THE RADIO COMEBACK
Srinand
Jha*
These days all good
things are being said about the radio. That it is the ‘second
coming’ or the ‘rebirth of the radio’ that the present generation
is witnessing.That it is today’s fastest-growing medium – steamed
off on a journey of regeneration and resurrection.That the other
communication mediums, such as print and audio visual, cannot
hope to replicate the unique medium of radio at any point of time
in the future. Of course, not entirely without basis are such
assertions being made.
Television needs
time ‘by appointment’, while the radio can be heard anywhere.
While jogging, driving or conversing. Besides, does not a music
concert seem so much trivialized on television screens? Isn’t
it so much better to have soulful music wafting out of anonymous
radio sets? Don’t good things of life somehow lose value and get
de-energized when stated as the obvious? One hardly needs too
great imaginative skills to find answers to these.
Today lives are running
along much fast tracks. In the coming years, time will be much
more at a premium – and television might find its space shrinking.
Also, technological innovations have made radio-enabled mobile
phones possible. The radio can also be heard on televisions or
on personal digital assistants (PDAs). Certain companies have
started marketing ‘wind and play’ transistor sets – requiring
no battery or power connection. Besides, a radio or transistor
set is also so much more inexpensive in comparison. These are
among the arguments put forward in support of projections concerning
the bright outlook for the radio.
Since the 1999 decision
of the Central Government in liberalizing regulations for setting
up private radio stations, a good deal of activity has been happening
on the ground. More than a dozen private radio stations have started
operations at big and small centres including the four metros
with Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata having got wired up last month.
Public Relation (PR) agencies have been taking a serious look
at prospects of radio advertising, while manufacturers have been
racking their brains for developing more innovative models of
radio sets. Also, for equipment vendors from Australia or the
United States, it has been Destination India – with these companies
hawking an array of antennas, cable and studio equipment. On its
own part, the Indian Government has been considering possibilities
of floating the second round of bids ( for the setting up of private
FM stations at 70 additional cities throughout the country).
But these continue
to remain somewhat troubled times for the Indian radio industry.
The facts speak for themselves. In early 1999, 23 companies had
bid for 108 frequencies in 40 cities. Now, just 22 stations remain
in 12 cities. In Mumbai, five of the 10 players remain, and eight
operators have dropped out of the Delhi circle with just three
remaining. As of now, the radio business is not as viable as one
might want.
From
the viewpoint of private broadcasters, the problem is with the
license auction agreement as decided in the first round of bids.
Bids went for fabulous amounts between Rs. 7.5 crore to Rs.10
crore in most centres. According to the agreement, the private
players are required to pay correspondingly higher sums after
the completion of each year of operations. The private players
have been clamouring for the waiver of this clause as the revenue
generation has been marginal. As they have pointed out in a memorandum
to the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Shri Ravi Shankar
Prasad, five private stations in Mumbai are required to pay an
auction fee amount of approximately Rs.10 crore this year as against
Rs.8.5 crore last year, although the total revenue generated by
them has totalled only Rs. 2.2 crore. Upon the suggestion of the
Minister, the private parties have presented to him a copy of
their separate balance sheets. The Government is presently considering
ways for providing the radio
with a more congenial growth environment.
Radio ad-spend in
India has remained pegged at a lowly 1.5 per cent as against 12
per cent in Australia, 12-15 per cent in US and between 7 to 10
per cent in some South Asian countries. Operators believe that
the share of radio ad-spend can increase only in the event of
the participation of a greater number of players. Television provides
the example, ad-spend generated by the television in 1992, Doordarshan’s
sole monopoly days, totalled 15 per cent of the ad-pie. Ten years
down the line in 2002 it was 38 per cent. The radio operators
want a migration from the present license auction option to the
revenue-sharing model. They feel this would enable the industry
to generate an increase in ad-spend upto 3-5 per cent in the short
run and about 7-8 per cent in the long term.
Community or campus
radio is another enterprise that the Central Government is interested
in promoting. Presently, the offer holds good for recognized institutions
and colleges (IITs, universities and registered residential schools)
and several institutes including IIT,Kanpur have shown interest.
The Government does not levy charges for the setting up of such
Low Power Transmitter (LPT) station, although the customary charge
of spectrum fee has to be deposited. Several institutes have been
pursuing plans of setting up campus radio stations. The Government’s
plans are to enable about 100 institutes wired up to campus radio
within the next one year.
Two autonomous bodies-the
Broadcast Engineers Corporation of India Limited – BECIL and the
AIR Resources – a wing of the Prasar Bharati have been offering
turnkey
solutions for setting
up campus radio stations. It would cost between Rs. 10-12 lakh
to set up a campus radio station.
Besides, foreign
equipment manufacturers have been eyeing the Indian market. Given
the fact that there are more than 400 recognised institutes and
colleges in India, the market size is estimated as being huge.
Initial estimates are that the size of the services market would
not be less than Rs. 60 crore. (PIB Features)
*Senior
Freelance Writer
