Besides producing audio programming, Star will be Music Broadcast's agent for ad sales and marketing. It will be paid a commission of 10 per centon the advertising revenue earned, the source said. Star has taken John Catlett as an overall consultant for the radio project. The sales team is headed by Shyam Haridas while the technical team chief is Purnendu Bose. The marketing division is headed by Mr Sandeep Kapoor. Star had also targeted a content alliance with BPL but the south-based consumer electronics company is not taking up the licence. "We were talking to them but they have withdrawn from the race," the source said. The other significant players like Radio Midday and Times of India have their own content and marketing team. With a presence in radio, Star will be available in all the platforms.

The company will have the advantage of offering cross-ad packages to its clients. As a direct entry was not allowed, Star TV has decided to get into content and marketing alliances with local companies. Star TV chief executive officer Peter Mukerjea believes there is scope for generating substantial revenues from radio. "The FM radio would provide an outlet for local advertising. The medium could explode," he said. The government had announced that it would shortly float tenders for an additional 80 private FM radio stations. This is in addition to the earlier 100 centres completed. But many significant players like Zee TV have withdrawn as they found the licence fee too steep.