"Total dependence on research will kill instinct"

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that the Today Group sold Red FM and then entered the space all over again.

We never wanted to leave the space. It was a deal dictated by business considerations. It was a good business deal, so we took it. Like you say, “you make me an offer which I cannot refuse”. The idea was not to leave the industry totally. So there is no reason why not (enter again).

You have worked in the US. Have you spotted any difference in the way advertisers use the medium in that country vis-à-vis in India?

All kinds of advertisers use radio—be it local or national. For whatever reason, in India we haven’t really used the potential of the local advertisers to the maximum. There is no difference per se in the way the medium is used by advertisers. People use the medium according to their needs.

Have you noticed any difference in the consumption habit of the audience in this country vis-à-vis the more mature radio markets?

It is not like the audience knows exactly what it wants. However, sometimes, they don’t know what exists—in other words, they don’t know what they can actually get. And once you give it to them they say, yeah this is good, I would take that.

In that sense, it is a mix of the two. I think people who work on the programming of all these stations have to take that into consideration. There is no set rule. Sometimes you have to guess what people want. It’s a subjective thing altogether just like any other medium.

What is holding the growth of radio as a medium? The fact that there is just one audience measurement system, and that too pretty new?

Officially, only RAM does audience measurement for radio. Because broadcasters do not have the wherewithal to undertake a lot of research by themselves. Of course, we do random checks on a daily basis. We have an in-house research department in Delhi just for that. That’s how much we are committed to research.

We use the findings to give direction in terms of our own policies and the changes we want to make in our programming. This is regardless of whether the advertisers take it or not. We need to keep a tab on what the listeners like or what they don’t.