Win 94.6: In a combative mood

It's the dark horse in the battle for FM radio in Mumbai.

It does not have the cross-media presence or heavy nationwide spread that Times Group's Radio Mirchi is counting on. It does not have the multi-media spread that Go 92.5, the FM radio foray of Mid-Day Multimedia, is hoping to bank on. What it has is programming, an advertising budget of Rs 1 crore, licenses for Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, and loads of attitude. Or, as a combative Gautam Radia, CEO, Millennium Broadcast, promoted by the Salgaocar Group, puts it, "the ability to set up a perfect radio station". This ‘perfect radio station' goes by the name Win 94.6, the frequency on which it is broadcast.

Combative Radia will have to be. The challenges that face his small radio station are many. First, the licensing fee, which stands at a formidable Rs 9.75 crore. This, according to industry estimates, is just 30 to 35 per cent of the total cost to set up a radio station. Add to that the advertising costs, infrastructure costs, equipment and staff cost, rent for the premises, and so on, and you have big-time investment on the cards. The minimum annual cost to run a station, according to industry figures, could easily work out to at least Rs 25 crore to 35 crore. Recovering this, with advertising being the only source of revenue, is a formidable task by any standards.

In fact, according to a recent FICCI-Andersen Report, the high license fees, stiff conditions, high capital cost and the daunting task of developing a nascent radio market were obstacles so stiff that some players just dropped out of the race altogether. But Radia, who has worked with private radio in Sri Lanka, is not discouraged - not even by the fact radio advertising constituted only 2 per cent of the total advertising spend of Rs 9,000-crore last year.

Win 94.6 also has to contend with the marketing strategies of the other players, which are going all out to score any advantage, however slight, in a no-holds barred game. Radio Mirchi, promoted by the Times Group, is leveraging all the media it owns - the Times of India newspaper and the Internet - with articles on the launch of the station. Radio Mid-Day, from the owner of one of Mumbai's most popular tabloids, also has the advantage of announcing its foray in radio through its various publications.

However, cross-media presence alone may not be a long-term advantage, as the fate of www.indya.com, which has the formidable presence of STAR India backing it, shows. "A cross-media presence may help in getting people to sample the station initially. However, content will be important. If people find the right stuff, they are likely to stay with it," says Sandip Tarkas, associate vice-president and manager, HTA Fulcrum.

So what are the factors that stand in favour of this small station? The global scene, for one. "By its very nature, radio is a medium that lends itself to small players," points out Tarkas. This is an assertion that is backed by the scene in other countries. Consider this. Paris, with a population of approximately 5 million, has 56 FM radio stations. Manila, with a population of 4 million, has 40. Bangkok has 38 FM stations and Colombo 22. Mumbai, with a population of 16 million, has just five, and three more in the offing. It is something that is at the core of Radia's strategy. "Everybody is focused on marketing. Nobody is focussed on the medium. The key is the listener," he says.

Analysts say that once the first battle is over, and a hierarchy emerges, then radio advertisers are likely to go to the station that addresses their target audience best, and more important, is listened to the most. Several stations in the West that broadcast for a loyal niche audience have merrily cocked a snook at the big corporate media, and flourished on this principle.

Right now, to win the heart of the listener, the station has opted for a ‘90 per cent music strategy' - a cocktail of Hindi and Western songs - targeted at the 15-35 age group. Win 94.6 will cover a radius of 120 km, targeting 5 million potential listeners around Mumbai. With drive time spanning 7.00-11.00 am and 5.00-9.00 pm, and a 24-hour broadcast cycle, it is looking at revenues of Rs 15 crore to break even in 18-24 months' time.

How will this small station reach that figure? "By concentrating on programming. How soon we break even will be decided by how good our programming is," says a confident Radia. © 2002 agencyfaqs!