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In a bid to shore up its advertising revenues and mop up new clients, the Rs 840 crore Indian radio industry is aggressively marketing the classified advertising format. The newest player to join the bandwagon is Big 92.7 FM of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). It is promoting its its classified advertising format on radio through a new vertical called Big Impact. Says Tarun Katial, CEO, Reliance Media World, "With changing media trends, classified advertisers are looking at effective ways to ensure reach and response while also being cost effective. Big Impact, in evaluating this business opportunity is ushering classified advertising on radio, in India." Classified advertisers are mostly small businesses who seek quick and timely results, says Katial. "We will host 10-second advertising spots, with clear messaging, between 12 noon and 6 pm. And we will ensure assistance through end-to-end logistics." According to the media and entertainment industry report of 2009 by Ficci and KPMG, between 2006-2008, the sector grew by 19.7%. The report sayys the radio industry's ad revenues will grow by 14.2% between 2009-13. Currently, the most popular form of radio ads is the regular spots which a station airs during the commercial breaks between programmes. Another form is utilizing sponsors, for example, for time checks and traffic updates. And finally, there is also customisation as per specific requirements such as integrating celebrity shows, song tags, etc., to a programme. Big FM has launched this service in Mumbai and will follow it up in other cities suit shortly. Big Impact is primarily targeting advertisers in information technology, education, property and travel sectors. "Metros will have an advantage, but non-metros also have good potential as retail and small and medium enterprises are showing robust growth," says Katial. "Advertisers today are much evolved and they have their own diagnostics to measure and understand the value an advertising medium offers them. We are confident that this value product will deliver to take the advertising requirements of the small and medium advertisers to an altogether new level. Radio offers high reach and is extremely cost effective, which promises to work excellently for their businesses," he adds. In India, classifieds for the print industry account for 15% of the overall print revenue. And with the print industry size pegged at Rs 10,000 crore, the classified ads market is around Rs 1,500 crore. With comparable figures for the radio industry is not available, experts say it indicates that the scope for growth is immense. Concurs Prashant Panday, CEO, Radio Mirchi, "Classified advertising has a tremendous scope on radio. It allows small topical advertisers to experiment with radio using classifieds. It's a very interesting format." Radio Mirchi, owned by Entertainment Network India Ltd, has been doing classifieds for the last 8 years since it launched its first radio station. "We have had literally thousands of clients converted using classifieds. Almost all of the smaller Mirchi stations use classifieds as a format to rope in smaller advertisers," he says. As of now, classifieds may not contribute much in terms of percentage of revenues, but it's an extremely important stepping stone to bigger spends on radio, explains Panday. "We have called it by different names in different markets-the most common one has been simply Mirchi Classifieds. We also use Mirchi Express in some markets." Radio City, promoted by Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd, has taken the format of classified ads a step further creating contextual content around the classifieds. Says Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City, "We run classified ads which ensures the communication happens in an environment where the consumer is most receptive to it. Retail classifieds would run in the city buzz section which talks about various shopping options in the city. It has worked well for us in our smaller cities, where the ticket size of an advertiser is smaller."
Radio City 91.1 FM celebrates 15th year anniversary bash in Bangalore
On a night dominated by vices and wishes coming true, Radio City invited Bangalore to come be a part of the 15th Anniversary bash.A star-studded night saw Bangalore’s who’s who, from rapper Hard Kaur to music director Gurukiran, turn out to sing Happy Birthday to the nation’s numero uno FM brand. Starting at 8:00 pm at the Taj West End, the party continued into the wee hours of the morning with head honchos across corporate houses mingling with Sandalwood stars who turned up to set the house on fire with Radio City and Jagran Group management.
'Dangerous' Radioactive Material Stolen In Iraq
Officials are worried the 10g of Iridium-192 could be used by Islamic State militants to make a dirty bomb. "Highly dangerous" radioactive material has been stolen from an oil depot in Iraq, with officials fearing it could be used by IS. Some Iridium-192, stored in a protective case the size of a laptop computer, went missing in November from a storage facility near the southern city of Basra. Ir-192 employs gamma rays to test for flaws in oil and gas pipelines in a process called industrial gamma radiography and is the same as that stolen from a van in Lancashire in February 2013. At the time, a spokesman for the UK's Health Protection Agency (HPA), said: "If the material is outside of its protection packaging, anyone who has come into prolonged physical contact, such as keeping it in a pocket, should seek medical assistance." A senior environment ministry official based in Basra told Reuters up to 10g (0.35 ounces) of Ir-192 "capsules" was taken. The material is classed as a Category 2 radioactive source by the International Atomic Energy Agency and can be fatal if someone is exposed for a period of hours to days. Security officials fear it could be used to make a so-called dirty bomb - an explosive device that renders part of a town or city unusable for generations by scattering nuclear material over a wide area. A senior security official with knowledge of the theft, using the Arabic name for Islamic State, said: "We are afraid the radioactive element will fall into the hands of Daesh. "They could simply attach it to explosives to make a dirty bomb." The official, based in Baghdad, said there were no immediate suspects, but an initial investigation suggested the thieves had specific knowledge of the material and the facility. The document obtained by Reuters said the material had gone missing from a US oilfield service company called Weatherford, but the company on Wednesday issued a statement denying it bore any "responsibility or liability". It said another company called SGS was the operator of the depot and was "solely responsible". The US State Department said it had "not seen any indication the material in question has been acquired by Daesh or any other terrorist groups in the region".
Amitabh turns radio jockey for a day
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has entertained the masses on the big and small screens. Now, he will connect with his fans via radio to promote his forthcoming film "Shamitabh". The 72-year-old is set to take the RED FM listeners by surprise as he chats with them over phone. Listeners can tune into "All India Shamitabh Radio" as Amitabh turns a radio jockey Thursday on 93.5 RED FM. “In an endeavour to bring our listeners closer to the legendary star, we planned this initiative with ‘Shamitabh’ which celebrates Mr. Bachchan’s voice as the voice of the common man. Amitabh Bachchan is like an institution in himself, adored by people across age groups,” Nisha Narayanan, COO, RED FM, said in a statement. While recording promotional bytes for the radio show, Big B had tweeted: “And doing some rather complicated RJ'ing for Radio Station Red FM 93.5!! Goodness, how do these guys manage it! I am at a loss.” Also starring Akshara Haasan and Dhanush, “Shamitabh”, directed by R. Balakrishnan, will hit the screens Friday.
Islamic State radio station claims Saudi mosque attack, warns of 'black days' for Shiites
The Islamic State group's radio station has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Friday on a Shiite mosque in Saudi Arabia, warning that more "black days" loom ahead for Shiites. The attack killed at least 21 people and wounded dozens in the eastern town of Qatif as worshippers commemorated the birth of a revered saint. The statement on the Islamic State group's al-Bayan radio station, read aloud Friday night and posted Saturday morning to militant websites associated with the extremists, identified the suicide bomber as Saudi citizen Abu Amer al-Najdi and posted a purported picture of him. The station also identified the attack as being carried out by a new branch in "Najd Province," referring to the historic region of the central Arabian Peninsula home to the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Swara Bhaskar doing a radio film for Mother’s Day
Actress Swara Bhaskar will be lending her voice for a radio film 'Maa Ka Sapna' on the occasion of Mother's Day on Sunday. "We're making this film on the occasion of Mother's Day which will be celebrated on May 8. It is a story about a mother's dreams," Swara told IANS. "It's a topic, specifically in our country, where mothers in the process of taking care of their children or serving their husbands, forget their own dreams or keep them aside and forget their identity," said Swara who was present at the radio station Big FM, which will be playing the film.