Radio stations look to make the most of cricket-Diwali-elections bonanza

As we move towards the peak of the festive period, media houses across the country are optimistic about revenue growth. The festive season is expected to bring some cheer to the radio sector as well. HT Media group’s fever FM announced a 25 pc increase in the advertising rates ahead of festive season. The company attributed the price increase to increasing demand for inventory across markets.

On how Fever FM is getting ready for the festive season, Rohit Kalra, CRO, Fever Network responds, “This is a bumper season for everyone with cricket and festival colliding within the same timeframe. Fever has geared up with innovative and clutter breaking properties both on cricket and Diwali. While ‘Beyond Boundaries with Virender Sehwag’ has been rolled out coinciding with World Cup, for Diwali we are launching a disruptive property called ‘The Great Indian Tambola’ where we have taken the most traditional game people play during Diwali and turned it around into a digital game which entire India will play from every corner of the country only at Playwithfever.com. Post Diwali our events line up is also looking pretty solid with one of our most successful IPs created last year The Burrah Project coming back in Delhi and Mumbai with the best of Punjabi artistes, food and culture at one place. On the back of great buoyancy in the market we are seeing a surge in advertisers hence driving up the advertising cost.”

When asked whether the ad rates hike would be a temporary or permanent one, Kalra said, “The rates would continue to be governed by the demand in the market in future as well.”

My FM has not formally announced any price hike for the festive season.

“But as a thumb rule dynamic pricing comes into play, so effectively high price is charged to maintain both interest of advertiser and listeners,” said Rahul Namjoshi CEO, My FM.

Nisha Narayanan, COO & Director, Red FM & Magic FM, noted that the festive season is something the entire radio industry and brands really look forward to welcoming each year. “For the sake of the metaphor, these few festive months are the lightness over the darkness. They help us raise 35 to 40 pc of the revenue of our business. We understand how most players flood the airwaves with advertisements. However, at Red FM, we always weigh the two options first, and so far, we have always chosen a mid-way approach, prioritising listeners and partners too,” she said.

“From our cities’ inventories brimming to their neck to ground activations and events being at their peak, we aspire to a 10 to 15 pc  year-on-year increase. This is in line with brand-consumer connection activations, RJ-led influencer activities, and 360 solutions for brands. I might have just raised the curtain on our success recipe,” she added.

On the increase in ad rates, Narayanan said, “Festive seasons are predictable yet variable. Our aim as a leading media brand is to always balance our organisation’s interests and those of our listeners. While the radio industry is drastically increasing their inventory, we at Red FM are adamant on not increasing the inventory volumes. Increase in rate and inventory capping helps us maintain and retain listenership on-air. This is how we are able to formulate strategies and carry them out to make the airwaves bankable and entertaining at the same time.”

“This year the festive season is long drawn out, with the onset of the World Cup season and the upcoming elections making prices dynamic in nature, but we are hoping that the rates will be standardised by the end of this financial year,” she added.

Manoj Mathan, CEO, Radio Mango, said, “Radio Mango is a network based in Kerala. For us, the festive season centers around Onam, which fell in the months of August and September this year. In this period, based on the inventory demand from clients and the listener-friendly policy of restricted ad inventory per hour, we took a price increase that ranged between 20 to 25 percent across all markets.”

“Pricing for Radio Mango is a function of ad inventory demand and is also influenced by the premium properties that Radio Mango continues to bring to the market. Therefore, we expect the new pricing to be effectively 5-10 percent higher than the pre-Onam prices in the upcoming months,” he added.

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(Amended at 12  noon on November 8, 2023 to address inaccuracy in a quote from a respondent.)