After Reliance’s BIG Entertainment announced grand plans to foray into Hollywood, it’s now leading FM radio BIG 92.7 FM’s turn to go overseas. On July 1, it’s launching a station dedicated to Bollywood in Singapore.
For this venture, it has joined hands with Singapore’s radio network MediaCorp and the station will be called BIG Bollywood 96.3 FM, initially broadcasting songs and other entertainment between 5 and 8 pm local Singapore time.
“Singapore has a large Indian population of all demographics and they crave for the latest Bollywood content. So we decided to launch a station. We decided to go with MediaCorp because it’s big in Singapore,” says Tarun Katial, COO, BIG 92.7 FM, from Singapore.
According to Philip Koh, MD, Media Corp, “We tied up with BIG 92.7 FM because they are number one in India and the Bollywood package was missing from our offering. The Hindi expatriate community is possibly the fastest growing one in Singapore’s quest to attract foreign talent to our shores.”
This is BIG FM’s first overseas foray and Katial says there are other launches on the anvil. “Singapore is just a starting point. Expect more announcements sooner than later. We are in advance talks for other locations as well,” he adds.
Besides broadcasting Bollywood hits, BIG FM is planning a host of on-ground activities, including film shows and meets with celebrities to promote the channel.
“The local population, especially the Malays, love Shahrukh Khan. We want to cater to the fast-growing expat community and also all Asians who enjoy Bollywood. So, we plan to get Bollywood stars so that fans may connect with them,” adds Katial.
The programming will include Bollywood gossip, interviews, comedy shows and so forth. At the launch in Singapore on Tuesday, singer Sonu Niigaam was present.