| MUMBAI:
Radio broadcasters Wednesday stressed on the need for a standard listenership
measurement system while debating on how to grow the local advertising revenue
pie. Attacking
the relevance of the IRS survey for the radio sector, Big FM COO Tarun Katial
said: “IRS stands for Indian Readership Survey and should be restricted to
print. That standard cannot be applied to radio.” He was speaking at the
inaugural session of the India Radio Forum.
Countered
Radio Mirchi CEO Prashant Panday: “True, a standard listenership measuring
system should be there. Until then, we need to depend on the IRS for gauging listenership.”
My FM COO Harrish Bhatia supported Pandey’s statement, suggesting that the
entire industry should get together to campaign for a better audience measurement
system. Another
topic of concern was local advertising on the medium. “Radio has certainly
seen robust growth as a very effective medium for marketing and advertising. Advertising
on radio is cost effective, can be easily modified and impacts a large audience
in local markets,” offered Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit. Radio
is believed to be local but the advertising from the national segment is much
more than the local market. Most radio stations estimate the national market to
be around 70 per cent and the local markets to be around 30 per cent. “Local
markets are very important but national markets are the ones which get prominence”,
said Red FM COO Abraham Thomas. This
is because a lot of awareness building is not being done at the local markets
about the reach of radio. “Radio
stations connect with a particular area. Radio needs to re-invent the magic and
the local market is very important. Intelligent Talk, Intelligent Radio is where
the future lies,” says Chennai Live executive director George M George. Players
also admitted to having invested mostly in the metros and having paid smaller
attention to the local areas. Bhatia however disagreed, saying, “Our figures
are reverse. We generate around 70 per cent from our local markets and 30 per
cent from the national market. People generally blame the slowdown, but that’s
more in the mind. In fact, we have grown largely according to industry standards
in the last six months.” “Once,
you approach local markets with the kind of marketing and spends they are looking
at, then local clients approach periodically as compared to the national clients,”
Bhatia added. To
reverse the scenario and going local in a big way, radio stations have to start
from scratch. “Print can be a good example on how to reach the local market,”
Panday noted. Taking a different approach for each of the local markets will help
rake in the revenues, he pointed out. However,
radio is not as inexpensive a medium as is perceived. “It’s as expensive
as other media, it’s just that the outlays are lesser. That’s the reason
radio turns out cheaper,” Panday said. Katial supported Panday saying radio
is ranked after the top three GECS in terms of expenses.
The
session was moderated by What’s on India CEO Atul Phadnis.
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