Time for radio medium to demonstrate its muscle

6 May 2009, 0452 hrs IST, Ashish Khazanchi

While the viewership of TV, I assume would be giving way in part to internet

, radio on the other hand isn't really suffering the same fate. People
on the go are still tuning in to radio and across the world audiences still
have their favourite stations and RJs etc.

In fact, there is a fresh lease of life for radio on the digital medium as
well in the form of internet radio. There are newer challenges that need to
be addressed for the newer ways of delivery of radio. Amazingly, on the net,

it is possible now to actually double click on the 'radio spot' and go to
the brand's site for more information!

Radio does suffer from the 'tertiary medium' syndrome in most countries
including India. It is possible for a brave brand manager or an agency to
turn conventional wisdom on its head and use this medium to get a higher
share of voice and recall/ preference .

The problem is, radio is tough to do, there are no pretty pictures or
sashaying models to hide an ugly idea behind. 'Real men of genius' campaign
on the other hand has delivered as much for Bud Light as their television
campaigns. In a fraction of the cost as well, if I may add.

The crafting of the spoken word more than anything else is critical in a
medium like radio. It's a rare radio spot that sounds like the conversation
that we hear in normal life. Also does the radio spot only tell me a
cerebral idea or does it do something to me? Does it make me smile, laugh,
cry, or think? A good radio campaign like any other communication platform
must make me feel. Otherwise it's a banal print ad.

We certainly have moved some distance from the Sholay and Deewar radio spots

these days. The work coming out of some of the agencies in the country are
finger licking good. The majority of our work are still at a good joke
followed by the brand name stage. The crafting of radio spots coming from
London and even the US has changed completely over the years.

The Frankie and Louie radio campaign and the 'Real men of genius' campaigns
for Bud are specially note worthy. Starburst radios have been laugh out loud

funny. Some of the work done for the Samaritans still makes me reel after
all these years. From India, one of my favourite campaigns is the Happydent
series. The campaign done by Rediff YR for Colgate on pick-up lines was also

superb. Fevicol and WWF have all done some awe-inspiring work in the past.

I expect to see fresher approaches in radio this year. This part of the
globe had a massive breakthrough in Cannes last year with the 'fading
memories' radio last year. I expect it would have had an encouraging impact
for a lot of smaller brands who have traditionally not been among the big
winners there in the past. I have heard about some great work from
Australia, which I look forward to hearing at Cannes this year.

The slowdown could just be the opportunity that this medium has been waiting

for. In the years of excess, all the expensive media made merry and radio
remained the after-thought medium. This is the time for this medium to
demonstrate its muscle. It is inexpensive and unlike TV, there is no loo
break when the commercials come on.

Ashish Khazanchi is national creative director, Publicis Ambience and on the

jury panel of Radio Lions at Cannes 2009

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Brand-Equity/Time-for-radio-medium-to-demonstrate-its-muscle/articleshow/4489062.cms


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BANGLADESH: ABC radio formally goes on air tomorrow

New radio station expands coverage to entire country
The Daily Star
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
ABC Radio, a private commercial radio, is set to start its journey formally
tomorrow on FM (Frequency Module) 89.2, says a press release.
Apart from programmes, ABC Radio has been broadcasting latest news in every
hour through test transmission from August last year.
Over four crore listeners are now under ABC radio coverage. Though the
coverage is now limited in Dhaka and its adjacent districts, it will soon
extend its coverage to entire country.
Around 250 newsmen are working for the radio across the country. Besides, it
has representatives in important places including India, Pakistan, US, UK
and Japan.
Date Posted: 1/6/2009

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southasia.asp?parentid=103013

----
Alokesh Gupta
New Delhi, India
http://alokeshgupta.blogspot.com/

RFI taken off the air in Ivory Coast (Cote-d'Ivoire)

Abidjan, 1 February 2008: The Ivorian media regulatory body has suspended the broadcasting of Radio France Internationale programmes “across the whole of the country”, “until further notice”, because of the lack of a radio correspondent in the country.“RFI programmes broadcast on FM and by satellite have been suspended as of midnight on 31 January,” says a statement issued by the Ivorian National Audiovisual Communications Council (CNCA), sent to AFP.

The statement, signed by the CNCA chairman, Jerome Diegou Bailly, notes that on RFI’s part there is “a clear determination not to meet either its written pledges or to keep its word”.“RFI put a request to the CNCA and gained approval for a correspondent to be put in place in Abidjan by 31 December, a pledge confirmed to Abidjan on 23 November by Ms Dominique Burg, the network director,” continues the statement, emphasizing that the radio had been given a “further extension until 31 January”.On 18 April 2007, the CNCA had already threatened to suspend RFI programmes until mid-May if the radio failed to keep a correspondent in the country. On 12 May 2006, the CNCA gave permission for RFI programmes to resume broadcasting in Cote d’Ivoire after a gap of almost 10 months, notably for “unprofessional treatment of news”, due partly to the “lack of a correspondent” in the country.

This authorization was given “after several meetings between the two parties, who decided to settle the dispute amicably”.The radio had closed its regional office in Abidjan following the death of its correspondent, Jean Helene, shot in the head and killed by a police officer in Abidjan on 20 October 2003.RFI FM broadcasts in Cote d’Ivoire have been suspended several times since the attempted coup d’etat of September 2002 by rebels of the New Forces against President Laurent Gbagbo.(Source: AFP news agency, Paris, in French 1629 gmt 1 Feb 08 via BBC Monitoring/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

More FM Stations in India

Big FM has launched in Jodhpur, taking the totalnumber of stations to 42 across India.Big FM is already operational in places that includeMumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata andBangalore, and several Tier II towns.It will launch 4 more stations to complete 45 stationsall over India.Some of the shows are Big Chai, Nakhrali, Dil Dostietc, Big Dhamaal and Raat Chand Aur Mai.- Indiaprwire.com 03/01

Club FM 94.3 started broadcasting from here Kerala –Kannur on December 30. The new FM station started byMathrubhumi was inaugurated by Mathrubhumi ManagingDirector M.P. Veerendrakumar, MP. Mathrubhumi ManagingEditor P. V. Chandran was among those present.- The Hindu 02/01

Sunday December 2 2007 13:44 ISTExpress News ServiceT'PURAM: With Sun TV's S FM all set to follow Malayala Manorama's RadioMango, the sky of Kerala is changing to a battle field of corporate mediahouses.S FM will go on air from Kozhikode early next week as the second private FMradio station in the state.December will also see the entry of Radio Mirchi from the Times of Indiastable, Big FM, an Adlabs-Reliance joint venture, and Club FM, Mathrubhumi'sFM station, in the Kerala sky.Thiruvananthapuram is going to witness a fierce battle to see who willbecome the pioneer as S, Big, Mirchi and Club have all geared up for theshow and are waiting to clear a technical snag."Kerala had a good tradition of radio listening, thanks to the AIR. Thiswill make our task easier," said Nisha Narayanan, project head, S FM."Though we primarily target youngsters in the age group of 15-40 years, I amsure the channel will be acceptable for all who love music," said Nisha.S FM 93.5 has the most number of stations, five, in the state. The group hasplans to make these stations the best among its 45 stations in the country.Krishna Menon, station head, Radio Mirchi said Radio Mirchi is a 'bollywoodchannel' in Mumbai and likewise in Thiruvananthapuram, it will be a channelfocussing on Malayalam film industry.The Big FM has plans to win Malayalee hearts by organising Corporate SocialRelief activities.But, will a medium market like Kerala has the potential to support four orfive FM stations in each town? "The future lies in smaller cities," saidNisha Narayanan.The experts point out the example of Colombo's success. Though a mediumtown, Colombo is successfully supporting around 20 FM stations in Simhaleseand Tamil.

Radio fans rejoice, 97 new FM channels in a fortnight

Over the next fortnight, the country will have 97 new FM radio stations, a big leap for the already booming industry.The Information and Broadcasting Ministry would allow open bids from 27 companies for the FM radio stations to be launched in cities in five categories on December 29 and January 10. While cities like Delhi, B, Mumbaiangalore, Hyderabad, Allahabad and Jamshedpur will have only one channel, the FM magic will make its mark in smaller towns like Bikaner, Trichy, Udaipur, Warangal, Agartala and Gangtok.The ministry believes the FM bandwidth is already crowded in major cities and therefore, the scope of providing new FM channels to these centers would be difficult. However, in smaller towns the FM radio is expected to be a major success as more and more people are taking to listening to radio programmes.The auctioning is proving to be a win-win situation for both the government and the private radio stations. During an earlier bidding, the government had earned Rs 11 billion and has also resulted in a continuous flow of revenue. The government expects to have a huge response from the players this time also.Although there has been a delay of over six months for the auction to take place, industry sources said, that good sense has prevailed at last with the announcement of the new dates. The government had earlier announced an auction date for June, but had later postponed it to November. However, the December-January deadline is expected to stand.The ministry is also working on the third phase of FM channels, where all cities would get more FM stations. By next year FM radio players can expect the launch of the third phase, an official said.

BBC Bangla debates Dhaka's future with locals

Date: 06.12.2007

BBC Bangla is holding a unique broadcast debate. Dhaka: Your Town, YourQuestion will explore with local people the future development of the cityat the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre.Audiences in Dhaka can hear the one-hour debate on BBC 100FM on Thursday 6December 2007 at 20.00 local time. It will also broadcast on satellitetelevision channel ATN Bangla on Friday 7 December at 20.00 local time.Audio of the debate will be available online at bbcbengali.com.

Sabir Mustafa, Head of BBC Bangla and the debate host, said: "Dhaka is setto become one of the great metropolises of the world in the years ahead, andthis is an excellent time to debate the city's future with the people wholive there."It's also a great opportunity for BBC Bangla to really connect with itsaudience by giving them a platform to discuss the issues that are reallyimportant to them."We want them to share their views and create a vision for the future of thecity which is why I expect this debate to be a lively and constructive one."The Dhaka: Your Town, Your Question debate follows the successful month-longBBC Nodipathey Bangladesh (Bangladesh By The River) tour giving a voice tocommunities living along the major rivers of Bangladesh.Up to 50 BBC journalists brought daily reports highlighting the impact ofclimate change and the devastation of Cyclone Sidr in 17 languages to aglobal audience of millions on radio, TV and online.The BBC teams were on board when Cyclone Sidr hit which meant the boat hadto change its course and head back to the area devastated by the storm.The BBC was one of the first broadcasters to speak to the people worst affected and gave communities a unique opportunity to tell the world abouttheir experiences, losses and the effectiveness of the relief effort.On the tour, BBC Bangla also held four special editions of its weeklyinteractive radio, TV, and online question time programme Bangladesh Sanglapwith the BBC's international development charity, the BBC World ServiceTrust.Hosted by Shakeel Anwar, the final programme was dedicated to the aftermath of Cyclone Sidr. It gave those affected by the storm an opportunity to share their concerns with listeners across Bangladesh and directly engage with those leading the relief efforts.A detailed report of the Bangladesh Sanglap discussions along with the full audio is available at http://www.bbcbengali.com/.

A behind-the-scenes diary of the river tour, hundreds of images and an interactive map plotting the route of the journey is available at

www.bbcworldservice.com/bangladeshboat.

BBC World Service Publicity