Radio City to launch interactive game show

Come October 7, 2002, and Radio City 91 FM, promoted by Music Broadcast Private Ltd (MBPL), will launch Suno Aurr Lakhpati Bano, an interactive game show that will offer listeners in Mumbai an opportunity to win a lakh of rupees in prize money. If that is familiar speak from a radio station that has the Rupert Murdoch-owned STAR network providing content and sales and marketing support, further insight into the mechanics of the game show could tell you why the station is relying heavily on this "mega promo" to increase the "universe of radio listeners" in Mumbai.

Beginning next Monday, Radio City will play 10 bumper questions through the day starting at 8.00 am sharp in the voice of super star Amitabh Bachchan who was instrumental in catapulting STAR's Hindi general entertainment channel STAR Plus into the limelight two years ago with Kaun Banega Corepati (KBC). In other words, from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm every day, Bachchan's voice will resonate every hour, quizzing people on the subject of general knowledge. Listeners will be allowed to either phone in or SMS their replies in a span of 20 minutes from the time the question is played, subsequent to which, a bumper winner will be selected for each of the hourly questions based on a random computerised selection procedure.

Each of the 10 bumper winners will get Rs 1,000, with one of them getting the opportunity to participate in the final ‘Super Bumper Draw', to be held live at the Radio City studios in Mumbai at 9.00 pm every evening. Drawing heavily from its successful property KBC on lead TV channel STAR Plus, the final participant will be asked three questions for Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 1 lakh respectively with the opportunity to quit the game when in doubt with the amount won till that particular stage.

Explaining the rationale behind the decision to go launch a first-of-its-kind gameshow on radio, Radio City COO, Sumantro Dutta reiterates, "Owing to the influx of players in Mumbai, listeners seem confused about the various stations launched and the frequency linked to them. Typically, listeners could be tuning in to a Gita Modgil show or Manish Valicha's (both are radio jockeys associated with the station) Kase Kai Mumbai on Radio City, but still claim they are listening to Radio Mirchi! My point is that the confusion is enormous here and the task on hand is to create a super mega promotion that not only gets the station noticed and talked about but also establishes an identity link between Radio City and 91 FM as one and the same."

Refusing to divulge any figures about the investment into the venture, Dutta claims that the station is looking at an initial trial period of six weeks for listeners to sample the product. "Depending on the response to the show, we will decide whether we want to continue with it." At the same time, Dutta doesn't rule out the possibility of promoting the other programmes on Radio City in a similar manner if the show catches on with the masses. "The idea is to get listeners to tune in to the interactive game show leading them to explore other programmes on the station. To this end, we hope to break the clutter in the minds of radio listeners with a media plan that includes television, print, outdoor, Internet and radio," adds the erstwhile head of sales at STAR Plus, credited with giving the channel as well as its flagship product KBC its much-needed advertising and marketing push. © 2002 agencyfaqs!