When Star Plus aired the Mirchi Music Awards last month, the show acquired 1.5 group rating points (GRPs). For an aural medium like radio, fuelling sound waves to come into sight transpires a greater reach and connect with the audience. Radio stations are soon recognising the benefits of associating with television channels to bring in that level of greater consumer connect.
Prashant Panday, CEO, Radio Mirchi (ENIL) avers, ?The award show was a format created not just to recognise the performance of individuals but also to widely publicise our brand. The marriage of multimedia acts as a valuable proposition for the channel and the radio station.? RED FM has been hosting its Bajate Raho Awards since last year. This year the event managed to generate 0.4 ratings and 0.7 and 0.8 from RED FM?s prominent markets like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The event was not marketed that well last year, however this year, the promotions for the event involved a lot of print, outdoor and radio advertising.
Abraham Thomas, CEO, RED FM says, ?Radio is no longer a mantlepiece with passive listeners. It is becoming an interactive medium. Any content that has a consumer connect is lapped up by audiences across various markets. Clients get bigger value and in turn pay higher when there is a multimedia offering in place.?
Interestingly, the greatest category of advertisers on radio is TV channels, who often promote upcoming fiction and non-fiction shows. Radio also uses TV in a rather symbiotic manner to promote its content. So for both the media it is a long term association that proves beneficial. Danish Khan, Marketing Head, Sony Entertainment Television says, ?The reason why we chose to associate with the RED FM awards was because we saw great potential in the property. Any award show requires almost three to five years to gain momentum and viewership. So an early association with the event would prove beneficial and also rake in viewership.?
A never-ending story
Apart from the award shows, there have been many instances when radio stations have provided innovative content for television channels. For instance, this year, for a Valentine?s Day special episode, Radio City?s RJ Archanaa made a special appearance on Star One?s show Dill Mill Gayye. Also, for some popular RJs, it is not just about the golden voice anymore. Many RJs have now graduated from being ?faceless voices? to hosting events and shows on TV. MTV hired RJ Jose to host its show Fanta MTV Fantastic 5. Ashish Patil, GM, MTV India and VP Creative and Content says, ?To groom an RJ into a host or a VJ can be quite challenging sometimes. But since the basic format of presenting a show on-air is somewhat similar, it makes perfect sense to hire an RJ for the job.?
Similarly, RED FM had also associated with UTV Bindass for a show called Bindass Live hosted by RJ Malishka. The station had co-created content for the show. RED FM had worked closely with Bindass on the whole concept and execution of the show. The show had an interactive web component with a daily blog from Malishka on issues affecting the youth. According to television rating agency aMap, the first episode of the show got Bindass 0.3 GRPs.
So, while ratings suggest that there is ample potential that can be reaped out of marrying the two media, this opportunity opens up a new avenue for audiences to consume innovative content.