What Kapoor and Gurnani heard was perhaps the first ever simulcast of a big-budget television show on a radio station.
MUMBAI: Picture this. Satish Gurnani, 24, is working out a gymnasium in Mira Road, north of Mumbai, on a Friday evening. He is frustrated because he would not be able to watch a much awaited reality based quiz show as his gym does not have a television.
The FM radio blares loud music and the moment an ad pops up, Gurnani rushes to switch stations. Suddenly he stops. On air is the first episode of a Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain? Gurnani is pleasantly surprised.
On Friday, at about the same time, in Ulhasnagar, about 60 kms from Mumbai, hair stylist Neha Kapoor was equally surprised, if not more. “Initially I thought it was just another ad, but it seemed to go on for a while. It was so cool hearing Shah Rukh (the Bollywood star who hosts the quiz show) on air and I was able to focus much better on the questions and the feel of the show,” she says.
What Kapoor and Gurnani heard was perhaps the first ever simulcast of a big-budget television show on a radio station.
“Knowing the fact that a large number of regular listeners may miss the 8 pm premiere owing to their hectic schedules, we premiered the show through a free, real-time simulcast of the show on radio,” says Rana Barua national head-programming and marketing of Radio City which simulcast the programme.
“Three segments of the show were aired in real-time with the television broadcast, without the commercial breaks. The idea was to have a tight and exclusive hour-long capsule of the show to present an exciting, uninterrupted, first-time-ever experience to our listeners across all Hindi speaking markets, including Mumbai and Delhi,” says Barua.
Kapoor, a hardcore Shah Rukh fan who listens to FM radio for at least 3 hours daily, has another reason to be elated. She, along with thousands of others in the suburbs, currently miss out on prime-time television due to power outages. With radio, she can stay tuned in by using easily available batteries.
Moreover, with people in cities spending long hours travelling, access to radio is much easier. Station heads good-humouredly point out that traffic jams are a good thing because, more often than not, listenership from cars and mobile devices increases.
Radio simulcasts could well be the saving grace that audiences, TV channels, marketers use for greater reach on branded properties.
But, how does a radio simulcast work?
“Audio files of the premiere episode from the channel were received by us on an exclusive basis,” explains Rana Barua, “These audio segments, which were essentially meant for television, were then edited for use on radio. These were then scheduled into our software along with songs or break jumpers by Shah Rukh or the RJs.”
Simulcasting, however, is not something new for FM stations. Among television shows, Radio City itself had embarked on a similar exercise for music talent hunt, Indian Idol 2. Reliance ADAG’s Big FM had simulcasted parts of another music-based show, Dhoom Macha De.
Station heads further point out that simulcasting for on-ground events and award nights is a popular phenomenon on radio. Prashant Panday, CEO, Radio Mirchi, says, “We’ve done it extensively during the Filmfare awards, where we gather reactions from winners. It’s a great way of using radio as a medium in real-time and passing information as it happens.”
Besides playing on the adage - radio is the theatre of the mind — simulcasts open up a good affluent revenue stream for the FM station too, as such simulcasts are done for a premium.
“This was a premium content integration alliance. The channel (Star Plus) wanted to get the show a certain momentum and hence we decided to do it for the first two episodes,” says Barua. “The idea is to retain the flavour of the show and we will do it in the future as well, depending on needs of the channels.”
However, Mirchi’s Panday cautions, “Radio is a purely music driven medium in India. There’s a lot of dead air in reality shows and radio stations could lose out on listenership, considering people switch channels at the drop of an ad.”
c_arcopol@dnaindia.net
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