Mumbai: Indian and South Asian listeners across the USA, the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain welcomed the launch of the Mirchi app on Apple, Android smartphones as well as on Android Auto and Apple Car play systems. More countries will be added soon, the company stated.
The Mirchi app brings 12 live FM stations from 11 cities in India – Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh, and Patna. More cities will be available shortly. For someone from these cities living outside the country, wanting to consume content in their language, the app offers a convenient “shortcut”. It’s the easiest way to stay connected with family and friends back home. The stations are “time-shifted” to adjust for differences in time zones. A listener in New York will be able to listen to Mirchi Mumbai’s breakfast show at her NY breakfast time, while a listener in California will be able to listen to the same breakfast show at the California time. Ditto for listeners in the Middle East. Listeners will now be able to listen in real-time to developments taking place in their home city in India in the areas of music, movies, traffic, the stock markets, and much more.
The app also offers hundreds of hours of curated “audio stories” in different genres like drama, comedy, romance, motivational, mystery, culture, thriller, and many more. Additionally, some of Mirchi’s finest content like RJ Naved’s lighthearted Murga prank calls, “The Devdutt Patnaik” mythology show, “The Bhatt Show” hosted by Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt on Bollywood controversies, Kareena Kapoor Khan’s “What Women Want” interview series with top Bollywood celebrities and “Manto” written by the legendary Saadat Hasan Manto and voiced by top personalities like Nandita Das, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and RJ Sayema will be available on the app.
The Mirchi App widens Mirchi’s reach from only local terrestrial radio stations in these countries to an “always on App experience” with content available on tap. The app allows marketers and advertisers to engage with their audiences through targeted online advertising opportunities via a multitude of genres and formats.
While Mirchi has been present on consumers’ phones 24×7 with viral videos and social media posts across major platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, this is a major step in connecting with Mirchi’s fans and followers directly by putting the Mirchi App on their handsets.
Commenting on the launch, Vineet Jain, Chairman of the company said, “The Times of India group has always explored new horizons, pushed boundaries, and innovated to provide the best news and entertainment content to its consumers. We are now bringing the full Mirchi experience to every Indian and South Asian living overseas. With the launch of this app, we further cement our position as a multi-content, multi-format, and multi-lingual music and entertainment brand for Indians everywhere.”
Prashant Panday, MD & CEO, ENIL says, “Mirchi, India’s leader in radio and one of its most-loved entertainment brands, is now embarking on a digital journey with the launch of its app. We’ve been leaders in FM radio in India for more than 20 years and now we are making all our radio stations and a lot more audio content available to our listeners outside the country. The app offers brands and marketers across geographies the opportunity to connect with wealthy NRI audiences in the USA, Qatar, Bahrain, and UAE.”
