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The cities that have been identified as potential markets for the
radio station are Dubai, London, and possibly a couple of African
countries, including Kenya. The massive Indian populations in these
cities, their demand for Indian music, has been instrumental in
Radio City intiating dialogue for taking the station with its programming
format as it is here, to the other cities. While there are a few
FM stations available in Dubai, in London, there is only one other
station currently running.
Whether Radio City as a brand name will be used in these cities
as well is not yet known, but Star will be licensed for selling
airtime, it is learnt.
According to Radio City COO Sumantra Dutta, Radio City is also
getting ready for the next wave of new programming. To kick off
from 1 July, there will be an approximate 15 new shows, a mix of
new shows and features. For the first time, kids' programming will
form a part of private FM stations, with a quiz show lined up. This
is the third time that Radio City has introduced innovative programming
in bunches. The first was in July last year, when the station launched
16 new vignette shows, and followed it some months later with radio
versions of Star Plus' hit shows like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu
Thi and Saans.
In the fresh wave of programming to start soon, veteran radio personality
Roshan Abbas, who shifted to Radio City from Win, which closed down
last month, will be doing a Bollywood focused show right across
the week, as well as host a kids'. The new features include Doctor
Didi, a health related show that is supported by cough medication
Benadryl. The show will have windows right through the week, with
a big episode on the weekend, and will deal with all kinds of normal
ailments people have, health and fitness.
The station that has been having a clutch of celebrities including
Baba Sehgal, Mandira Bedi, Ruby Bhatia, Kay Kay, Shaan in the last
few months on various shows will be roped in for other shows as
well. A sports show is also on the cards, probably featuring a sports
celebrity. Says Dutta, "Bollywood is radio listeners' favourite
theme, but we have been funneling it into certain programmes, not
diffusing it all through the programming. The show that Sajid Khan
did on Bollywood, will now be done by Roshan."
While Dutta says that kids as an audience base is not large, children
are an important segment. "We will start with a couple of prime
time shows for kids, gauge the response and see how it picks up,
says Dutta.
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