Red FM Bengaluru turns from regional to Hindi

The station may lose a significant number of regional music listeners with this move. However, it is banking on the popularity of Bollywood numbers.

Based on a research done by its internal research team, Red FM has decided to move on from regional music to Hindi music for its Bengaluru station. The research indicated a steep rise in the music preferences towards Hindi music amongst the target listeners. The radio station, after much deliberation, decided to succumb to the listeners' needs.

The Bengaluru station will now have new RJs with a completely new identity and all-Hindi music. However, the channel claims that the brand promise will remain the same. Only a few elements of the brand have been realigned. With this, Red FM has announced Red FM Bengaluru as a 'Superhits 24x7 Hindi radio station'. The tagline Bajaate Raho remains the same.

The channel expects this to help the brand to be more popular across the metropolitan audiences and at the same time, break through the clutter of homogenous-sounding Kannada radio stations in Bengaluru.

Red FM Bengaluru turns from regional to Hindi

Although radio is more about localisation, Red FM firmly believes that this change will not be a risk to the brand in the Bengaluru market. Nisha Narayanan, senior vice-president, programming and projects, Red FM, says, "We are clear that we will not sound like an outsider. The RJs are from the city and know its heart beat. In addition, Red FM has always positioned itself as a station of expression. That means more listener interactions. That's localisation right there."

The station may lose a significant number of listeners who prefer regional music. However, it is banking on the popularity of Bollywood numbers. Narayanan adds, "We are sure that both our loyal listeners and ardent regional music lovers will see it as a welcome change and appreciate the daily dose of Hindi music spiced up with Bajaate Raho content."

It is learnt that the new RJs will not only bring city happenings across to the listeners, they will also come up with strong research and understanding of their impact on a common man's life. The station also promises super hits through the day and packaging elements bundled together to make Red FM a pace setter.

The station suggests that brands wanting to communicate their promise with attitude will see synergies with Superhits 93.5 Red FM. Narayanan adds that the revival of the e-commerce category looks at radio as mainstream. It may be noted that Bengaluru is the third or fourth largest market for national advertisers.

"We will continue to retain the Bajaate Raho attitude of the brand, which gives an edge to our content and makes our jockeys cut through to the listeners across SECs or demographics,"

she concludes.

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