Entertaining the masses

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: it comes to music, the prime time slots 8.00 am to 10.00 am, 1.30 pm to 3.00 pm and 6.00 pm to 10.00 pm, have most of the FM stations playing a heady mix of Bollywood, Indipop and Western music. Other genres of music like devotional, classical Indian; ghazals gets featured mainly in non-prime time. Taking cognisance of the growing reach of FM stations in Tier I and Tier II cities, media planners and advertisers are using the medium to reach out to their target audience using the various time-bands.

The advent of FM stations in the Tier I and Tier II cities also created job opportunities for many, who otherwise would have migrated to the metropolitan cities. Be it for administrative work, marketing, content developing and radio-jockeying, the FM stations have made optimum use of local resources and talents. So much so, radio-jockeys in most of the cities have not only become local heroes but more often than not an FM station’s recall amongst the public is due to the RJ. Any industry that starts in an area allows peripheral support groups to flourish. Same is the case with FM stations. Due to the presence of multi FM stations in the Tier I and Tier II cities, there has been a growth in the service sector, eg transport, food & beverage, communications etc. It will be unfair just to look at how much has the FM stations contributed in job opportunities in a city but it has to be looked at from a holistic point of view. For the youth of today, opportunities are knocking at every step and the radio industry has been instrumental in recognising talents in the smaller cities and towns.

Speaking about employment generation, it is imperative to mention that in the smaller towns and cities there has been a huge rise in demand for FM radio sets. While the radio market is predominantly grey, FM stations have been instrumental in lending a helping hand to players in the organised sector. There has been a constant growth in sale of FM radio sets. Also the sale of mobile phones with radio feature has increased remarkably.

Over the years FM stations have redefined the way consumers in semi urban areas are entertained. In the days to come, we are hopeful that with government support FM stations will penetrate deeper and help in socio-economic growth in semi urban down areas.