MUMBAI: Revenue generation is a major challenge for FM operators in smaller cities like Shillong. Red FM which is a dominant player in the picturesque north eastern city-town has an audience that consumes its entertainment primarily of local music (10 percent), English/ Western music (70 percent) and Bollywood songs (20 percent) along with news and updates. However, with a population of only around 143,007 (2011 census) it does not present a very promising market for major brands or corporates.

“Revenue generation is the main challenge in running a commercial FM station in a market like Shillong where the corporate world is yet to be strong. We constantly have to come up with innovative and creative ideas to pitch to the client and hope that they will buy it,” says Red FM Shillong programming head Andreas War.

Though attracting and retaining advertisers or sponsors are difficult, stations like Red FM manage it through innovations and local networking skills. So far, Red FM has managed not only to stay afloat but see-off competition in the last five years.

“Revenue is again something I’m not allowed to discuss but  I can say that it is not easy in small towns like Shillong. However, we manage to pull our weight. As far as brands are concerned we have had tie ups with a lot of different companies that are there in the state for their campaigns and we do earn some revenue from it,” points out Lee.

To attract audience and sponsors (who follow them) what Red FM does is to mix its content which has predominantly Western music, local content long with a healthy dose of Bollywood music.

“I can say we are 95 percent entertainment and 5 percent news. Our primary age group is between 16-35 years old as this is an active age group. We have not segregated the population as such. However we try to keep our programming local with say a 20 percent of the mainland flavour (Bollywood).”

Shillong’s radio audience can also be broadly divided into two segments on the basis of their listening habits and socio-demography. One group is the passive listeners who listen to the radio but do not take part in its activities. This group mainly comprises of families who usually listen to radio in their cars.

The active listeners who participate in the programming content are the retail sector- people who have shops etc.

“Overall FM stations have had a significant  role in the society as they address local issues on a daily basis as in the case of Red FM.

Also Red FM gives instant updates such as traffic updates, score updates of local football games,” says War.

Though far from the ‘maddening crowd,’ executives at Red FM Shillong are attuned to winds of change that are expected.

“With FM Phase III, we foresee more cutthroat competition especially in the metros. However it will be a big boost for smaller towns. People will start realizing the benefit of radio and a proper radio culture can then take shape.”