Audio Wave

We have moved from vinyl, casettes, CDs to iPods, digital radio and audio streaming. It is a long and rewarding journey. It has evolved over a period of time. Terrestrial radio has been our companion for generations. It has transformed into digital. Radio has been trying to establish a bond with the listeners through multiple touchpoints. Radio networks have become platform-agnostic. They have become digital-first. They have adopted audio platforms like podcasts and smart speaker solutions. Radio once had been a mantlepiece at home. These days it has become an engaging on-the-go mobile medium.

In fact, podcast is another way of telling a radio story. Story is converted into episodes for easy consumption. Radio and audio OTTs are complementing each other. There is a new entity — social audio. Clubhouse has drawn attention of everybody. Audio has plethora of genres and formats. Audio entertainment will be redefined.

Radio

Radio advertising constituted 4 per cent of the total advertising revenue. However, over the last three years, the share slipped to 2 per cent. The revenue of radio advertising was Rs.3360 crore in 2018. Due to economic slow down, it came down to Rs.3100 crore in 2019. In 2020, the pandemic brought it to less than half — Rs.1430 crore (FICC-EY Report). In the developed countries, radio commands a share of 10 percent of the total revenues.

The radio is not taken seriously as it faces many alternatives. Earlier, it was used as a frequency builder.

Radio is best suited to evolve into a podcasting medium. As RJs are now celebrities, they can be used as brand endorsers or to create stickiness around a podcast.

Radio can expand its functions — it can provide solutions to clients, not necessarily rooted into radio. It can think of becoming event managers, do content production and do everything else to remain viable.

National Public Radio : NPR

National Public Radio in the US completes 50 years in 2021. It is a radio channel which is neither government-sponsored nor private. It is not profit-oriented. It is in true sense a public broadcaster which is autonomous. It has been established under Public Broadcasting Act passed in 1967. It has been run by several thousand channels across the US. We cannot hear the channel here in India. The US has Voice of America as its international channel. As these days podcasts bring the programmes across the world on internet, even lovers of NPR can hear its good programmes anywhere in the world.

The channel is famous for its high-quality programmes. All Things Considered is a programme initiated on 3rd May, 1971. It is still very popular. Till then, the news-based programmes were anchored by male folks. Since 1972, for the first time, this responsibility was given to female folks. The programme is known for deeper analysis of current affairs and comprehensive reporting.

NPR accommodates different art forms and diverse subjects in its programming. Four-wheeler cars are the life line of the US. NPR’s CarTalk programme is very entertaining. It is a phone-in programme. NPR is also known for its worldwide reporting from the site of action. It exploited all the possibilities and potential of the audio medium.

To gain wider audience and consequently greater advertising revenue, NPR has never compromised. It is balanced, non-partisan. How it retains its autonomy? The member channels contributions and other contributions fund NPR. The member channels are not commercial. They are not under political pressure. And major chunk of contributions or donations are sourced from the listeners. The donations range from $25 to $50. Apart from this, NPR is funded by corporate trusts, but against such funding they cannot expect any editorial meddling. At the most, anchors briefly introduce a sponsoring company during the programme. The rich too individually contribute to NPR but they are committed to media autonomy. Covid affected NPR too, but in a positive way. Instead of drive-in-radio, while commuting to office, the work-from-staff availed of the NPR programmes through websites, podcasts and apps. It boosted the NPR audience by 10-15 per cent. In a week, NPR reaches 6 crore people through different avenues. The younger audience is increasing for audio programmes. Amongst the 20 most popular podcasts in the US, 7 are from the NPR.

In India too, we have a large radio-loving audience. What we lack is radio which is non-partisan, newsworthy and information-rich. Our love for radio has remained confined to listening to music. Aakashvani news is not preferred. Private radio channels are not allowed to broadcast news. We are neglecting a potential medium.

NPR is just an example. On its lines, every democratic country can aspire to have an autonomous radio channel. Our audience should realise that getting non-partisan news is their right.

Radio Requires Reinvention

Radio suffered due to pandemic, and its estimated revenues of Rs.2750 crore by 2023 would be smaller than Rs.3110 crore it earned in 2019. Though radio ad rates were just Rs.100 for a 10-second spot, advertisers felt regional TV gave them better reach. Thus even pre-pandemic radio was facing tough times. It is possible radio revenues may recover but the digital advertising is gaining mileage, and is giving tough competition to radio. Radio requires reinvention.

Besides, there is no credible evaluation of the effectiveness of radio advertising — there is absence of third party audit.

Radio was a preferred medium for small and local advertisers, but these have diverted to the digital media such as Google. Digital has the advantage of being targeted advertising. And the visibility of digital media is higher.

Radio should create live feeds and market them aggressively. They should experiment with podcasts on radio. Radio jockeys should promote radio listening on cell phones. They should focus on live events and content production. They can think of producing original audio/video content. Clients love solutions, and these are one third of radio’s total revenues, and two-third revenue comes from FM. This should be 50:50 in the coming years.

There are opportunities in online concepts, influencer marketing, brand advocacy, podcasts and audio solutions in smart speakers.

Non-advertising business could increase its share in years to come. Radio stations have survived by massive cost cuts and reductions in pays, infrastructure and overheads. However, the need of the hour is the reinvention of the medium itself sooner rather than later.

Vividh Bharati

Vividh Bharati services on Aakashvani will be stopped with effect from April 1, 2021 in eight states including Maharashtra. Instead, local programmes will be broadcast. Radio Ceylone started broadcasting movie songs 63 years ago, and became a popular radio station in India. To compete with it, Vividh Bharati was commenced from 3rd October, 1957. The pioneers were stalwarts such as Keshav Pandey, Pundit Narendra Sharma, Gopaldas and Girija Kumar Mathur.

Vividh Bharati, apart from songs, broadcast a variety of programmes — interviews of celebrities, reminiscences of celebrities, radio plays or Hawamahal. Chhayageet, Bhule Bisre Geet were very popular. Jaymala has been presented by a number of celebrities for the jawans on the border.

Vividh Bharti was inaugurated in Maharashtra on 12 October, 1968.

FM Radio

The first phase of radio broadcasting was launched in 1999. They launched 21 private FM radio channels. In July 2005, phase II auction were held. In this phase, 221 radio channels became operational. The previous 21 channels of phase I had to migrate to phase II, taking the private operational radio channels to 242 ( 21 + 221 ). At present, 242  FM radio channels are operational in 85 cities. In phase III, 135 channels of FM radio will be made available to the 69 cities of phase II. FM phase III ( 2015 ) extends to about 227 new cities, whose population is 1 lac or above touching a total of 839 new FM channels in 294 cities. The coverage area of FM would expand to 75 per cent of the country from 40 percent as of today. With the launch of phase III, radio is expected to provide advertisers a much deeper reach. Once phase III is completed all 839 licenses active in about two years, radio will command 9 percent of ad pie, up from the present 4.4 per cent. As of today, the industry size is Rs. 1800 crore, and it is growing at a CAGR of 15 per cent. Phase III will make the industry more conducive to mergers / acquisitions due to increase in the license period from 10 to 15 years.

KKT : Kan Khajura Tesan

KKT has been initiated as an entertainment-on-demand platform to engage with rural customers by HUL in 2013. Here they live in media dark areas, and such consumers total up to 200 million plus. Essentially, it is a mobile-radio channel, and can be accessed on any mobile irrespective of the operator. These consumers get brand communication of HUL brands on this channel along with the programme. The channel can be accessed. The channel can be accesses by giving a missed call to 1800-30-000-123 and the call  gets disconnected after two rings. The caller in return receives capsules of entertainment and Hindi film music. They have also added a devotional section. KKT is now opening up it for brands beyond HUL’s own brands.

Podcasting

Not a very beautiful name. Podcasting as a medium is almost a decade old. It is a name given to delivering radiolike shows directly to the mobile. It has seen many ups and downs. It attracts audiences and revenue. Advertisers run campaign on podcasts. However, the overall audience for podcasts is growing slowly. In audio programming, the share of podcaxts is growing. Podcast ads are effective, as these cannot be easily skipped. Auxiences are convinced of their authenticity. Podcasting is the future of radio, and just do not expect that future to come tomorrow. It is destined to be huge, both as a medium and a business.

Radio

Roy Mukherjee, formerly with Radio Mirchi, and now radio consultant quotes a dialogue from a book she was reading.
Radio Guy : Radio stretches your imagination.
TV Guy : And TV doesn’t ?
Radio Guy : It does.By 21 inches.
Radio is the exact opposite of the ad industry in archiving and shocasing its work. Radio work is live and biodegradable. They produce so many spots a month in house, with teams dedicated only to creatives who do not handle any programming duties.
Radio is a writers medium.Radio has the audience of one —  you are talking to one person.
Most of the radio spots which win awards hava single voice.The voice is backed by a brilliant script. Two voices are a rarity.