NEWS

MUMBAI: The first set of Radio Audience Measurement (Ram) data put out by Tam Media Research has been released for the cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

The major FM stations have mostly welcomed it with the sole exception of the Times Group's Radio Mirchi, which has dismissed the Ram findings as flawed.

The key findings of Ram indicate that Red FM is the market leader in Mumbai, Radio Mirchi in Delhi, while the numero uno position in Bangalore is held by Big FM followed closely by Radio Mirchi at number two.

The listenership data takes into account the age group above 12 years. The field work was conducted for week 38 to 42 (from 16 September to 20 October, 2007). The time period is through the seven days from Sunday to Saturaday, 12 am to 12 am. The research uses the daily diary method.

Analyses of Red FM states that it is the clear number one in Mumbai in terms of market share on a week-on-week basis. Red FM market share fluctuates from a low of 18.1 per cent in week 38 to a high of 20.8 per cent in week 42.

If reach is taken as the reference parameter, it is Big FM that leads the listenership pack in Mumbai and Bangalore with a reach of 4,982,000 and 2,561,000 respectively on a week-on week basis. Big FM however is in the second spot in Delhi. In Mumbai Red FM stands second, while in Bangalore Radio Mirchi follows Big FM.

Big FM COO Tarun Katial says, "We are very excited with the numbers especially given that our network is just about a year old. It reaffirms our positioning and content strategy which was helped us stand out in the cluttered environment. Radio listenership measurement is a critical aspect to the industry, the emphasis being on 'timely' measurement and not just dated results that come in over three to six months. The radio category needs to grow to where it deserves and this is a move in the right direction."

On the other hand, Radio City stands at the top position in Mumbai, on the basis of Tarp considering the TG 25-44 years in all SECs. Radio City has registered a Tarp of 1.5 per cent followed by Radio Mirchi with 1.3 per cent. This carries a bit of good news as the SEC AB 25-44 years is the core TG for Radio City

Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit says, "Radio City has always been catering to the needs of its TG which is rightly indicated by the findings of the Ram data. Now with the robust measurement system which the radio industry was in a great need of, media planners will be better of."

Striking a clearly discordant note however, is Radio Mirchi CEO Prashant Panday who says, "The data will create nothing but confusion in the radio industry. It cannot be used effectively by media planners and advertisers. Radio listenership does not change very often unlike TV audience."

He further asserts, "With 83 per cent of inaccurate data, Ram is the biggest joke on the media."

He supports his argument by citing the findings of research done by MRUC (Media Research Users' council) which indicated that 17 per cent of the daily diary method is inaccurate. Finding fault with the method, Radio Mirchi has not subscribed the Tam data and supports the day-after-recall method used by MRUC.

Panday questions, "Is it possible that 85 per cent of Delhi's population listen to FM radio, which means almost everybody listens to FM radio every day?"

The parameters included in Ram are Reach and Cumulative reach, Time Spent Listening (TSL), Average Audience and Target Audience Rating Point (Tarp).

Radio Mirchi's opposition notwithstanding, what the first set of Ram data shows clearly is that the Indian FM sector is in a state of flux within the three key markets and leadership positions constantly changing hands.