|
BANGALORE:
91.9 FM Radio Indigo Bangalore (RIB), promoted by Rajeev Chandrasekhar's
Jupiter Entertainment Venture, is set to launch their second
station in Goa between 11-15 June, thus joining Radio Mirchi
and Big 92.7 FM who have recently started operations.
The testing of the station will probably commence a week before the official launch.
The station
will have a distinct Goa slant and connote the pulse of Panaji city. While the
Bangalore programming has more of a rock music shift, Goa may focus more towards
jazz and gospel music. A team of local Goan jocks is in place, company sources
say. ‘The
color of music’ is the tagline that Radio Indigo uses in Bangalore. It claims
to be the country’s only international hit music station. RIB
programming is contemporary international music as opposed to all the other players
in the field who have either started off or moved to a mix of regional and Bollywood
music. The programming of radio station follows the CHR format (Contemporary Hit
Radio). This is a compilation of hits from around the world with what the station
considers a distinctly Bangalore slant. RIB
started its operations with Worldspace four years ago, but with satellite radios
low penetration and also it being subscription driven, their reach was considerably
cramped. With the announcement of 2nd phase of Radio licensing they got off WorldSpace
on 31 March 2005 and decided to wait for FM radio till they began started transmitting
officially in September 2006. In
its new avatar, RIB had some trouble initially in defining itself, an identity
crisis of sorts, initially it’s programming was mainly Hindu religious music,
and some of that still remains – one hour every day of the week from 6.00
am to 7.00 am is a program called ‘Devotional Hour’. RIB
claims to have the largest library of Western and International music. Programming
also includes two internationally syndicated countdowns namely ‘The American
top 40’ with Ryan Seacrest of American Idol fame and ‘The top 20 countdown’
with Casey Kasem, the father of the radio countdown. Two
of Bangalore Radio City 9.1 FM’s very popular RJ’s, Rohit Barkar and
Cindu Chandrasekharan, moved to RIB some time ago. RIB’s target audience
is up market and it claims that 65 per cent of the premier companies advertise
exclusively on it. Big names in the tech space who are advertisers include Lenovo,
IBM and Yahoo. Besides,
RIB clams to have forged a strong relationship with event management firm –
DNA and VH1. DNA brings in big names in the international music scene to the country,
while with VH1, Radio Indigo has an advantage of cross marketing opportunities.
Radio
Indigo frequently partners with colleges during the time of
cultural fests, annual and sports days. Over 30 nightclubs
and lounge bars in the city ally with Radio Indigo to bring
out exclusive theme nights every Thursday, Indigo Thursdaze.
Every week a refreshing and innovative theme will be brought
out on the best of all genres of music – rock, hip-hop,
rap, jazz & blues, retro etc.
| 
