BIG 92.7 FM, the radio initiative from Adlabs Films Ltd, is expanding at a sturdy speed since the launch of its first station in September 2006.Tarun Katial, COO, BIG FM, talks about the achievements and challenges in the year gone by and the plans for 2008.

Q. How far have you been able to fulfill the formidable task you had set for yourself - of covering 1,000 towns and 50,000 villages by the end of the financial year?
A We have achieved the target. We are live at 40 locations right now. By the yearend we will be live in 5 more locations. In addition we will have access to 9 more locations, with our partner (Century Communication), for whom we are the sales agent.

Q. Your channel will be partnering with the Indian Television Academy for its annual awards in December. How does it fit into the channel's bigger game plan?
A. This partnership is not with BIG FM but another division called BIG Live, which is into live events. BIG FM will off course be the radio partner, driving mileage for the event and for itself.

Q. How would you compare breaking into a metro like Mumbai, in comparison to deep pockets of rural areas and sensitive areas like Srinagar?
A. There are synergies in all three markets in terms of brand name, formats, templates, training & sales representation. The difference lies in the insights, content creation, music strategy and the quality of quantity of manpower. Challenges are also different; in Srinagar, the challenge is to have a stable operation, delivering meaningful content without ruffling feathers and delivering entertaining programming in a strife torn area. In Mumbai the challenges are different- there is media clutter, attention span of audiences are lower and there is no homogeneous set of audiences.

Q. Have you tried to innovate with celebrities from other genres apart from entertainment & cricket?
A. We have taken celebrity singers, stand up comedians and cricketers. Given the nature of the medium we have to look at the universal entertainment appeal of the celebrity.

Q. Tell us a bit about the advertiser and audience response to the big properties you were planning to introduce towards the end of the year.
A. We recently launched two properties –Sawariya and Sabse BIG Diwali. With exclusive rights to Sawariya’s music, the kind of response the music has received from the audiences, it has become a pride possession for us. In Sabse BIG Diwali we gave out discounts from 9 to 90 percent and thousands of discount vouchers were given out across 10 cities. ICICI and Subhiksha Mobiles sponsored this property. We will be launching two more properties by the end of the year.

Q. What has been the response to your pod cast services on BIG927FM.com.What future do you see for FM radio on the net.
A. The response has been good. FM radio gives exclusive content with extra material and lots of pluses. Today online is an important part of any media offer cause its an important consumer touch point. Also, worldwide, with the increasing broadband penetration, exclusive online viewers are going to be an important audience.

Q. Tell us about 'Big Reach', BIG FM's new division. What's the mandate for this division?
A. BIG Reach is about BTL (below the line) activities. It will have a 360 approach for reaching consumer solutions – through mobiles, on ground, radio and online.

Q. In what is still a niche industry, what do you think are going to be the big challenges for radio, in the near future?
A. The big challenges are regulatory issues, getting news and current affairs, creating awareness among advertisers about the usability of radio, building awareness in the II tier and III tier markets. Actual implementation of RAM; the national rating system is going to be important and last but not the least, manpower training.

Q. What are the channel's big plans for the next year?
A. Street level marketing is going to be an important area for us next year. We will be going hyper local, which means we will be enhancing consumer contact with micro level activities.