Radio has grown through consolidation and has continued to garner a significant share of media revenues in the last few years. Most suppliers that operate FM channels also own inventory in other mediums and are able to offer bundled packages to advertisers. Radio has the benefit of having both a national presence — with most stations present in over 15 cities — and localisation — with most metros well covered with more than 3-4 station options. Radio also has significant reach within major cities such as Delhi and Kolkata, where radio penetration is as large as TV penetration. Radio accounted for the highest growth of any medium just two years ago - it has grown from around 22 stations in 12 towns to over 250 stations in 80 towns. Listenership is not limited to time inside cars and the growth of the youth segment is helping the spread of FM radio, which mainly consists of music channels due to restrictions around news broadcasts. DNA talks to four experts, who expect the medium to grow 17% each year over the next five years, at which point it will account for 5% of all advertising in India.
2010 will set the tune for the industry
Tanvi Garg
From ‘Binaca Geetmala’ to ‘Morning No. 1 by Malishka’… it has been a long journey for radio in India.
In the earlier days, radio had a social texture. It was a medium for people who could not read or write. The content was news, songs and programmes with a rural focus. But with television gaining popularity, radio has evolved.
Today, radio is an interactive medium with a personal touch. Earlier, a radio presenter sounded like someone from another planet, but now a RJ connects with listeners better. He is one of them.
Apart from connecting with audiences through phone calls and SMSes, RJs are also interacting with them via blogs, Facebook and Twitter.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Indian radio industry is estimated to grow by 18% in 2009 to Rs 980 crore, and it will be worth Rs 1,900 crore by 2013. This reflects the potential of radio. Being an underutilised medium, in times of uncertainty, growth of radio is certain.
With the roll out of Phase III, 2010 will be the turning point for the FM radio industry. It will bring 700 additional frequencies across 237 cities as against the current 250 frequencies across 90 cities. Phase III policy reforms are also likely to bring along news and current affairs and an increase in FDI limits. 2010 is also likely to see the resolution of music royalty issue and an option of owning multiple frequencies. All this will lead to better and newer possibilities. In simple words, it will lead to more choice for radio listeners.
My personal wish list for 2010 is to see programming differentiation through engaging innovations and specialisations. I wish 2010 will see better measurement of radio performance with inclusion of more markets in RAM (Radio Audience Measurement). I wish it will also see great radio advertising because that is where the true magic of radio is.
Content creation by advertisers, relevant brand integrations, interactive advertising, and creative messages customised for radio should become the focus.
While the advertising industry is facing an enormous challenge of ‘an economy in repair mode’, 2010 will definitely be a golden year for radio. It will see radio’s share climbing up to 6% from the current 3-4%. It will also see radio becoming mainstream like television and print. Radio will definitely mature as a medium.
With key segments like entertainment, retail, auto, FMCG showing growth, which are potential high spenders on radio, the future of radio looks bright.
The writer is associate media director, R K SWAMY BBDO Media Direction
Value solutions need of hour
Tarun Katial
Who wasn’t affected by the economic slowdown! Housewives, students, businessmen, working professionals, real estate, retail, metros, Tier II markets, no one could escape the ripple effect of the global meltdown in 2009.
And, as we exit the year, memories of 2009 are not the only thing we take ahead. I believe what the country at large is taking ahead is a change in attitude - “expect more from what you have” versus just “expect more”.
Even as we see signs of recovery, this change is mindset is clearly here to stay. As an industry, the media sector will need to learn to accept and cope with this new mindset prevalent amongst advertisers. Return on investment has a new meaning, stretching the rupee a new context, ‘value’ has a new benchmark.
With advertising budgets being curtailed across the board with little let up in targets, advertisers expectations from their media partners delivery has grown dramatically.
Radio needed to re-invent itself quickly in this environment and the industry has stood tall to the task. The inherent strength of the medium, delivering high reach at high cost efficiency was not enough to satiate the needs of a demanding clientele.
Broadcasters moved from selling vanilla radio to into a ‘solutions’ space offering holistic services beyond radio to clients.
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