MUMBAI: Kolkata's only 24x7 live radio station 'Friends FM' is back in a new avatar and this time it’s more listener friendly. The station will now treat its listeners as friends. In fact, its recent line-up of changes is designed to be ones BFF. In addition to this, the station has revamped its signature tune.

With the tagline of 'Frequency Friends Ki', they are connecting with listeners as a friend. Be it an important life milestone or just a grievance against one’s boss, Friends FM will be there. Connecting with the station will be easy, whatever be the time. All one will have to do is pick up the phone, call, text, whatsapp or tweet and they will be connected to the station.

Friends FM targets audience is between the age group of 18 to 45. So, along with good music the station will be concentrating more on connecting and sharing. The new format went on-air on 17 January 2017.

Friends FM Head Jimmy Tangree says, “We are at the phase of total change in sound. Friends FM is working on the mood map. Our morning starts with soft music to energetic by the end. Radio’s common theme is we play you listen, but Friends FM believe you say we listen’.”

So what’s new on the music front? Well the answer is everything. Apart from the visual bits, there has been a complete overhaul of the station’s soundscape for an absolutely fresh, contemporary and most importantly, a happy sound.

The Friends FM new jingle is an addictive one. Plus the individual show tunes have been designed keeping in mind the fabric, format and texture of the show. So from high decibel beats to rapping to soothing melodies, it’s all there.

BENGALURU: DB Corp's MY FM radio network now encompasses 26 live stations with the launch of nine new stations over the last two quarters of this fiscal (year ending 31 March 2017 or FY-17). DB Corp’s radio business revenue for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 (Q3-17, current quarter) increased 12.4 percent to Rs 36.32 crore as compared to Rs 32.32 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter (year-over-year or y-o-y).  The company’s press release says that its radio business operating profit (EBIDTA) grew 3 percent y-o-y to Rs 14.8 crore (41 percent margin), while profit after tax (PAT) also increased 3 percent y-o-y to Rs 8.1 crore (22 percent margin).

DB Corp Limited (DB Corp), home to flagship newspapers Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Dainik Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar reported 6.3 percent higher consolidated revenue for the current quarter as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. The media house’s total income from operations (TIO or revenue) in Q3-17 was Rs 627.27 crore as compared to Rs 589.97 crore.

DB Corp’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) increased 6.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 118.1 crore as compared to Rs 110.75 crore. However, quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) it’s PAT declined 14.9 percent from Rs 103.96 crore in Q1-17.

EBIDTA (excluding other income) for the current quarter increased 4.5 percent y-o-y to Rs198.25 crore as compared to Rs 189.63 crore and increased 39.2 percent q-o-q from Rs 142.39 crore.

Four segments contribute to DB Corp’s numbers - Printing and publishing of newspaper and periodicals (Printing) segment; Radio segment; Event segment, Internet segment; and Power segment. Its Printing and Radio segments are major contributors to the company’s top and bottomlines and have been considered here.

The radio segment or business numbers have been mentioned above.

Printing and publishing of newspaper and periodicals (Printing) segment

DB Corp’s Printing segment reported 4.9 percent y-o-y growth in revenue to Rs 569.91 crore in the current quarter as compared to the Rs 543.36 crore in Q3-16.The Printing segment’s revenue increased 15.4 percent q-o-q Rs from Rs 493.79 crore. The segment’s operating profit in the current quarter increased 4 percent y-o-y to Rs 173.55 crore as compared to Rs 166.91 crore and increased 34.5 percent q-o-q from Rs 129 crore.

Other numbers

DB Corp’s consolidated Total Expenditure for Q3-17 increased 6.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 450.81 crore as compared to Rs 422.92 crore and increased 9.9 percent q-o-q from Rs 410.12 crore.

Consolidated Cost of raw materials consumed in Q3-17 increased 6.5 percent y-o-y to Rs 177.24 crore from Rs 166.46 crore and increased 8.5 percent q-o-q from Rs 163.43 crore. Consolidated Employee Benefits Expense in the current quarter increased 6.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 108.5 crore as compared to Rs 102.16 crore in Q3-16 and increased 1 percent q-o-q from Rs 107.41 crore. Consolidated Total comprehensive income in Q3-17 increased 7.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 118.11 crore from Rs 110.05 crore, and increased 38.6 percent q-o-q from Rs 85.21 crore.

Company speak

Commenting on the performance DB Corp managing director Sudhir Agarwal said, “The resilience of our business model and strength of our operating strategy has been brought to the fore by our performance in Q3, which has broadly been a quarter of weak demand and subdued consumer spending and I take this opportunity to thank the team for their sincerity and dedication. Dainik Bhaskar has been acknowledged as the nation’s largest circulated multi-edition daily by RNI which is again an endorsement of our operating approach and philosophy. We have undertaken several growth oriented initiatives across all our print, digital and radio segments that have made a holistic impact on the business. We will continue to maintain this discipline and control at all levels while we are also empowering employees to enhance agility in the workplace.

We expect the immediate-to-midterm impact of the currency purge undertaken by the Government, on consumption, to normalise over the next few months, a process which has already slightly started improving. We will continue to sharpen our strengths across our print and non-print businesses as well as

our deep knowledge of our customers’ domain that are driving our ability to play a strategic role in the Indian M&E environment

Note:The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee - Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

MUMBAI: Following the petition in the Supreme Court, the rationale of the government in not permitting private FM channels to air their own news bulletins has again become the biggest debate in the radio industry.

Until now, the Government has been saying that it would be difficult to monitor all the FM radio channels, as is being done for television.

Some programming heads reacted to questions asked by radioandmusic.com on this issue, even as the Court awaits a reply to its notice to the government.

Even listeners raise questions about the importance of a radio station giving news, and about why radio news cannot be monitored.

Tadka FM Programming head Praveen Sharma said: “Radio is a medium of information for educated and less-educated people as well. A loyal radio listener should know about every happening around. So, private FM stations should be permitted relevant news. With a positive attitude, we expect the decision in our favour. This will also be an advantage to radio stations as it will grab more listeners.”

Parental group Rajasthan Patrika has its space in every mode of news information and if its FM station starts airing news.

Friends FM Head Jimmy Tangree said, “In Phase III, private stations are directed to get news from the All India Radio broadcaster. If television channels, newspapers and websites can deliver news and happenings in and around, then why not even radio? As it is one of the local medium, allowing news bulletin in an RJ's style will be an add-on to the radio content.”

Fever FM Programming head Aftab Ali, hopeful of a decision in favour of private radio, said, “Having news aired on FM channels with credibility is a great idea. As Fever FM is a part of HT media group which is in itself a large media co-operation, it would be easy for us to keep a check on correct news delivery. Also, radio is one of the fastest medium of information than the others. It is always live and people need not sit in front of a television screen or wait for the newspapers to print.”

Radio Mango CEO Mr. Ravi Nair seemed pretty upset with the government. He said, “I believe radio stations should be allowed. As radio is a part of large media group along with newspapers and channels, it seems to be unfair on radio’s part. Only television news channels are not responsible for informing the audience about the happenings. I honestly find no reason for not permitting Fm stations. India being a democratic country is facing such issue while other countries not being a democratic country are enjoying the facility. Radio being an important part of electronic media, I hope SC to look into the matter as a paramount issue.”

Sarthak FM managing director Sitaram said “News spreads easily. It cannot be controlled. If news bulletins are aired in FM stations, it will be an advantage for the radio industry. We will have listeners spending more time on radio than usual. It is observed that talented people run towards television than radio, so such things would be improved. Also, this will help in increase of revenue in parallel to increase in content. We will see a new dimension in news. A delay in decision is seen and the SC should now come up with a quick decision.”

MUMBAI: 92.7 BIG FM, India’s largest and No. 1 radio network joined hands with country’s biggest retailer Big Bazaar for the second time to celebrate Republic Day. The radio station in line with the theme of BIG Bazaar’s largest shopping bonanza ‘Sabse Saste 6 din’ changed its name for a day across its 19 stations and is called ‘Khushiyon ka BIG Bazaar FM’ on 20 January. The activity aims to spread happiness by providing irresistible shopping deals by BIG Bazaar and playing the most loved songs of listeners on 92.7 BIG FM from 21 January to 26 January as these are ‘Sabse Saste 6 din’.

Listeners can tune in to 92.7 BIG FM to know about the fabulous deals that BIG Bazaar is offering in order to let them shop with a freedom not worrying about high expenses. In order to provide a real-time shopping fiesta experience while being at home, RJs will visit BIG Bazaar store to check out all the sale offers. The radio station has changed its entire tonality in sync with the stationality change and will play content on the lines of ‘Khushiyon ka BIG Bazaar FM’. From playing the most loved songs of the listeners to providing hourly updates and information on the best low price deals, 92.7 BIG FM will engage listeners with content that will resonate well with its stationality change. Thus, with an aim to spread happiness around the holiday period and celebrate Republic Day, the radio station will extend BIG Bazaar’s happiness shopping extravaganza on-air for an entire day.

Big Bazaar’s ‘Sabse Saste 6 Din’ offer customers the best of deals with mega discounts and a lot of add-ons. With a handful of new offers under its belt this year, the ‘Sabse Saste 6 Din’ claims to offer ‘Ab Aur Bhi Sasta’! This year Big Bazaar has also introduced some ‘for-the-first-times’ in terms of offers in order to spell greater value to its customers.

On the association, a spokesperson from 92.7 BIG FM said, “Associating with the largest retailer BIG Bazaar for the second time is a matter of pride and fortifies our aim of providing an enjoyable listening experience. We had received a huge positive response when we associated with BIG Bazaar for the first time and changed our stationality to ‘BIG Maha Bachat FM’. We succeeded in creating hype around the theme while making our audience excited about the deal day. This time again we aim to create extensive buzz around the Republic Day shopping bonanza for which we are changing our stationality to ‘Khushiyon ka BIG Bazaar FM’. Additionally, our RJs are going on-ground to visit stores and experience the best low price deals themselves and share the details with listeners thus promoting shopping.”

“Every year we take away something new from our experiences with our customers. We try to incorporate our learnings to our offerings so that we can give our customers the best possible value, especially during these occasions. This being our twelfth year of the ‘Sabse Saste 6 Din’, we at Big Bazaar wanted to enhance the shopping experience that promises greater convenience to our customers. We have introduced a Quick Checkout option that allows customers to beat the crowds and queues during peak periods like this one. We are hopeful that our customers will have a wholesome shopping experience this year and with our association with BIG FM, this will be taken a notch higher” said Mr. Sadashiv Nayak, CEO Big Bazaar.

MUMBAI: Music Broadcast Private Limited, which operates one of the leading FM radio stations -- Radio City -- is planning to list. It is preparing to bring out a public offer of over Rs 500 crore comprising a fresh issue of Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale of 26.59 lakh equity shares by the promoters’ family.

The proceeds from the issue will be utilised to retire debt of around Rs 150 crore, and the remainder to create a “war chest” for future acquisitions.

Radio City 91.1 FM brand has been synonymous with the category since inception in 2001. Innovative programming and marketing initiatives have helped Radio City pioneer FM in India. In phase III auction, the network expanded its footprint by efficiently adding 11 new markets after carefully selecting towns with greater SEC AB population. With the addition of the new towns and addition of Radio Mantra towns, Radio City reaches to 39 most important towns of India dominating the most important advertiser markets. The first FM station will be launching internet radio streams in India with 30 stations and counting

Music Broadcast promoter Jagran Prakashan CFO R. K. Agarwal said that they already filed the DRHP and post-regulatory approvals, and intend to hit the capital market. Most of the funds would be used to strengthen the capital structure so that a war chest was created to acquire more radio stations as and when opportunity arose, he added.

Agrawal said it sees a lot of opportunities in radio as its business has been expanding at a CAGR of 15-16 per cent for several years, and has been operating at a margin of 33 per cent.

Music Broadcast director Apurva Purohit said that the radio sector was the youngest in M&E but was growing fast. Radio's share in the media and entertainment industry pie was only four per cent of the total advertisement market size due to the tardy pace of regulation, which otherwise could have been as high as 12 per cent.

MUMBAI: Big FM has always rooted for noteworthy causes with an aim to bring about a change for the betterment of the society. Taking ahead the mantle, the radio station in association with the Capacity and Communication Development Unit (CCDU), J&K, launched season 2 of ‘Big Jammu-Run to Save Water’ followed by the tremendous positive response received last year for Season 1. While the 1st season revolved around the theme of ‘Run for Change’ and spread awareness around concerning factors such as traffic, clean city, support for Thalassemia, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and others, the 5 km run this year was aimed at spreading awareness around water conservation. The on-ground concluding event was graced by political dignitaries such as Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Hon’ble Sham Lal Choudhary, other State Ministers and actress Zaira Wasim Khan of ‘Dangal’ fame besides prominent citizens.

Big FM with its large reach of 45 stations and effective communication has positioned itself as a strong medium to promote awareness around social causes that affect the society at large. With ‘Big Jammu - Run to Save Water’ the radio station aimed at educating people about saving water which is decreasing at a rapid pace. The radio station went all out promoting the campaign by synchronizing its stationality throughout the duration of the campaign based on its theme. It also included regular interviews with water conservation experts, celebrity bytes and interviews urging listeners to support the cause. Listeners were also entitled to win prizes worth lakhs through a lucky draw.

The 45 days long on-air campaign concluded with a magnanimous on-ground 5km run starting at 10 am covering the stretch from Gulshan ground – Bikram Chowk Asia – Green Belt -- Panama Chowk -- Gulshan ground. The event also included high decibel engaging activities such as zumba dance, street plays, pledge and other cultural events before the commencement of the run. The event witnessed participation in large numbers from students, security personnel from the Army, CRPF, BSF and the police accounting to a total of over 5000 participants a rare feat in the city of Jammu. Furthermore, the entire run was streamed live on Facebook garnering 1 lakh views, celebrity re-tweets and posts.

Speaking about the successful completion of the 2nd season of ‘Big Jammu-Run to Save Water’ campaign Big FM spokesperson said, “Big FM as a radio station has always been vocal about issues concerning the society and working towards bringing out a solution by spreading awareness. We started this noble cause in Jammu last year realizing the need of educating people on the receding water holes. The season 1 ‘Run for Change’, garnered immense support with participation of people from all walks of life which made it possible for us to come back with the season 2 of the campaign this year based on the current concerning scenario of water conservation. It is an honour to receive support from honourable ministers, prominent personalities and common man alike as it only gives us more strength to continue taking up such initiatives and march towards bringing about a change.”

‘BIG Jammu-Run to save water’ was supported by a 45 day 360 degree extensive on-air promotion combined with print, digital, TV, on-ground and OOH stressing on the need to save water for future.

MUMBAI: Music Broadcast Limited today proudly announces the fourth season of the biggest award that recognizes independent music and artists – Radio City freedom Awards – Season 4. Radio City Freedom Awards, Season 4 will become bigger and better than ever before whilst unravelling ‘Sounds of the Soil’ theme straddling across gigs six cities covering various parts of the country culminating with a grand award night. The first Radio City Freedom Concert, kick starts on 25 January 2017, at The Humming Tree, Bengaluru and features popular Indie bands - Aathma, Kurangan and Saby Singh.

In its fourth year, Radio City Freedom Awards takes a leap from an annual award function to a movement captures and recognizes local music, art and talent. The theme this year – Sounds of the Soil is an ode to local sounds, heroes, stories and music.

Music Broadcast Limited (MBL) CEO Abraham Thomas says, “As we move towards developing unique properties beyond our regular radio broadcast, we are proud to present the fourth edition of ‘Radio City Freedom Awards’ – which is a platform to recognize and reward independent music across genres and languages. Indie Music is the New Wave in Music that is increasing in popularity and has carved a niche for itself in the mainstream as well, with dedicated channels and events attended by thousands of people. Based on on-ground, on-line and on-air content, RCFA 4.0 is not ONE event but a season long ‘MOVEMENT’. This musical sojourn will cut across the musical heartbeats of the country.”

Jagran Digital COO Rachna Kanwar says, “Each year, we bring something new and interesting to RCFA. And this year, our goal was to celebrate local talent spread across all of India. So, to celebrate the fourth year of RCFA, we are taking it beyond the awards and covering the lesser known but equally talented parts of our country with the Radio City Freedom concerts. Through this extension, we will be able to provide a much-needed platform to local talent spread across our vast nation.”

Radio City Freedom Awards Season 4 is all set to acknowledge contribution across various categories that include Best Hip Hop / Rap Artist, Best Folk Fusion Artist, Best Pop Artist, Best Rock Artist, Best Metal Artist, Best Electronica Artist. Non-Music Categories: Best Video, Best Album Art. New Categories: Best Young Indie Artist/Band, Best Indie Collaboration of the Year, Indie Genius – Person of the Year.

This year as well, Radio City Freedom awards – Season 4 starts with musicians sending across their entries starting from 4 February 2017 that will be shortlisted by the eminent jury comprising of industry veterans and experts from the Indie music community. The shortlisted entries will later be open for public voting finally culminating into a grand awards night. The RCFA Grand Finale will be headlined by a unique fusion act, featuring poets, spoken word artists and the grand awards.

MUMBAI: Central University of Jammu (CUJ) will launch its own FM radio station this year within the campus. The station will target the rural listeners within 15 km radius and will run on the frequency 87.4 mh.

The station programming is to air shows like regional news, government awareness campaigns, regional folk culture, music, agricultural programs, radio drama, time to tome contemporary issues and educational programs. The target listeners are not only the university students but rural residence around.

For a radio jockey, the university will organise a workshop for students not only from the journalism background but all the other streams in the university. The workshop will be held to check the students voice trace, pronunciation, news angles, and all those facts a radio jockey needs.

Vice-chancellor of CUJ Prof Ashok Amir shared his views on the need of a radio station in the campus with radioandmusic.com:“Radio is a medium to reach other stake holders in the society and to exchange ideas. One can evolve and progress by connecting with the society and by knowing more about the society.”

Dr Bachababu, supervisor of radio in campus said, “Communication by radio is a movement. It can reach to the less-educated people also as radio does not need literacy. We are set up in a rural surrounded area, where we lack many things. CUJ radio station has adopted five villages and we will air more of awareness programmes. Our radio station will also give a chance to local artists to showcase their talents on radio”.

The FM station will be on air from 21 April 2017.

MUMBAI: On the occasion of Republic Day, Big FM is continuing its legacy of providing its listeners with unique and engaging content. As a part of the glorious occasion of the 68^th Republic Day of India, Big FM provided its listeners with a soulful homage to Dr Subhash Chandra Bose and Dr Ambedkar for an entire week through its inspirational show ‘Big Nayaka’. The week long republic day celebration concluded with a special tribute by classical band ‘Bhrame’ on 25 January at Big FM studio in Bengaluru.

Big FM engaged and enlightened the listeners throughout the week with inspirational stories of legends such as Dr Subhash Chandra Bose and Dr Ambedkar on the show BIG Nayaka from 8pm to 10 pm, Monday to Saturday. Elevating the patriotism attached to Republic Day, the radio station had famous musical band of Bengaluru ‘Bhrame’ pay homage to the legends at Big FM studio by singing unplugged versions of top 10 patriotic songs of all time. RJ Rohith famous as Rockstar Rohith who has gained accolades for his recent debut in the flick ‘Karva’, also joined the band in the republic day celebration by sharing more such motivational stories of historic heroes. The band engaged the listeners and audiences alike with their soulful voice reflecting their deep rooted Indianism.

Bhrame are musical illusionists, originating from Bengaluru. Classical at heart, Bhrame is flawlessly versatile in terms of the language and the musical compositions. Be it a ghazal, classical song, original composition or a qawali in various languages like Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada or Telugu, they have a refreshing and melodious take. The members of the band Vikas Vasishta -Vocalist/ Composer, Sparsha R K, Vishwas Vasishta and Alaka Subrahmanya - Vocalists and Sandeep Ravikumar as Tablist that form a team of well established musicians captivated and energized with their powerful performances.

Commenting about the occasion and the talented band, RJ Rohith who is also known as Rockstar Rohith, renowned for ‘Take it easy show’ in Bengaluru Big FM, said: “It was an honour to have Bengaluru’s most loved band Bhrame visit our studio to pay a tribute on the auspicious day of Republic Day. Their unplugged version of the top 10 patriotic songs were absolutely harmonic and soothing. We all know that no medium is more powerful than Music and Bhrame made our hearts swell with patriotism and pride through their tracks. I am glad to have presented them on BIG Nayaka and fulfill the purpose of the show that is to inspire people. I hope our listeners thoroughly enjoyed Bhrame’s musical salute to our nation and its glorious history.”

Here is the Link to the Band performing at Big FM Studio:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0doThGAbdivYUdYUlFsdm04R1E/view

MUMBAI: After Tirupati temple, Shirdi temple will also have its personalised radio station. This will be India’s second and Maharashtra’s first personalised radio station.

Shirdi devotees, residents and neighbouring villagers will be able to hear Sai Baba’s aarti, bhajans and other musical events held at the temple daily on their cellphones through FM. Sainagar Shridi, a special FM station will be launched by Prasar Bharti which will cover an area of around 25 km from the temple.

The radio service will be officially launched by Suresh Chandra Panda CEO of Prasar Bharti on 1 February at 9.30 am at a place near Saibaba Samadhi temple. All India Radio director general F Shahariyar and upper director general M S Thomas will also be present at the launch of the FM Station.

The FM station will run at a frequency 103.7 MHz. The radio transmission timings and duration will be from 5 am to10am, 11.15 am to 5 pm and 6 pm to 11 pm. The programs will broadcast in Marathi, Hindi, and English.

"Shirdi is getting ready to host the centenary celebration of Saibaba's death anniversary this year. The FM radio will play an important role not only in engaging the devotees but also to inform and educate them about the activities," said Suresh Hawre , temple trust chairman to a leading portal.

Shirdi FM station program officers will report at the Ahmednagar station of All India Radio. The service will cater to over 4 lakh people in Shirdi, Rahta, Kopargaon and small villages in this area.

Mumbai: Zee Middle East today announced the launched of its first radio station 106.2 Big FM in the UAE. This adds to the business portfolio of ATL for this region and makes it the only broadcaster in the South Asian space to have both Television and FM stations. The station’s interesting line-up of content includes original content produced in-house, content acquired from Big FM in India and cricket rights of key series for ball-by-ball commentary.

Speaking on the launch, Amit Goenka, CEO - International Broadcast Business, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), said “We are proud of the addition of 106.2 Big FM into the ZEE and ATL family. We are sure that like all our ZEE brands, 106.2 Big FM will also entertain listeners in the UAE. The product has been developed with a lot of attention to detail and I am sure it will be of immense interest to the advertising community.”

Amit Goenka further added: “Investing strategically in media and related business has always been at the edge of ZEE’s larger perspective for business growth. With the synergy of television and radio, we aim to increase our footprint and market share in the entertainment industry.’’

The frequency now officially known as 106.2 Big FM launches in the UAE today. With Bing FM in ZEE’s bag, the entertainment conglomerate scores as the strongest player in UAE’s South Asian entertainment field. From being pioneers with the launch of Zee TV in 1992 in the region, to introducing the first Bollywood TV channel for the Arab audience with Zee Aflam in 2008, ZEE’s advance into radio is a step higher on the entertainment ladder. With the launch of Big FM, ZEE claims its first international foray into the world of radio entertainment.

On this occasion, ZEE Network (MENA and APAC) CEO Mukund Cairae said, “The launch of Big FM is another prized feather in our cap. A gem in our entertainment business portfolio that further cements our numero uno position among South Asians in the Middle East. With the combined strength of television and radio under our wings, we aim to soar higher and show better commitment to the region. Also with this synergy, we now provide vast audio-visual platforms to our advertising clients, hence creating new business opportunities.”

ZEE Network (MENA) COO Manoj A Mathew, who along with Gagan Mudgal the content and creative head curated the product said “We are confident that with radio on board, ZEE can leverage people and content across television and radio mediums. With a treasure trove of great music content, along with one of Bollywood’s biggest music labels, Zee Music Company, launching the BIG brand in UAE with high-quality, disruptive content will surely stand out. All shows will be double headers - hosted by the resident Music Jockeys (MJs), as our presenters will be called, and co-hosted by popular Indian singers.”

The station currently has Benny Dayal along with MJ Lavanya hosting the morning drive time show, the afternoon show is hosted by MJ Ujjwal, followed by the evening show being hosted by Palak Muchhal and MJ Arpit. Another ace feature is the introduction of a signature show of Big FM India – ‘Suhana Safar by Annu Kapoor.’ The late-night show is hosted by MJ Gagan Mudgal and there is a weekend special hosted by Harshdeep Kaur. With this amazing line-up, the station is bound to have listeners tuned in throughout the day.

MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Limited, strengthens its core leadership team with consumer-focused professionals as it expands into the next phase of stations.

Atul Razdan, with over 14 years of professional experience in a plethora of marketing strategies like consumer insights, product development and communication has been awarded the position of National Programming Head at RBNL. The other two new additions to the RBNL fraternity include Nidhi Gulia, the new Marketing Head who flaunts a massive 13 years worth of experience in marketing communication for consumers facing lifestyle and online brands along with Sanil Suneja who has had his roots in business for the past 12 years has been appointed as Regional Business Head. The trio is expected to come up with new strategic initiatives as a part of their individual roles in compliance with the key business goals of RBNL and slingshot the organisation to an exponential growth trajectory.

Atul Razdan, who is responsible for content development initiatives for the 45 existing stations and the upcoming launches in 14 new cities for RBNL is a guru of brand building, communication strategy, consumer insights and brand activation. His previous organisations include the likes of Hershey’s India Pvt Ltd and Cadbury India Ltd. Atul said, “I look forward to this opportunity as one that would enable me to tap into my fullest potential, thereby presenting me with newer challenges to overcome. My previous responsibilities have allowed me to take a deep dive into the world of consumer insights, and I hope to implement all that I have gained from those experiences to my new role here at RBNL.”

Nidhi Gulia expected to lead the continued evolution of Brand Big FM which completed a decade in 2016. It was awarded the “Most Trusted Radio brand.” Her take on her new role; “As marketers, it is important to keep pushing the pedal of innovation by constantly thinking out of the box. It is one of the keys to success in an ever evolving and dynamic domain. At RBNL, I look forward to working with an enterprising marketing and content team to align all strategic marketing initiatives with the key business goals of the organization.” Nidhi’s previous experiences include working for Yahoo, Sodexo, Adidas and Make My Trip.

Sanil Suneja possesses profound expertise in business strategy, B2B sales, brand management, sales marketing, and digital marketing. He has handled multiple roles in his over a decade long career with Asian Paint. On his new position at RBNL, Sanil said, “From my previous work stint, I have learnt that effective leadership leads to desired results. All my insights are formulated from real life experiences. At RBNL, my aim is to apply these insights as effectively as possible, as I work towards driving key business initiatives in the Delhi region.” Sanil will be responsible for driving business growth in the fastest growing consumer market in the country.

NEW DELHI: Even as the media and entertainment industry was disappointed that the demands raised by it were not reflected in the Budget 2017-18, it is now looking with great anticipation at the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for some relief.

While saying that the budget had been 'neutral for the M&E sector’, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited. CEO Tarun Katial said, “The consumption-centric budget will put more money in the pocket of the common man and hence help the advertising and broadcast industries.”

He said that the radio broadcast industry has requested specific policy measures like “5% GST rate, reduction in custom duty for capex etc and we look forward to the announcements when the GST rates are announced.”

Meanwhile, the budget for the Information and Broadcasting Ministry shows that a sum of Rs 40 million has been set aside for supporting Community Radio Movement in India. This is part of a separate allocation of Rs 230 million for strengthening broadcasting activities.

The Ministry had recently announced simplified guidelines to apply for funds to set up community radio stations.

Apart from that, Information and Publicity gets Rs 4059.9 million which among other things includes expenditure for development of private FM stations and Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity for its publicity campaigns through various media including radio.

The grants-in-aid for Prasar Bharati has come down marginally from the revised estimates from Rs 4500 million in 2016-17 to Rs 4300 million for 2017-18.

This includes grants-in-aid to the pubcaster of Rs 3500 million and a separate grant-in-aid to it for the Kisan Channel of Rs 800 million which is higher than last year’s Rs 600 million.

In addition, there is support of Rs 29,967 million for 2017-18 against Rs 27,168.6 million last year in the allocation of support to autonomous bodies for Prasar Bharati. But there is no investment in the head of public sector undertakings in Prasar Bharati, unlike last year.

An explanatory note says the Grants-in-aid is being provided to cover the gap in resources of Prasar Bharati in meeting its revenue expenditure.

(Expenditure on salaries of Prasar Bharati has fallen on the shoulders of the Government since all Prasar Bharati employees who were in employment as on 5 October 2007 have been given deemed deputation status.)

The total budget of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been raised to Rs 44,090 million against Rs 40836.3 million.

There is a separate allocation of Rs 230 million for strengthening broadcasting activities which covers community radio (Rs 40 million), Electronic Media Centre (Rs 120 million), Mission Digitization (Rs 50 million) and automation of broadcasting wing (Rs 20 million). This is less than last year’s allocation in this head of Rs 308.3 million.

The allocation for the film sector has been raised to Rs 2070 million and covers the National Museum of Cinema, Development communication, and Dissemination of filmic content, Infrastructure Development Programme relating to film sector, and Mission/Special projects which gets a massive increase to Rs 1100.1 million as compared to Rs 170.1 million last year.

This allocation is for the Umbrella Programme Missions / Special Project includes the following Schemes the National Film Heritage Mission (Main Secretariat), Anti-Piracy Initiatives and Setting up a National Centre of Excellence for Animation, Gaming and Special Effects (coming up in Mumbai).

There is an allocation of Rs 180 million for mass communication which includes upgradation of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication to international standards and opening regional centres of IIMC.

The allocation under ‘Secretariat - Social Services’ has been raised Rs 795.2 million as compared to Rs 703.2 million, and art and culture to Rs 102.3 million. information and publicity get Rs 4059.9 million for various programmes which include Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity; Press Information Bureau, Field Publicity, Song and Drama Division, Publications Division, Photo Division, Registrar of Newspapers in India and other media units.

After seven years in a row, the government has announced investment in the National Film Development Corporation to the tune of Rs 125.4 million.

There is a marginal increase in the lump sum provision for projects/schemes for development of North-eastern areas including Sikkim to Rs 842 million against Rs 800 million last year.

There is an allocation of Rs 30,732.6 million as support to autonomous bodies which apart from Prasar Bharati, also has allocations for the Film and Television Institute of India, Satyajit Ray FTII, Press Council of India, IIMC, and Children’s Film Society, India.

MUMBAI: A new month of a new year has begun with a kick start for Big FM. The radio station has consistently been original with its content and succeeding in its regional markets with entertaining shows. They are all set to launch its new show in parts of Gujarat featuring renowned actor Manav Gohil. The show titled as ‘Morning Cha with Manav Gohil’ will be launched on 6 February in Surat, Ahmedabad and its all time two hit stations Baroda and Rajkot.

As the show will be aired from 7 am to 9 am, the programming has been planned accordingly. In sync with mood and energy of listeners, the show will have all the elements from relaxing to fun and light hearted to flirtatious music with retro tonality.

With ‘Morning Cha with Manav Gohil’, Big FM intends to spread positivity and urge its audience to start their day on a joyous note while also celebrating the spirit of life. The show is crafted keeping in mind the demands of listeners which is family oriented, light-hearted and positive. The show will also take the listeners back to the retro (70's to 90s) era with heartwarming retro tracks which would be a perfect start to an energetic day with the family.

Commenting on the launch of the new show, Big FM spokesperson said: “Gujarat, as a market has always been pivotal to us as it encompasses immense potential. It has a very rich culture which involves a lot of grand traditions and ways of life which gives Big FM a platform to experiment and explore with content. ‘Morning Cha with Manav Gohil’ is one such ambitious project through which we expect to tap all groups of target audience while spreading positive energy and fun. The show aims to celebrate morning time which is usually spent with family adding fun, entertainment, and warm tonality. We are so glad to have associated with Manav Gohil who’s more than a decade old in the entertainment fraternity and we hope our audiences receive the show well like they always have.”

Speaking on his association with the radio show, actor Manav Gohil said “I have spent more than a decade in the entertainment industry, wherein I have had the opportunity to explore various mediums and facets of this exciting space. My journey has been nothing short of amazing. With Big FM’s new offering, I am excited to explore a new territory – radio, which is the largest platform when it comes to sheer reach. My fans have always supported me in my endeavors, and with this new show, I hope I will be bestowed upon with the same amount of love and affection. It gives me an opportunity to connect with them on a more personal level.”

MUMBAI: Radio City 95 FM seems to begin the energetic year with a planning to keep launching new stations. After two launches in January at Jamshedpur and Nashik, Radio City now launched a new station in the historic city of India, Kolhapur. The station was launched on 3 February and with this Radio City becomes the leading radio network with respect to the footprint in Maharashtra by adding 11 stations to its list.

Bollywood’s Greek God Hrithik Roshan and Marathi diva Sai Tamhankar launched the new station.

Radio City has been number one in terms of average listenership share in Mumbai and now fortifies its presence in Maharashtra with a network across Pune, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Sangli, Nanded, Jalgaon, Akola, Nagpur, Nashik, and Kolhapur.

The new station will offer its listeners innovative, entertaining and creative content in context to the city. There will be melodious romantic music to wistful retro music, new age peppy songs to heart rendering ghazals, city happenings to humour. Radio City’s most loved retro show ‘Kal Bhi Aaj Bhi’ will now be in Marathi and the playlist will comprise of the Bollywood songs from the golden era customized exclusively for the Kolhapur listeners.

Commenting on the launch, Music Broadcast Limited CEO Abraham Thomas said, “With the launch of Radio City 95 FM in Kolhapur, we are proud to become the leading radio network with respect to the footprint in Maharashtra covering 11 cities. Kolhapur being one of the fastest growing cities in Maharashtra, we are all geared up to redefine radio entertainment post carving our footprint in metropolitan and tier 2 cities. We are certain that we will see an overwhelming response from Kolhapur like our other stations in Maharashtra.”

“I would like to congratulate Radio City for a fantabulous launch in Kolhapur. It was indeed an incredible experience to meet my fans in Kolhapur and be a part of the grand launch procession of Radio City 95 FM. Rag Rag Mein Kolhapur City FM... FM Bole Toh Radio City,” said Sai Tamhankar at the launch.

Music Broadcast Limited currently has 39 stations, including 11 newly acquired stations in Phase III auctions. Radio City in its third phase of expansion has recently launched Kanpur, Ajmer, Kota, Udaipur, Patiala, Nashik, Jamshedpur, and Kolhapur and will be launching Patna, Bikaner, and Madurai soon. Radio City also operates a web radio on Planetradiocity.com which has 40 stations as of date.

MUMBAI: Saturday nights will be party nights for FM Tadka listeners with the station roping in DJ Sumit Sethi. So, to turn on the party, just turn on the radio.

Rajasthan Patrika group’s FM Tadka has started a weekend show for its listeners in Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota and Raipur. DJ Sumit Sethi, a Delhi-based DJ artiste who has made his mark in the land of Bollywood, will spread his magic every Saturday from 9 pm to 12 am.

The show is named ‘Tadka Nights with Sumit Sethi’. It has been two weeks for the show and the response is commendable. FM Tadka plans to keep it on till the listeners keep demanding for it.

This is not the first time DJ Sumit Sethi is performing at FM Tadka as he was a part of Tadka in the year 2011. FM Tadka, since its inception in the year 2006, is mounting this show on the popular demand of its listeners. Earlier, DJ Aqeel was also a part of FM Tadka's weekend show – ‘Saturday Night Full Tight’, which was appreciated by the listeners.

In the press conference, DJ Sethi spoke about its association with FM Tadka, he said, “Ghamaghari Rajasthan I am all set excited with my full crazy mixes. Get ready to rock n roll to be part of 95 FM Tadka on Saturday night 9 pm to 12 midnight. Jaipur audience is now partying. I look forward to entertaining them. Patrika is always close to my heart and will remain forever."

MUMBAI:  Radio One's Ahmedabad station has acquired rights to air Big FM's new show ‘Morning Cha With Manav Gohil' for its Ahmedabad listeners. The show airs in Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara stations of Big FM.

Also Read:Big FM to launch a fresh show 'Morning Cha with Manav Gohil' in Gujarat

Radio One and Big FM have an agreement – arrangement in syndication licensing show for a fee – under which Big FM allows Radio One to play their shows. Under the same Big FM’s content library is open to Radio One.

This is not the first time that Radio One has tied up with Big FM. ‘Suhana Safar With Anu Kapoor’, another Big FM content is being aired on Radio One since October 2016. However, Big FM deals with such agreements to play content in non-competing stations only. Radio One is the only station that Big FM currently has such a deal with.

Radio One station head Rajeev Nair said, “We are glad to acquire the rights to 92.7 BIG FM’s fresh new content ‘Morning Cha with Manav Gohil’. We aim to strengthen our retro positioning in the Ahmedabad market. This will take listeners back to the retro (70's to 90s) era with heartwarming retro tracks. Through this acquisition, we hope to connect with a larger group of listeners, owing to warm tonality and entertainment quotient. We are positive that audiences will not only like ‘Morning Cha Manav Gohil’, but will also develop a special connect with it.”

‘Morning Cha with Manav Gohil’ airs Monday to Friday, 7 am to 9 am on Radio One.

NEW DELHI: The FM station of Music Broadcast Ltd, Radio City in Patiala would henceforth be available on 91.1 frequency.

This follows the acceptance of its application to the Wireless Advisor of the Communication and Information Technology Ministry in this regard.

According to the copy of the letter sent by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to the Mumbai office of Music Broadcast Ltd, the channel was hitherto available at 107.2 frequency in Patiala. The letter was issued on 8 February 2017.

The channel in Patiala had complained in a letter on 26 September last year about 'some interference' as the reason for seeking a change in frequency.

The channel had been allotted after it won a bid in the first stage e-auction of Phase III in 2015.

Accordingly, the I and B Ministry has made a change in its notification relating to stage one of Phase III.

NEW DELHI: Having failed to get any bidders for 23 cities in the first batch of the third phase of FM e-auctions, the Government claims that 66 channels in 48 cities were provisionally sold out of 266 channels put to auction in 92 cities.

The second batch auctions were held between 26 October 2016 and 14 December 2016, Minister of State of Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told Parliament that the proposal to auction 839 FM Radio channels in 294 cities was approved by the Cabinet in its meeting held on 7 July 2011.

However, the Ministry had later announced that the auction would be conducted in thatches given the large number of FM channels.

The e-Auction of the first batch of FM Phase-III comprising 135 vacant channels in 69 cities which were already covered by FM was conducted from 27 July 2015 to 9 September 2015.

The government received Rs.11035.1 million from winners of 96 channels in 55 cities against the cumulative reserve price of Rs.5500 million for the first batch.

NEW DELHI: Reiterating its long-held stand that it was difficult to monitor news bulletins on FM and community radio channels, the Centre has expressed that permitting privately produced news bulletins could endanger "national security and public order".

The government has already announced that Community Radio Stations and private FM in Phase III can air bulletins of All India Radio without any payment.

The government in an affidavit in the Supreme Court said it could not permit news content on FM as it might be misused by anti-national elements in the country and outside to propagate their agenda and radical views, posing a grave danger to the country.

Answering the Court’s query in this regard, the Government said there was no mechanism in place to monitor the content of live broadcast of all radio stations and law and order problems may arise if they transmit sensitive news.

It also said several community radio stations were run by NGOs and could be used as platforms to manipulate the minds of local people.

"Broadcasting of news by these stations/channels may pose a possible security risk as there is no mechanism to monitor the contents of news bulletin of every such station. As these stations and channels are run mainly by NGO or other small organisation and private operators, several anti-national or radical elements within the country can misuse it for propagating their own agenda," it said.

The government added that some radio stations also air programmes involving chats with NRIs and these may be exploited too.