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Star goes on air with first private FM radio launch

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

Star, the popular satellite television channel, on Tuesday started airing music and other entertainment programs live with the launch of India's first private FM radio station in Bangalore by Music Broadcast Ltd, a venture of steel baron P K Mittal and associates.

Christened Radio City, the 24-hour relay station can be heard on 91MHz frequency modulation within a 50-km radius, for which MBL had secured license from the government.

The launch marks a milestone in India's opening up of the radio broadcasting to private players, who have been allotted licenses through open bids last year.

As Asia's leading multi-platform content and service provider, Star will supply content, and extend sales and marketing support to the broadcaster.

"With digital studio and relay transmission facility, Radio City will provide Bangalore a world class listening experience through ordinary and affordable FM radio receivers," declared Star India Ltd CEO Peter Mukerjea.

Extending its relationship with audiences in India by connecting them in more ways than television, Star's content programming has been tailored to the needs and aspirations of local listeners, based on extensive consumer research, conducted prior to the launch for feedback from listeners.

On account of government's policy to not allow private radio stations to broadcast news and current affairs, Radio City will be confining its content to music and general entertainment.

"Being first off the block, we are confident that Radio City will usher in a revolutionary era in FM radio station as what satellite and cable television had been doing to television in the Indian sub-continent.

Unlike in the case of television, though FM radio has its constraints in terms of reach and penetration, the medium has immense potential, adaptability, and suitability for listeners of all ages and hues in its own way," Mukerjea stated.

With an average airtime of 10 minutes per hour allotted to commercials round-the-clock, advertising broadcast will be the main revenue stream for the private radio station.

Besides a plethora of Hindi and English music programmes, talk shows, interviews, listeners' choice, weather, listings, the station will also air content in the local language from near future though pre-launch survey has favored English and Hindi to an extent as the preferred medium of broadcast.

To lend international perspective to the station, Star has roped in John N Catlett to head its radio division as CEO. A lifelong broadcaster, the US-based Catlett brings in over four decades of rich and varied experience in private broadcasting to India.

As a driving force behind Star's foray into private radio broadcasting, Catlett will be positioning Radio City as the preferred FM station of listeners with in-house content, developed in its digital studio, set up with an investment of Rs 100-120 million.

"Though radio broadcasting in India covers about 90 per cent of the country's area and around 97 per cent of the 1-billion population, it has been largely confined to the traditional All India Radio station broadcast. But with the government deciding to open radio broadcasting to private players, the new millennium will see the return of the golden age of radio," Catlett asserted.

According to MBL director Ashok Khinvasara, Star will be providing content for Radio City in all the six cities for which it has obtained licenses to operate.

"We will be gradually launching similar FM radio stations in Bombay, Delhi, Nagpur, Lucknow, and Patna by this year-end. Our aim is to speak the language of the masses and make Radio City the first choice of radio listeners," he added.

Officials of both companies, however, declined to give investment figures, leave alone revenue projections, expected to be generated from broadcasting commercial advertisements.

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