Praveen Malhotra, Vice President & Head of North Operations, BIG FM, has a rich experience of 14 years in the media and entertainment industry. Her career includes stints with Times of India, Star India, Radio City and Zenith Optimedia before she joined Big FM. Here, she is spearheading the operations in the North region as well as handling the responsibility of National Sales Head. Speaking to agencyfaqs!, Malhotra shares her experiences on working with a fast growing radio station.

Q. You've had the experience the working of a radio station both in the metros and small towns. Given a choice, which would you prefer heading and why?
A. I don't think it's about the size of the city, but the number of existing players in it. It is more challenging to work in a city where there is more competition. In the smaller cities, what matters is the level of acceptance. However, it’s fun to work in both metros and small towns. Though I am more comfortable working in Delhi, I wouldn't mind taking up an opportunity in a small town as the action is happening there. All in all, working for a radio station is good fun either way.

Q. Big FM seems to be concentrating more on contests than BTL activities. Is this a deliberate strategy?
A. Radio works on the power of imagination. In radio, there are many opportunities to offshoot your creativity. We believe that interactivity is important. Listeners love to take part in contests and promotions. So, on-air contests work better with them. As the station grows, we will be looking at doing offline activities.

Q. You've also launched the first reality hunt on Big FM. What's your take on reality shows on radio? Do you think they could work as well as the TV shows?
A. We keep innovating to offer something new to our listeners. The thought behind the reality show was to do something that had never been done on radio, with its visibility constraints. We wanted to see how it works and we have had good responses to our Bollywood hunt. I think a reality show on radio is very relevant to listeners. Radio has its own space, and so does television. As radio expands into smaller cities, reality shows are going to be engaging. Collaboration with TV reality shows could also work well, as we have seen in the case of 'Indian Idol'.


Q. Delhi alone has 10 radio stations. What's your programming strategy in the city? Any particular audience traits you notice?
A. In every city where we are present, we have a clear objective of going local. Our content is tailor-made for the local audience. We focus on creating life-enhancing content. What I mean by this is that when you listen to something on Big FM, it should make a difference to your life. We like meeting people and making them feel good. For listeners in Delhi, we have content tailored to them, like in other cities. For instance, in the Breakfast Show, we discuss the disputes, dilemmas and local issues of people - whether it is in the localities of Malviya Nagar or Shahadra. It helps us connect with a variety of people in Delhi.

Q. Big FM has always had celebrity-oriented programming. Don't you think this is contrary to the voice of the 'common man' who is your listener?
A. When we did research on radio, we realised that it lacked an aspirational level and credibility. Through celebrity-oriented programming, we wanted to meet the high aspirations of the listeners. Each celebrity is carefully chosen to gel with the local content. I don't think having a celebrity comes in the way of connecting with our listeners. They like it.


Q. Also, do celebrities make good RJs? Doesn't this undermine the role of a professional RJ?
A. Our celebrities are very talented and they are trained by international and Indian experts. I believe they are doing a pretty good job of RJing. We also have professional RJs and I don’t think that having celebrities undermines them.

Q. Do you intend to continue with celebrity programming or is it a part of your launch strategy?
A. As of now, we will continue with celebrity-oriented programming, because I feel that they too are the voice of the common man. They are relevant to our listeners as it helps them get closer to each other, almost on a one-to-one basis.

Q. As competition will hot up in small cities too, do you think Big FM's sheer footprint (of stations) is going to be the key to success, or its programming?
A. The key to success has to be a mix of programming and growth in the market. Big FM will work as long as it connects with the listeners. For example, in Jammu, we got local RJs in place. They were given world-class training. We concentrated on what local dialects to have on air, and on the language and music. The common mode of transport in Jammu is the Matador 407, so we started a show called '4 se 7, 407' in which the RJ goes around the city in the vehicle and meets people. We also reach out to the wide army base in the city.

© 2007 agencyfaqs!