MUMBAI: Encouraging the growth of radio on a global level, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced 13 February as the World Radio Day.

The day aims at specially celebrating the power of the medium and improving international co-operation between broadcasters. While the medium has significantly evolved internationally, in India its still at a nascent stage as major Indian players gear up to celebrate the growth of the medium in the country.

Private FM radio in India has seen numerous changes since its conception in 2000 and saw a boom in 2006 with phase II when big players got a chance to expand in the space while smaller players managed to consolidate themselves. In the first five to seven years all the stations were similar in terms of programming and content as going into niche areas was a taboo for the business.

As radio continues to evolve, it remains the medium that reaches out to a large number of people across multiple cities. Stated to be a multi-purpose medium, it also helps people to engage in discussions on topics that affect them.

Speaking with Radioandmusic.com on the evolution, Radio One Ltd MD and CEO Vineet Singh Hukmani said, “The era of generic radio is over. In the five and a half years I have been in private FM, I have seen the medium as one that is exciting, quick to market and possibly the only economical and emotional medium the country has.”

Along with the radio stations, consumers too have evolved over the years and pushed programming to a whole new level altogether.

Big FM network programming head Manav Dhanda said, “Radio has evolved a lot at the product level. The consumers too have evolved with the medium and have pushed the programmer to fine carve their own niche and innovating in strategy. The aping policy has now stopped.”

With 2011 and 2012, the medium witnessed a high level of consumer engagement due to massive innovations from various players. While players like Radio One, Big FM, Red FM changed their format completely across cities, others like Radio City and Radio Mirchi created a space for themselves on the digital platform.

Highlighting the key changes that radio has seen over the years, Dhanda added, “There were few key changes we witnessed with the first being, product need with creation, duplication and more. Apart from that, differentiated content also emerged along with new music. It was not only bollywood but other forms of music and engaging shows like radio plays and storytelling that created a loyalty for spoken content. The third major change we saw was that big celebrities started coming onto radio as RJs which was great.”

The birth of private FM radio in the country gave audiences a new platform to consume music on the go unlike with other mediums including TV. Print and TV held a major dominance in the media and advertising business earlier but now, with radio emerging and growing as a large form of communication; advertising spends seem to be witnessing a shift too.

Hukmani pointed out, “When private FM was born, listeners celebrated 'music at their finger tips', and where the 'power of the host' took shape and began to connect superiorly with local audiences and advertisers. Listeners have now begun to enjoy mature radio versus generic radio. Advertiser rate of growth on to the medium is also the fastest now. While most media offerings have saturated, radio has not. We see a lot of print and TV spends shifting to radio given the excellent response at the lowest outlay. Radio is certainly moving from being just a reach medium to one that allows better profiling of audiences.”

Inspite of a rapid growth, what has held radio back is government policy not keeping pace with such a vibrant medium. The medium has witnessed a double digit growth in CAGR, even as it still contributes only about four per cent in the total advertising pie. Compared internationally, radio overseas contributes anywhere between 12-19 per cent in the advertising pie.

“The history of radio is important here. Private FM evolved in the West in 20s and remained the only live platform for audiences till the 60s when TV came out. In India, the evolutionary curve for radio was different with TV and internet emerging before the medium. As of now, we can’t do as much as other platforms, but the acceptance is happening fast and we see a large amount of at home listeners,” Dhanda elaborated.

It has also tried to create a high engagement product with its modest digital presence combined with events adding to an on-ground connect.

He pursued, “Evolvement on radio is a continuous process at the social and entertainment level making a change in the society. It effects people positively in many ways and provides so much more than just entertainment.”

But with barriers in the form of government regulations in sports and news, high license fees and innovation; breaking away from these clutches seems to be a daunting task for the medium. Even with the FM phase III policy being delayed and being skewed against the betterment of radio broadcasters, many players feel that radio has the power to break free and make its mark soon.

“If being given a level playing field by the government of India, radio will leave the other media far behind.  The government eventually will have no choice but to free this wonderful medium of its clutches as it is in the government’s interest to allow this low cost, nation serving medium to flourish,” Hukmani expressed.

Presently regulations surrounding news are acting as a deterrent in radio’s growth and to project radio to the next level, news and sports will be a major contributing factor.

“No medium can project news like radio and I am sure there will be a time when people will turn to radio for news and information on sports. Consumers are now looking at varied products and radio will create a special space for itself soon,” Dhanda opined.

On the other hand, Hukmani stated that reconsiderations in the FM phase III policy need to be immediate looked into in order to help radio break from its barriers holding its growth back.

“First the broadcasters need to unite and only push for reforms that are common to the industry and leave out contentious issues. We need to immediately sign GOPA and get in 26 per cent FDI, news and networking, and then allow phase III to happen. The government needs to ensure base price and auction methodology take into account depressed economic conditions,” he stated.