indicate
there is extremely low loyalty among in car
listeners. In any case, it is undeniable that for brands that target at affluent section of the society need
to be actively associated with radio. In other markets, many successful service brandsespecially those
in office supplies and financial services have benefited tremendously by judicious use of radio.
31

Exploit Imagery Transfer - a study by Statistical research Inc. shows that three out of four
consumers who watch a television spot will "replay" the visual image mentally when they hear a
radio commercial for the same brand. This is called Imagery Transfer. Another series of studies called
"distraction study" tried to simulate the fact that radio listening is always
secondary activity. These tests also indicated that listeners were able to create and keep images fresh
and top-of-mind even when engaged in other task. It is through imagery transfer that radio creates a
synergy with television. Recent studies shown that Sonic branding, where aural brand elements are
used is very effective in sustaining brand's recall (tring tring of Britannia). Creation of sonic branding
reduces long term cost of advertising, as one need not air the complete commercial to register recall.
As can be fathomed, radio can be advantageously used in creating sonic elements of a brand.

Effective Radio Copy Management - studies have clearly established that length of the
commercial had a positive impact on the ad. In general, spots of 45 seconds or more were effective.
RRR studies also indicate that more brand mentions in the commercial were good for ad recall and
was more effective when the brand was mentioned early in the ad. Moreover, fatigue factor is high
with radio commercials. The ads that were repeated too often were disliked. Copy variation can offset
this fatigue and it is suggested to have three variants of the same theme. Though airing multiple
variants is recommended, there is evidence, which statethat simultaneous airing of more than 5
executions leads to decay in effectiveness. As in any other media, ads that were liked had higher
impact.

Radio Multiplier Effect - apart from RRR, another monumental study is the Millward Brown
study on radio multiplier effect. Millward Brown conducted the study across October 1999 to April to
find out how effective radio advertising can be relative to television. This study involved nearly 5500
interviews in continuous research to track awareness and attitudes to 17 brands. The media tested
were Commercial Radio and television in the Central Region of UK. The broad findings of the study
proved that radio was, on an average, three-fifths as efficient as television at driving advertising
awareness amongst radio listeners; used in conjunction with a television campaign, it proved to be an
effective medium; and in general, if 10% of a given television budget is re-deployed onto radio, the
32

efficiency of the campaign in building awareness increases on average by 15% as shown in table
below:

The study highlighted that radio effectiveness result was achieved at one-seventh of the cost. Of
course, this cannot be taken as a thumb rule as there will be wide variance between rates in U.K and
other markets. However, the study makes a strong case for advertisers to divert a small portion of
their TV budget to radio.

Conclusion
Radio offers tremendous opportunities for advertisers and media planners need to explore various
options by which they can effectively use radio in their media mix. Conversely, broadcasters need to

33

develop the market by being more responsive to the advertiser's needs. This will provide an
opportunity for the market to arrive at the final verdict on the effectiveness of the medium.

FUTURE SCENARIO
The Indian Media and Entertainment industry is forecasted to grow at an annual growth rate of 19 per
cent to reach Rs 83,740 crore by 2010.

The forecasted CAGR of various segments of the Media and Entertainment industry in India till
2010 is:

Radio - 32%

Music - 1%

Television - 24%

Film Industry - 18%

Print Media - 12%

The forecasted size of the various segments of the Media and Entertainment industry in India till
2010 is:

Radio - Rs 1,200 crore

Music - Rs 740 crore

Television - Rs 42,700 crore

Film Industry - Rs 15,300 crore

Print Media - Rs 19,500 crore

34

The government has announced Phase 3 of privatization of FM radio which is expected in April 2010.
Therefore large number of radio stations, across the country is expected to grow. At present the
industry is seeing the upward trend.

35

Porters Five Forces Model

36

Bargaining power of
Buyers

High

Bargaining Power of the

Suppliers

Low - Medium

Threat of New Entrants

Low

Threat of Substitutes

Medium

Buyers (listeners as
well as advertisers)
do not face significant
switching costs
Advertisers are
extremely price
sensitive. Listenership
tastes frequently
change, providing
little loyalty to any
particular radio
station.
Advertising buyers
dictate radio
programming choices
Since most suppliers
to Broadcasters have
either been acquired/
have a tie-up with the
broadcasters, the
bargaining power of
suppliers is low.
High start-up capital
is a big demotivator.
New entrant has some
problems finding
skilled professionals.
Serviceable used
equipment is
expensive.
Long-lasting
economies of learning
and scale also
demotivate the
potential new entrant
Customers incur no
switching costs. Also,
adequate substitutes
are available.
Possibly, One
Broadcasting medium
substitute for the
other(CDs as a
replacement For
Radio).
37

Note on Porters 5 forces

As we see, the Industry could be classified as relatively unattractive since the power of the forces is
high. We note that the buyers are primarily listeners and also advertisers. Also, content providers who
dont have any contractual arrangements with broadcasters can leverage the online revenue models
directly.

Key Private Players in Radio

Industry

38

INTRODUCTION
Private FM radio has emerged as the fastest growing segment in the media.
ALL PRIVATE RADIO CHANNELS IN AHMEDABAD

Frequency
91.1
93.4
94.3
95.0
98.3

Brand Name
Radio City
Red Fm
My Fm
Radio One

Owner
Star India Pvt Ltd
South Asia FM Ltd
Bhaskar group
Mid-Day Multimedia

Radio Mirchi

Limited
Times of India Group

39

91.1 RADIO CITY

Radio City 91.1FM is promoted by Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL), the private FM
network has captured the hearts of millions of listeners across 20 FM stations in Mumbai, Delhi,
Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Vadodara, Surat, Sholapur,
Nagpur, Sangli, Coimbatore, Vizag, Ahmednagar, Akola, Nanded and Jalgaon.
Radio City 91.1FM's differentiated music offers listeners melodious Adult Contemporary (AC) music
along with a vibrant outlook, 'Whatte Fun'. It now brings a unique and uniform brand experience, in
line with the vision of creating a national brand.
Radio City is characterized by exciting shows that give it unmatched popular appeal. A history of
innovative programming, friendly radio jockeys and fresh music uniquely position Radio City to cater
to the mass premium audience across India's most important cities. Radio City's range of innovative
and popular shows cut across audiences. The medley of songs, contests, talk shows, events, humour
and gossip delivered by a hugely popular team of radio jockeys have revived and revolutionised
radio-listening habits across all our markets. The programming at Radio City is strategically planned
to uplift the mood of its listeners. The programming is backed by extensive research and we deliver
content that is tinged with the local flavour. They have always catered to our audience's demands.
Radio City has its content tailored to fit the wants and needs of the local audiences and speaks the
language of the people. This combined with its music expertise and creativity provides for compelling
content
Since its inception, Radio City has used every opportunity to innovate with the category and build
stronger involvement and listenership. Playing truly popular music, in the language of the people,
Radio City programming has also had the distinction of successfully pioneering many path breaking
programmes on radio like Musical-e-Azam, RC Live, Remix Raja, Life Ki Dhun with Sonu Niigaam,
the simulcast of Sonys Indian Idol 2, Shaam-e-Ghazal with Roop Kumar Rathod and Maan Na Maan
Superstar Tera Mehmaan. Radio City has given radio a new dimension with the concept of 'Celebrity
RJ' starting with Life Ki Dhun with Sonu Nigaam. Hottest chart busters,

40

humorous Babbar Sher, rip-roaring mimicry, gripping fiction, interactive game shows, professional
counselling, children's programming and the best of Bollywood celebrity interviews, you hear it first
and better only on Radio City!.
As solution providers to advertisers, Radio City invests in understanding the advertiser's imperatives
and product propositions. The idea is to design a highly customized offering to optimally convey the
USP of the advertiser's product offering to the FM brand's discerning listeners while presenting to
them choicest infotainment.
Radio City broadcasts round-the-clock using state of the art digital stereo FM for unmatched quality
in signal strength, clarity and brilliance. Radio City has always been abreast with the latest in
technology. Radio City has world class studio facilities across markets
A sustained focus on understanding listeners and leveraging the synergies of music expertise and
innovative programming, allows Radio City to deliver a unique listening experience and be an
integral part of the lives of listeners. Aggressively looking at spreading the Radio City experience
across the country, Radio City 91.1FM is committed to growing the market and creating superlative
content quality audiences nationwide.
In an endeavour to harness new technologies to connect through music with its chosen audience,
MBPL has recently forayed into the domain of the Internet with PlaneRadiocity.com
(www.planetradiocity.com). Planet Radio City is India's first all-inclusive Music Portal that offers
users information, entertainment and interactivity. The site is targeted not just at the passionate,
serious music lover, keen on information and discovering new music but also musicians and music
enthusiasts - experts and amateurs. The website offers unique applications and features hitherto
missing from the music websites of Indian origin. In short, PlanetRadiocity.com is a one-stop shop for
music lovers and musicians.

41

98.3 RADIO MIRCHI

Radio Mirchis holding company Entertainment Network (India) Limited (ENIL) was incorporated in
1999. After successfully bidding for licenses in the Phase I auction in 2000, ENIL launched its first
station in Indore on October 4, 2001. In the space of 24 months, Radio Mirchi made its presence felt
in seven cities; along the way it also became the only private FM brand in all the four metros.
Radio Mirchi was also the first off the mark to launch a station from the lot of cities included in Phase
II. In quick succession it launched Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur in early 2006 and completed the
final rollout of the remaining 22 stations recently.
Resources were poured into shipping the highest quality studio and transmission equipment. The
latest in transmitters, mixers and coders were sourced from globally renowned suppliers based in the
United States and Canada. No cost was spared in ensuring that Radio Mirchi set the standards for
quality of broadcast and coverage in each of its local markets.
Since launching its first station in Indore in 2001, Radio Mirchi has gone from strength to
strength.Today, it is one of the largest private FM radio networks in India with licences in 32 cities.
As on date all 32 stations are on air.
Radio Mirchi has the distinction of being the only private radio broadcaster to have licences in all of
Indias fourteen cities with a population of over 2 million. This makes the channel the most valuable
network for advertisers. With revenue exceeding Rs. 170 crore (US$ 42.5 million) Radio Mirchi, in
its space, had an estimated 45% market share (Source: internal data).The company grew 43.6% in the
financial year 2006/07. In the first nine months ended December 31, 2007 the companys revenue was
Rs. 162.50 crore (US$ 40.63 million) up 32.5% over the previous year.
The channels strength can also be gauged from the fact that Radio Mirchis total daily reach in the
metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata was 7.7 million listeners (Source: Indian
Listenership Track Wave 4 2007). In the new Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) launched by
the TV ratings company TAM, Radio Mirchi dominated Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore by logging a
combined weekly listenership of approximately 11.3 million (RAM week 02, 2008). This is the
highest of any station in these three cities combined.
42

But its not just in the metros that Radio Mirchi scores. Across its 32 cities this perky entertainment
brand reaches out to an estimated 22 million listeners every day. This is higher than the all India reach
of the leading satellite TV channel.
Not surprisingly Radio Mirchi is also a favourite with advertisers. It has received due recognition
from several quarters. It won four of the six RAPA awards received by radio broadcasters from the
Radio and Television Advertising Practitioners Association of India in 2004; and seven out of eight
in 2005. Radio Mirchi is also the only media brand to have won a Gold for Best Activity Generating
Brand Loyalty and a bronze for Best Activity Generating Brand Awareness and Trial at the 2004
Promotion Marketing Awards of Asia. In 2007 Radio Mirchi won four RAPA Awards. It also won two
Golds at the Ad Club Kolkata and a Gold at the Ad Club Bangalore Awards
function.
In 2006 Radio Mirchi was conferred the status of Superbrands in India.

43

93.3 Red FM
Sun TV Network, India's largest television network has powerpacked Twenty TV channels, Fourty
Six FM Radio Stations, Two Daily Newspapers and Four Magazines in several Indian languages.
It has become our nature to occupy the first slot in whatever we do. Sun TV Network Limited's foray
into FM radio is no exception either.The top slot is a result of a carefully planned thoroughly
enjoyable, round-the-clock, wholesome entertainment-oriented package and there is a substantial
localization of content to retain the regional flavour.
Delhi : Mumbai : Kolkata : Vishakapatinam : Bangalore : Gulbarga : Hyderabad : Warangal : Jaipur :
Bhubaneshwar : Pune : Aurangabad : Nashik : Nagpur : Tirupati : Lucknow : Bhopal : Vadodara :
Rajkot : Ahmedabad : Kozhikode : Indore : Vijayawada : Varanasi : Gangtok : Siliguri : Guwahati :
Shillong : Aizwal : Asansol : Jamshedpur : Rajahmundry : Kanpur : Thiruvananthapuram : Kochi :
Thrissur : Mangalore : Mysore : Kannur : Allahabad : Jabalpur
The marketing department is wholly responsible for the advertisement sales of Red FM stations. With
it's team of dedicated professionals, it is today one of the highly appreciated professional marketing
unit among radio stations. Apart from offering the available advertisement time in the most effective
way, it offers the best follow up service.
The deals, that are made, are mutually beneficial and uniform. It functions with the motto professionalism, efficiency and dedicated service.

44

COMPANY PROFILE

45

RED FM 93.5
Red FM is an Indian FM radio brand, with stations broadcasting at the frequency 93.5 megahertz in
the cities of Pune, Mumbai,Delhi, Kolkata and Indore in addition
to Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Saugor, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Bengaluru, Mysuru,Mangaluru,
Gulbarga, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Kannur, Kanpur, Kozhikode, Hyderabad, Vijayawa
da, Visakhapatnam,Warangal, Rajahmundry, Tirupathi, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Lucknow, Aiz
awl. Allahabad, Varanasi, Jaipur, Jamshedpur,Bhubaneswar, Asansol, Siliguri, Gangtok, Guwahati an
d Shillong. It was launched in 2002, playing a mix of Hindi and English songs. However, the
programming is now 100% exclusively Hindi. The channel is owned by Kalanithi Maran, with a
48.9% stake, as well as minority holdings of Hyderabad-based IT company ValueLabs, NDTV, Astro.
It was acquired from India Today promoter Living Media in January 2006. Their punchline is 'Bajaate
Raho' (Keep Playing). The most widely broadcast shows include "Morning No.1", "Dilse", "Mumbai
Local", "One Two ka Four", "Mera Wala Gana", "Superhits Music Show", "RDX", "Indore Beats"
and "Nomoshkar Kolkata". In one of the recent developments at Super Hits Red FM 93.5 Virag
Mishra joined the team as a National Creative Head. Virag the recipient of the esteemed Stardust
Award for standout performance as a lyricist is from advertising background. Starting August 14,
2009, S FM or Suryan FM was re-branded into RED FM across 38 cities in INDIA. S FM took over
Red FM in August, 2009 and re-branded all its stations to Red FM except for the ones in Tamil Nadu.

My Fm Mission
94.3 My Fm will strive to become an indispensible part of the lives of its employees, listeners and
business associates by offering them relaxing, refreshing and informative content which will not only
entertain them but will also take care of their emotional needs.

My Fm Vision
To be among the top three FM radio networks in India by the year 2012 and to positively impact and
enrich the lives of its employees, listeners and business associates by following its five guiding
principles of management philosophy.
Empowerment
Fearlessness
Innovation
46

Openness
Creativity

47

The brand was decided as My Fm as it is a right reflection of the one to one relationship with an
emotional ownership of the medium with the listeners. The brand operates at he single frequency i.e.
94.3 over all 17 stations.
My Fm is calling for its listeners to Jiyo dil se. the Fm brand from Synergy Media Entertainment
limited has embarked on a new campaign to better connect with its listeners and seeking to reach out
to them in various touch points- colleges, malls, and other hot spots. The campaign is supported by
extensive advertising in print and on air.
Harish Bhatia coo, my fm said the campaign jiyo dil se s an extenton of my fms commitment and
its understanding of the evolving audience preferences. The freshness in the branding will ensure that
My Fm stays young, responsive to listeners aspirations and ever eager to serve them better.
My Fm has come up with various campaigns like Tention naa lene ka, naa dene kaa, jiyo dil se,
Dimag to dimag hai, suno dil ke,jiyo dil se-these are set to become a lifestyle statement of the
youth.
My Fm has designed its shows according to the preference of the consumers with the help of
extensive research and survey. The type of music to be played in a particular time band is also derived
based on research.

DEPARTMENTAL ANALYSIS

48

Sales Department
Sales department in My Fm consists of Sales executives. Their task is to sell the inventory in the form
of seconds and generating revenues for the station. For that they need to move in he field, approach
clients, ad agencies and close the deal with them. They are responsible for the collection. Each of
them have their individual target and to achieve their target they can offer activities like on ground
activity and on air selling.

Sales Planning

Sales planning is very important and responsible work because sales department is the

revenue generating department and performance of the company depends on the sales growth.
The station director cluster head gives the revenue target to each station that are responsible

for the target achievement.

The station head plans the sales in the meeting with his sales executives.
The performance is reviewed monthly.

Responsibilities

The station head is responsible for sales target

Sales executives are responsible for sales as well as reporting to the station head for the sales.
Ales executives are also responsible for collection from companies and dealers.
Every sales executive is given the target based on area or sector.

Strength

My Fm sales team can easily compete with other players with negotiated rate to attract prize
sensitive customer and get an edge over competitors. At certain level of rate sales executive of

the other company has to say no while My Fm sales team can close the deal.
With help of Divya Bhaskar data base My Fm sales team can access the retail client of the

city. This large data base provides sales team great potential customer.
Sales team is having benefit of Divya Bhaskar brand equity which is a recognized brand in the

city.
My Fm enjoys synergy of both print and radio medium.
In the complex deal to compete with the competitors, sales team can offer combo pack of print
+ radio.

49

Weakness

My Fm has strategy if volume sales. Sales team in doing business for volume with negotiated

lower rates which can generate higher revenue

The volume ales strategy wit lower rate may have perception of lower quality in mind of

customers.
My fm has segmented its clients in categories like, national corporate retail, regional corporate
retail, and retail and government division. But so formally this procedure is not followed by

the sale team.

My Fm has an advantage in terms of print synergy but its when the sales people of Divya
Bhaskar close deal of My Fm they often have to provide the very low rate. Some times the
advantage of print synergy results in the lower revenue earning for it.

Marketing Department
My Fm has marketing executive who are responsible for all the marketing activities like branding,
advertising and promotion. Marketing executive makes plan with station head according to the budget
given by regional marketing head. Marketing executives main job is to find out innovative ways for
promotion and branding. And this task is to come with ideas for gaining brand and frequency recall.

Strength

My Fm has good presence through aggressive advertising and branding.

It has good visibility in the city by on ground activities as well as aggressive branding

strategy.
My Fm always takes participation in any event organized at spot places, which can increase
the value of its brand.

Weakness
My Fm has most of the barter deals
Now in hat it becomes media partner and gets a free brand promotion in the event. In exchange My
Fm would freely promote the event on radio. So here money or margin is not involved in whole
transaction.

50

Programming Department
In My FM programming department is headed by programming head that is responsible for
programming activity of the station. They are responsible to meet all the legal aspects of
programming like which can be produced on radio or not? Programming head is also responsible to
make his team work and complete their work in time and with all legal aspect. Their task is to make
more creative programming which can attract listeners. Department also makes programming which
have involvement from listeners also.

51

MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEM

Management control system is meant for effective implementations of chosen strategy. It tries to
ensure that each and every member of the organization direct their efforts to implement the
organizational strategies.

Organizational objectives
Every organization has typical objectives. Again these objectives can be divided into two parts.
Financial objectives- Double digit growth in sales
Return on investment
Non financial objectives- % increase in market shar
Customer satisfaction
Here in case of My Fm, the unit has an objective of achieving its annual sales target.
Strategy
Strategies are plans to achieve organizational goals. Strategies differ between organization and
control should be tailored to the requirements of specific strategies.
My Fm has a volume based strategy to reach their target. Their strategy is to sell most of its inventory
in the form of seconds even below the average selling price to gain volume business.

Budgeting
Budgets are an important tool for effective short term planning and control in organizations planning.
It is a management commitment in that managers agree to accept responsibility for attaining the
budgeted objectives. Strategy planning and budgeting are simultaneous process. It generally covers a
period of one year.
In case of My Fm station head allocates the task to its sales team and make sure that they will give
their maximum to implement the strategy objective of the firm. In My Fm sales team

52

members are responsible for their own categories. My Fm has a huge data base of clients. Now this
database is divided into segments.

The above figure shows that how the categories are made and the clients are divided. National
corporate client people look after those whose head quarters are located locally within Gujarat and
they deal with My Fm for national advertisement i.e. Nirma, Vadilal, Paras etc. There is also one
specific executive who looks after government clients. The retail people look after the local
advertisers who are based only in a particular city.

53

Performance measures
A performance measure system is simply a mechanism that improves the likelihood of the
organization that will implement the strategies successfully. It provides for the effective
implementation of the strategy.
In My Fm, sales team is evaluated on the basis of their targets. They have monthly tracker of their
target versus achievement which itself is a motivational factor for them.

Compensation
The key to motivating people to behave in a manner that further an organizations goals lies in the
way the organizations incentives relate to the individuals goals.
In My Fm, incentives are linked with the target achievement. Incentive is generally 20% of gross
salary. A sales executive achieving at least 80% of his/her target will get 100% of incentive. Incentive
is paid monthly to the sales team.

Marketing Plan
In general, marketing activities are all those associated with identifying the particular wants and
needs of the target market of the competitors. This involves market research on customers, analyzing
their needs and then taking marketing strategy decision about product design, pricing, promotion and
distribution. In a place like Ahmedabad with its town like stature, marketing plays an important role
in brand building.

Strategy

Expansion of the network of out of home media sites managed by My Fm

Explore opportunities to lease sites on long term bases.
Introduce innovative technology and processes

Marketing in My Fm follows the following approach

Association for ground visibility

Contest

54

7 Ps Of Marketing
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Product
Price
Place
Promotion
Physical evidence
Process
People

PRODUCT MIX

Brand
The brand is My Fm. As it is a right reflection of the one to one relationship with an emotional
ownership of the medium with the listeners. The brand operates at the single frequency 94.3
across the station

Target segment
They have a large chunk of listeners who are- young, housewives, also listeners who are 40
plus.
So programming caters to all strata of society. So, while they target the young population, they
cannot afford to ignore the other large segment of the society.

Language
In Varanasi My Fm has made their programs 60% in Hindi, 20% in Gujarati and 20% in
English.

55

SHOWS SCHEDULE
Monday to Friday:

Timings
6 am to 7 am
7 am to 11 am
11 am to 2 pm
2 pm to 5 pm
5 pm to 9 pm
9 pm to 11 pm
11 pm to 1 am
Saturday:

Show name
Araadhana
Salaam Ahmedabad
16 Always
Dil Chaahte Hai
Happy Evenings
Chandani Raatein
My World

Hosted
Back to Back
RJ Ankit & RJ Krupa
RJ Payal
RJ Ekta
RJ Vishal
RJ Mamta
Back to Back

Timings
6 am to 7 am
7 am to 11 am
11 am to 2 pm
2 pm to 5 pm
5 pm to 9 pm
9 pm to 12 pm

Show name
Araadhana
Salaam Ahmedabad
16 Always
Dil Chaahte Hai
Happy Evenings
Rock the party

Hosted
Back to Back
RJ Ankit & RJ Krupa
RJ Payal
RJ Ekta
RJ Vishal
DJ Akhil

Show name
Araadhana
Lazy Lahme
My Fm top 30
Numerology
Home Shanti Home
Icons
Shaam - E - Ghazal

Hosted
Back to Back
Back to Back
RJ Abhi
Sanjay Jumaani
RJ Vishal
RJ Krupa
RJ Ayaz

Sunday:

Timings
6 am to 7 am
7 am to 9 am
9 am to 12 pm
12 pm to 2 pm
2 pm to 3 pm
7 pm to 9 pm
9 pm to 12 am

Family (7:00 am to 11:00 am)

56

Housewife (11:00 pm to 2:00 pm)

Youth (2:00 pm to 5:00 pm)
Evening drive time (5:00 pm to 9:00 pm)
Late evening(9:00 pm to 11:00 pm)
Night (11:00 pm to 1:00 am)
Late night (1:00 pm to 7 am)

57

PRICE MIX :
As far as advertisement rates are concerned, rates are based on negotiation for My Fm. It provides
advertisement n print also if the customer hives an ad in the radio.

58

59

60

Place
Station: 17 cities and 7 states
Frequency: 94.3 FM
Brand visibility: Corporate cricket

Celebrating hoil
Sponsored IIM-A chaos
Organizing movie screenings
Blood donation Camp
Contest on air and on website

Promotion
1. Advertisements:
My Fm does two types of advertisements. One is theme advertising and other is mode advertising. In
mode advertising frequency of My Fm is highlighted to target the customer so that they can recall
station with frequency. While in theme advertising just a poster of joy with tag line of My Fm is
highlighted.
2. Contests
My Fm does on air activity and asks question to listener and one who gives answers to question will
get a prize like movie tickets, water park tickets and gift vouchers.
Also MY FM MY SINGAPORE contests are played for 6 cities like Indore, Bhopal, Chandigarh,
raiur, jaipur and ahmedabad.

MY HAAR MY JEET contest was played in Ahmedabad in association with AB Jewels.

61

My Fm organized cricket Maha Sangram where all the corporate of Gujarat were invited to play
cricket.
3. Physical Evidence
Being a service provider and also available anywhere at any time in physical evidence depends on the
customers.
Anyone can set the frequency and avail the service anywhere.
Promotions help to create brand awareness and thus support the physical evidence.
Event organization-they also have been organizing or sponsoring several programs which again help
to create awareness and visibility which helps to attract more listeners to tune into.
Gifts help to create peripheral evidence, which listeners take away with them and motivates them to
tune into in help in more interaction.
My Fm has a colorful and interactive website which is useful for not just listeners but also helps to
get ad revenue by quoting charges for ads per second. Thus it also helps to get an idea of how to
approach My Fm for campaigns. It also has interesting contest and music download which attract the
music lovers.
4. Process
A radio wave is an electromagnetic wave propagated by an antenna. Radio waves have different
frequencies. The listeners can tune the radio receiver to a specific frequency to catch a specific radio
signal.
The size of the antenna depends on the frequency of the signal to be transmitted or received. Mirchi
has much better technology as all of its equipments are imported from USA and Canada for better
quality broadcast and coverage.

5. People
62

They are hiring only local talents and theres no dearth of talent in this country. There is a lot of
research before the launch of any station, the programming teams are trained for nothing less than
three to six months.
They dont import radio jocks from the metros and impose them on an alien city. They ensure that
they are in touch with the localities, culture and ethos.
Here Radio jocks plat an important part in creating a special relationship with the listeners and thus
helps to create the differentiation. They can develop a special liking whereby the listeners will prefer
listen to their shows due to the preference of RJs

63

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

64

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To analyze the existing players in the market and their positioning strategies
2. To compare the existing players with My FM in terms of different attributes
3. To design perceptual maps displaying all the players in terms of different attributes
4. To draw a performance matrix for My FM in order to help them make amendments in the
existing strategy in order to become the leader

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study of the consumer behavior has been done to understand the listening pattern of the
consumers for all the players and accordingly promote My FM. Research for the consumers was
carried out randomly from various places within Varanasi city.
Consumers who were focused for the survey were a homogeneous mixture of men and women again
of different age groups.
The respondents comprises of working men and women, businessmen, housewives, students, college
goers (youth).
Educational Background of the target audience would be classified into the following categories.
School students, Graduates, Post graduates, service, Business, Homemakers.

65

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGIES

66

Attributes of Perceptual Mapping for all the players of the industry:

Radio Jockey
The radio jockeys famousness, communication (ability to connect with the audience),
voice, language etc. defines the popularity of radio station.

Music Preference
The old hindi movie songs, latest movie songs, remixes, regional, gazals, peppy
numbers, English songs, trance, soft instrumentals etc.

Shows
Morning shows, afternoon shows, evening shows and night shows.

Games and Activities

Telephonic movie quizzes, campus activities live, mall activities live, road shows.

Information
News, traffic updates, awareness campaigns, better homemaking informations

Sparklers
Pranks played by different RJs

TYPE OF RESEARCH DESIGN:

Descriptive research is used for the project.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

67

A survey of listeners in Varanasi is done. The survey is done by questionnaire which comprises of
open ended as well as close ended questions.

SOURCES OF DATA
Primary Data
Primary data is collected through survey of listeners.

Secondary Data
Secondary data was collected from companys catalogue, internet, and magazines.

METHODOLOGY
The method used for survey is structured questionnaire.

RESEARCH TOOL
Questionnaire

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN
The questionnaire comprise of open ended and closed ended questions.

SAMPLE DESIGN
SAMPLE SIZE: 200
SAMPLING TYPE: Convenience Sampling

PILOT STUDY
68

A pilot survey of 10 consumers was done to ensure that the questionnaire is correct and relevant of research
objectives.

SURVEY
Once pilot study was over, actual survey was conducted.

DATA ANALYSIS
Result of the study was put in tables and graphs along with interpretation for easy understanding of
the findings of the research. Accordingly the charts and perceptual maps were generated from the
tables.

69

DATA ANALYSIS
&
INTREPRETATION

70

1. How often do you listen to radio? (In a week)

Listenership (In a week)

2%

2 times

13%
3 times
4 times
26%

11%
5 times
2%

6 times

7 times

48%

From the sample of 200 respondents, only 1% (3) listen to radio twice a week and can be considered
as hard nuts to crack with negligible preference towards radio while from the graph it can be seen that
48% (96) listen to radio 5 times a week and 26% (51) of the respondents listen to radio 6 times a
week who are clear prospects and can be easily converted to regular listeners by fulfilling their
expectations from private radio stations.
The statistics clearly indicate that majority of the respondents who prefer listening to radio, listen on
almost regular basis. This would suggest that they would prefer listening to radio almost daily
followed by a schedule in which they would like to listen.
Furthermore, it can be seen that with the constant growth in the radio industry, the preference towards
this media is increasing among general public and thus the respondents generally prefer listening to
radio in an on and off basis. For those 10% (21) and 2% (5) of respondents who listen to radio 3 and 4
times a week respectively, the preference towards radio although not clearly defined, we can still
assume that their preference for radio is not negligible and they can be converted to regular listeners
with research on their requirements and filling that gap.

71

2. Why do you listen to radio?

Reasons for listening to Radio

For RJ's

News

Traffic Updates

No of Listeners

Relaxation

142

Entertainment

112
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

From the sample of 200 respondents, 112 respondents listen to radio for the purpose of entertainment
and so this directly poses a clear requirement of entertaining shows on air rather than shows which
are more socially inclined. Again 142 respondents listen to radio for the sole purpose of getting
relaxed which indicates that the private radio stations should make sure that the scheduling of shows
and songs on air should be such that there are hardly any repetitions which bring a sense of freshness
and newness to the listeners. These listeners are those who already tend to have an inclination
towards radio.
There are only 6 and 5 respondents out of 200 who listen to radio for RJs and Traffic Updates and so
it can be clearly said that the private players cannot position their brand through their RJs or any
other social cause. The only reason for this is that this medium is considered as
72

3. Which radio station do you prefer listening to?

Preferred Radio Stations

100

93

91

90
80

69

70
60
50

No of listeners

40
30
20

16

10

M
irc
hi
Ra
di
o

98
.3
FM

Ra
di
o
95
.0
FM

94
.3
FM

O
ne

FM
M
y

FM
Re
d
93
.5
FM

91
.1
FM

Ra
di
o

Ci
ty

This question is a clear depiction of the listeners preference for all the private radio stations. From
200 respondents, 93 prefer listening to Radio Mirchi which is an undisputed leader in the market
since its inception 8 years back. This shows that the image of Radio Mirchi is consistent in the mind
of the listeners as a leader and they might have maintained this image due constant differenciation in
their shows.
From the graph, 91 respondents have selected Sun TV Networks Red FM which was then S FM. This
shows that the radio station is rapidly gaining popularity since its rebranding which occurred in

73

August 2009. The preference for this radio station nearing Radio Mirchi and so it might pose as a
threat to the leader over a period of time.

4. Cross tabulation (time spent on radio with gender)

>1

1.-2.

2.-4.

4.-8.

<8

Total

Male

24

31

43

103

Female

15

30

46

97

Total

39

61

89

200

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Male
Female

>1

1.-2.

2.-4.

4.-8.

<8

From the above graph we can derive that there is a relation between the number of hours spent on
listening to radio and gender. For less than 1 hour of listenership number of males listening to radio is
higher than the females. With the increase in number of hours as seen from the graph, this ratio
changes and in the time slot of 2 to 4 hours of listenership the ratio gets reversed wherein female
listenership leads over the males.
As we move ahead with the increase in number of hours of listenership time the ratio gets equalized.
74

75

5. When do you listen to radio?

Time slots of listenership

162

55
22

6a
m

72

No of listeners

40

-7
pm

10

5p
m

-7
am

180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

From the 200 respondents, as shown in the graph above, majority of them i.e. 162 respondents listen
to radio between 7am to 11am. This clearly indicates that the morning time slot is the prime time slot
wherein people are in a relaxed mood to listen to radio as a background score. Again it can also be
derived that during this time slot people move to their respective working places and so they listen to
radio while driving. During this time slot, radio stations should position their shows in such a way
that it peps up the mood of the listener and the listener moves towards the start of the day with a light
and cheerful mood.

76

6. Where do you listen to radio?

Place of Listenership
128

125

36

No of listeners
0

hi
le

At

or
k

ho
m

in
g

140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

By knowing about the places where the respondents listen to radio, we can derive their attitude
towards radio and their preference over it. From 200 respondents, 128 respondents listen to radio
while travelling so from this we can derive the strategy for the shows on air during the peak hours of
the city. The jazzier and happening these hours would be, the more likeability and preference of the
respondent would be received. This directly coincides with the preferred time slots and so we can
match both to come to a common strategy.
The second preferred location is home which has been preferred by 125 respondents. Obviously these
respondents would be listening to radio for entertainment primarily and then for relaxation.

77

78

7. Which voice do you prefer to listen on radio?

Preferred Voice on Radio

25%
Male

30%
Female

Co-Hosted

46%

79

8. Do you prefer listening to a single radio station?

Preference towards single

radio station
2%
YES

NO
98%

From 200 respondents, 196 (98%) do not prefer listening to a single radio station. They switch to
different radio stations due to the clutter caused due to excessive commercialization and
advertisements. The people like listening to radio for music and entertainment and so when they come
across such a clutter of over commercialization, they tend to zap between the channels. Thus radio
stations should bring innovative programs which would deal with this problem and make the
audience feel fulfilled with their requirements.
There are only 4 respondents who are hard core loyal to their preferred radio station.

80

9.

Do you like playing games on radio?

Preference towards playing games on radio

YES

NO

2%

99%

From the 200 respondents, 197 (99%) do not like playing games on radio. This clear indication of
disregard for games on radio derives that the radio stations should come up with innovative ways of
interaction with the audience rather than the conventional way of interacting with the audiences on
radio.

81

10. Have you ever played a game on any radio station?

Played games or not

18%
YES

NO

82%

Along with being a conventional way of interaction, games are also considered to be unreliable and
boring. The respondents 82% (164) do not trust the procedure and they find it untrustworthy. Playing
games is also considered to be time consuming activity and so respondents generally prefer listening
to radio jus for entertainment and radio and not for the purpose of interaction.

82

11.

Do you like listening to sparklers?

Sparklers listenership
6%
YES

NO

95%

Sparklers used in conjunction with a programme/show to enhance the brand identity of the
programme. They are short timed fillers which increases the listenership and preference of a
particular brand of radio station.
From the 200 respondents, 94% (184) like listening to sparklers which indicates that the respondents
look forward to an entertainment which has got direct element of differentiation and without
interaction. All the sparklers have the same purpose of being short timed fillers to entertain the
audience and so sparklers are highly appreciated because they are interesting and generate curiosity
for something new every time.
All the radio stations should make sure that their sparklers are more entertaining and interesting
which would induce curiosity and ultimately avoid zapping.

83

12.

Which are your favourite sparklers?

Favorite Sparkler
Irfan CD Centre

34

Pappudiya
Babbarsher

58
No of Respondents

15

Ghantasingh

82

Sud

88
0

20

40

60

80

100

From the 200 respondents, 88 respondents are ardent fans of Sud from Mirchi. Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM
presents Hasi Ke Phuvare with Sudarshan
Please call me Sud
OkaySud
C'mon baby, chill!
If you are an avid radio listener, chances are you have heard Sudarshan aka Sud on Radio Mirchi reading out
1jokes from his book Hasi Ke Phuvare. Sud's (who fuels many chats in college canteens) candid remarks leave
listeners in splits, at times amused and sometimes even irritated.

This sparkler is coming on air since 5 years and it has silly jokes which have created Sud a brand in
itself.
Myself Ghanta Singh. Born 1947, on the eve of Independence. With Graham Belljis blessings, I
make use of telefone. I call people. Ask simple stupid questions. Still people dont know answers.
And in disgust they slam fone on my face.
Poor they, I pity them.
84

13. Do

you listen to radio on weekends?

Listenership on weekends
26%

YES

NO

74%

From 200 respondents, the listenership on weekends is not preferred by 74% (148) because weekends
are considered to be times wherein people like to be with family and complete the work which they
cannot do in the weekdays.

85

14. Do you think there should be different programs on Sunday?

Preference towards different types of programs on Sundays
15%
YES

NO

86%

Due to schedule change of radio in the weekends, people find it diverting from their regular schedule
of programs on air and so from the 200 respondents, 171 do not prefer listening to radio in the
weekends.
Thus all the players should keenly make sure that the programs on air on Sundays should be in line
with the weekdays programs and do not carry a sudden drift of change in the structure or schedule.
Also another important thing which should be considered is that the audience do not like to change
their schedule of listenership and so all the radio stations should follow the same pattern on Sundays
keeping minor changes which keep Sundays more interesting.

86

15. Can you recall the jingles of the following radio stations?
Jingle Recall
156

160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

124

121

59

ty
95
.0
FM

Ra
di
o

Ci
Ra
di
o
91
.1
FM

No of
respondents

ne

16

Jingles of radio stations are one of the strongest techniques for brand recall. The more impactful
jingle is, the more it is remembered. At times jingles which are very appealing in terms of its music
are highly praised and the radio station gains popularity on the basis of those jingles only.
From 200 respondents, 156 respondents can recall jingle of My FM Jiyo Dil Se which is
remarkably ahead of Red FM and Radio Mirchi whose recall is 124 and 121 respectively. Red FM
says Bajate Raho while Mirchi says Mirchi Sunnewale Always Khush
This indicates that the jingle should be appealing and should be consistent. While the jingle of Radio
One and Radio City is low because of inconsistency in their jingle which keeps on changing and so
their audience gets confused and ultimately fail to recall the jingles.

87

16. Association of radio stations with attitude

Attitude Check -"Enthusiastic Imagery"

12% 7%
20%

41%

21%

91.1FM Radio City

93.5FM Red FM
94.3FM My FM
95.0FM Radio One
98.3FM Radio Mirchi

To check the attitude of the radio stations perceived by the respondents, the imagery was given and
they had to relate the radio stations to that imagery.
From 200 respondents, 81 consider Red FM to be enthusiastic and zestful which stays ahead of My
FM and Radio One which are having a marginal gap having 41 and 10 respondents in their favour
while Mirchi and City are not considered to be enthusiastic.

88

Attitude Check -Commercialized Imagery"

91.1FM Radio City

93.5FM Red3%
FM

94.3FM My FM
3%

95.0FM Radio One

41%
55%
98.3FM Radio Mirchi

Here clear indication of commercialised imagery is shown in My FM with 109 respondents and then
by Mirchi with 81 respondents favouring them. This image is forms due to excessive ads and RJ
voice ratio over music. This makes a radio station commercial in the eyes of the audience.

89

Attitude Check -Sophisticated Imagery"

91.1FM Radio City

98.3FM Radio Mirchi

93.5FM Red FM

14%

17%
2%

94.3FM My FM

95.0FM Radio One

67%

The sophisticated imagery is sweeped down completely by Radio City by having 112 out of 200
respondents in its favour. Later 24 and 29 respondents rate Mirchi and Radio One respectively as
sophisticated. This imagery is because there are less number of programs and all the programs are
pertaining to something that makes sense. This imagery is basically reflecting the perception of
people for radio stations which do not play a lot of senseless stuff on air.

90

Attitude Check -Perfectionist Imagery"

32%

35%
13%

11%

10%

91.1FM
93.5FM
94.3FM
95.0FM
98.3FM

Radio City
Red FM
My FM
Radio One
Radio Mirchi

The imagery of being a Perfectionist is shared in competition among Radio City and Radio Mirchi
with 63 and 70 respondents in favour of them respectively. These two stations enjoy this status due to
their holistic mixture of both good songs and good interaction. They give audience a complete
package of entertainment and so they are preferred over other radio stations for this image.

91

PERCEPTUAL MAPPING
AND PERFORMANCE
MATRIX

92

PECEPTUAL MAPPING

For knowing the perceptions of the consumers for various radio stations across ahmedabad on
eight dimensions, perceptual map has been generated

The data of 200 radio listeners was collected through the survey.

As there were two variables i.e. multiple independent variable and a dependent variable
discriminant analysis is used as a statistical tool for the final outcome of perceptual map.

For the analysis of the data SPSS soft ware is used

Analysis of findings derived following result:

1.000

.800

.600

.400

.200

-2.000

-1.500

-1.000

-.500

.000
.000

.500

1.000

1.500

-.200

-.400

-.600

-.800

-1.000

93

94

Here on X-axis is Function 1 and on Y-axis is Function 2

Function 1 comprise of jingle recall, games and music

Function 2 comprise of sparklers, RJ and programs on air.

Based on the results of FUNCTIONS AT GROUP CENTROIDS in SPSS the perceptions

for listeners for all five brands has been plotted in the above graph

According to the results radio mirchi is on top where as radio city is the last.

Radio mirchi is perceived to be the best radio station among the listeners as it lies in positive
Quadrant for both the functions. It has a very good jingle recall and music. It has the best of
RJs. Its Programs on air and sparklers add a novelty to its brand image.

People have a very strong liking of MY FM when it comes to music and Games. The jingle
recall of the station showed even positive response. But it scored low on RJs, Programs on air
and sparklers. A quality and entertaining sparklers were demanded from consumers. If we
compare the 5results of My FM and radio one on function one there is almost a negligible
difference between the two. More focus on RJs Sparklers and music as per the consumers
choice and preference can surely show completely positive results for MY FM.

Radio city shows a positive mark for sparklers, RJ and programs on air. Results show a high
negation in terms of jingle recall, games and music. Jingle recall among the listeners was very
poor for radio city.

The case of Radio one seems to be more critical than MY FM in. Music and games scored the
highest of all. Jingle recall was fabulous. It has even overtaken radio mirchi in case

of function. But at the same time there is a drastic downside in case of sparkles, RJ and
programs on air. So maintaining its value for all its strong attributes and even working and
enhancing its the attributes that
contribute the highest to its downside can help them to outperform the two players i.e. Radio
mirchi and MY FM.

95

Radio city showed the poorest of results on both the functions. It showed the highest of
disliking among consumers for games and quality of music. The jingle recall among the
respondents was poor. Programs on air were found below the mark compared to other four
radio stations. Overall it showed a least preference as none of its attributes were ranked well.

Importance / Performance matrix

HIGH

HIGH LEVERAGE/
ATTRIBUTES TO IMPROVE

ATTRIBUTE
IMPORTAN
CE

RJS
SPARKLERS
ENTHUSIASM
PROGRAMS ON AIR

ATTRIBUTES TO
MAINTAIN

ATTRIBUTES TO
MAINTAIN

INTERACTION
SOPHISTICATION

JINGLE RECALL
OUTDOOR ACTIVITY
MUSIC MIX
YOUNG IMAGERY
LOW LEVERAGE/
ATTRIBUTES TO

GAMES
COMMERCIALIZATION
WEEKEND SHOWS

LOW
LOW

ATTRIBUTE

HIGH

96

Conclusion

97

Conclusion
We conducted a survey for understanding and analyzing the consumer preference for 94.3 my fm via
visais other competitors in Ahmedabad. We did a survey in Ahmedabad and our target audiences were
between the age group of 18-34, which consisted of students, working males and females,
businessmen and homemakers. From our survey we come to the following conclusions.

From the sample size of 200 respondents 48% of the population prefers listening to radio 5
times a week and 26% prefers listening to radio 6 times a week. This listenership makes them
regular listeners of radio.

From the population 142 respondents listen to radio for the sole purpose of relaxation while
112 respondents listen for entertainment this shows that radio is the medium considered by
the people solely for relaxation and entertainment.

The first hand preference of radio stations when not compared on the basis of any attributes
we found out that 93 respondents preferred Radio Mirchi and 91 preferred Red Fm where as
My Fm get favorability from 69 respondents. In spite of trying out various unique innovations
like ek ghante main 13 gane ka challenge and by calling RJs as MJs i.e. Music
Jockeys, Radio one could not gain high preference over other private players. Radio city has
also remained the least preferred radio station.

The number of hours spent on listening to radio is dependent on the gender of the
respondents. With more number of males listening to radio for less than 1 hour a day moves
to more listenership of females with the increase in the number of hours of listenership till 2
to 4 hours a day. When still the number of hours of listenership increases this gender
difference gets equalized.

The favorite time band of listenership is 7 am to 11 am because people at that time enjoy
music with their routine work. Even the time band of 9 pm to 12 midnight is preferred as at
that time people are free and like to relax them selves.

98

As radio is used as a background medium, 128 respondents listen to radio while travelling
and 125 listen to them at their home while doing their routine work.

The preferred voice on radio also depends on the gender of the respondents since 46% of the
respondents prefer female voice on radio wherein majority of them are males. 29% of the
population prefers male voice in which majority of them is females .25% of the population
prefers co hosted shows where in majority of them are males.

The preference of type of music for a particular time band helps us derive an ideal schedule.

98% of the respondents do not prefer listening to a single radio station because of the clutter
due to excessive advertising and commercialization. Thus the respondents zap between

different radio stations to fulfill their requirement of entertainment.

When importance of various attributes was compared we conclude that music is the most
important attribute followed by entertainment, RJs, information and interaction in
descending order.

94% of the respondents like listening to sparklers. The most favorite preferred sparklers are
Sud by Radio Mirchi & Ghantasingh by Radio One.

74% respondents do not prefer listening to radio on weekends. Also 86% of respondents do
not prefer different programs on Sundays as they do not like to drift from their regular
schedule.

Majority of the respondents i.e. 156 could recall the jingle of My FM which is followed by
Red Fm and Radio Mirchi with 124 and 121 respondents respectively.

We could associate the following:Enthusiastic attitude to Red Fm

Commercialized attitude to My FM
Sophisticated attitude to Radio City
Perfectionist attitude to Radio Mirchi
99

Confused attitude to Radio One

From the perceptual map we conclude that when it comes to jingle recall, games and music,
Radio Mirchi and My Fm are considered to be the best followed by Radio One, Red Fm and
Radio City being the last. While for sparklers, RJs and Programs on air, Radio Mirchi and
Red Fm are preferred the most followed by My Fm and Radio city where Radio one is the
last.

100

Recommendations

101

Recommendations
After the analysis of the survey, we would like to give the following recommendations to MY FM in
Ahmedabad.

Reduce the frequency of advertisement. Ads should not be lengthy.

According to the generated performance matrix My Fms performance is low in the important
factors like RJs, Sparklers, Enthusiasm and programs on air and so innovation should be
inculcated in all these factors.

Although performing very well in games and weekend shows it does not pay back to My Fm
for its brand preference therefore the leverage on these attributes should be reduced/
deemphasized.

As it is true that radio players are prone to the threat of switching My FM should continuously
try to improve its contents and selection of songs to keep listeners interest intact and there by
avoiding switching.

As seen from the first hand preference of the listeners My Fm should concentrate on building
the Brand image.

102

BIBLOGRAPHY

103

BIBLOGRAPHY

Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller (12th edition)

Marketing Management (Russel S Winner)
Marketing Research (Rajendra Nargundkar)
Service Marketing (Valarie A. Zeithaml) 3rd edition
FICCI Pwc Report
Roy Morgan Research (Jan Dec 2008)
IRS 20009 R1
US Radio Advertising Effectiveness Lab (RAEL)
www.rab.co.uk
www.myfmindia.com
www.exchangemedia.com
www.radiomirchi.com
www.redfm.com
www.radiocity.com
www.slideshare.com
www.valuenotes.com

104

ANNEXURE

105

QUESTIONNAIRE
This survey is for sole purpose of collecting data for a survey carried out by N.R Institute of
Business Management, for grand project. Information in this survey would not be disclosed for any
other purpose. We are grateful to you for your cooperation and time.
1. Do you listen to radio?
Yes

No

2. How often do you listen to radio? (In a week)

1

3. Why do you listen to radio?

Entrainment
Relaxation
Traffic updates
News
For a radio jockey
Other:_______________________

4. Which radio station you prefer?

> 91.1 Radio city

> 94.3 My FM
> 95.0 Radio One
> 98.3 Radio Mirchi
> 93.5 Red FM

5. How much time do you spend listening to radio? (In a day)

Less than an hour
1-2 hours
2-4 hours
4-8 hours
More than 8 hours
6. When do you listen to radio?
6 am 7 am
7am 11 am
11 am 1 pm
1 pm 5 pm
5 pm 7 pm
7pm- 9 pm
9pm 12 midnight

7. Where do you listen to radio?

> At home
> While travelling
> While working
> Restaurant

8. Which voice do you prefer to listen on a radio? (kindly select any one)
106

Male

Female

Co hosted

9. Match your preference of type of music to the respective time bands in which you would like to listen to it
(More than one assignment to the same type are allowed)
6am 7am
7am 9am
9am 11am
11am 2pm
2pm 5pm
5pm 9pm
9pm 11pm
11pm 12pm
12pm onwards

Gazals
Bhajans
Remix
Bollywood Latest
English
Instrumentals
Regional
Slow
Upbeat

10. Do you prefer listening to a single radio station?

Yes

No

11. If NO, for what reason do you switch to other radio stations?

12. Do you like playing games on radio?

Yes

No

13. Have you ever played a game on any radio station?

Yes

No

14. Do you find the procedure to be easy? How?

15. What all qualities you look forward in an ideal radio station?
(Rank your preference 1 being the highest and 5 being the lowest)
Radio jockey
Music
Information
Entertainment
Interaction
107

16. Do you like listening to sparklers?

Yes

No

17. Which is your favorite sparkler?

18. Do you listen to radio on weekends?

Sud
YES: ____
Ghantasingh
NO:_____
Babbarsher
Papudia
Irfan CD Centre
Any other (please mention) __________________________________

19. If yes, which is the most favorite station to be heard on weekends?

20. Do you think there should be different type of programs on Sunday?

Yes

No

21. If yes, what kind of programs you prefer to listen on Sundays?

22. Can you recall the jingles of the following radio stations?

91.1 Radio Mirchi

93.5 Red FM
94.3 My FM
95.0 Radio One
98.3 Radio Mirchi

108

25. Kindly select the Radio Station that you prefer the most for the following characteristics:

Kindly rank them from 1 to 5 where 1 is highest and 5 is the least

SR
NO

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

26.

SR
NO

1
2

4
5

YOUR
PREFERENC
ES IN THE
FOLLOWIN
G

RADIO
CITY

RED FM

MY FM

93.5 FM

94.3 FM

91.1 FM

RADIO
ONE

RADIO
MIRCHI

95 FM

98.3 FM

Programs on
air
Overall Music
Radio Jockey
Games
Sparklers
Audience
Interaction
Information
Overall
Entertainmen
t
Kindly relate the following actors to the radio stations according to the characteristics they possess
(kindly mark single station for each attitude)
YOUR
PREFERENCE
S IN THE
FOLLOWING

RADIO
CITY
91.1 FM

RED FM

MY FM

93.5 FM

94.3 FM

RADIO
ONE

RADIO
MIRCHI

95 FM

98.3 FM

Ranbir Kapoor
Enthusiastic
Shahrukh
Khan
Commercialized
Amitabh
Bachchan
Sophisticated
Aamir Khan
Perfectionist
Govinda
Mixed and
Confused

PERSONAL DETAILS:
109

Name: _______________________________________________________________________
Email ID: ______________________________________________________________________
Age: _____________
Gender:
Male

Female

Occupation:
School

Service/Job

College

Business

Post Graduate

Homemakers

110