Radio Mirchi tries to be innovative with Bollywood

Private FM radio channels in India are largely dependent on Bollywood for their content and Radio Mirchi is no different.

However, the Radio Mirchi stations have gone a step further. They are finding innovative ways to make the best use of the Indian film industry.

As per its latest programming initiative, the channel has launched a new show, ‘Bollywood under Arrest’. Film celebrities such as Bipasha Basu, Shahid Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Preity Zinta, Anil Kapoor and John Abraham will talk about their lives and loves, likes and dislikes, films and fans, all packaged in a day-long, daily show.

The music on the show, too, will change to reflect the presence of the stars and will include hit tracks from each star’s own movies and the star’s personal favourites.

Besides, Radio Mirchi is effectively joining hands with major Bollywood productions for exclusive promotions of movies as was done with ‘Mangal Pandey – The Rising’ and ‘Salaam Namaste’. Next in line is the Balaji production, ‘Koi Aap Sa’. More movies are in the pipeline.

The radio channel is also looking forward to other initiatives, including city centric festivals such as Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai; Half Marathon and Diwali in Delhi; Durga Puja in Kolkata; Pongal in Chennai, and events and on-ground activities.

When a listener flips from one station to another, he ends up hearing the same songs and similar-sounding RJs on all the radio stations.

Kaushik Ghosh, vice-president, marketing and international operations, Radio Mirchi, says, “A radio station can only develop a distinctive identity when there are more channels in the market. Right now, there are just a few players to decide which particular segment one would like to target.”

He continues: “However, Radio Mirchi is positioned as a ‘happy-go-lucky’ channel as our baseline reads, ‘Mirchi sunnewale always Khush (Radio Mirchi listeners are always happy)’.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!