MUMBAI: FM radio operators in the north east are lobbying hard to get their voice heard - one of TRAI's recommendations last year on third phase of private FM radio broadcasting in 2008 was the relaxation of fee structure for North-East and Jammu and Kashmir.

The players, particularly in the north east, are now hoping for approval of the proposal by new Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni.

TRAI had recommended that the rate of annual fee be reduced to 50 per cent of what is being charged from all the existing permission holders in other areas, for private FM radio broadcasters in North east and Jammu and Kashmir region for an initial period of three years. Apart from this region specific recommendation, it was also proposed that the minimum annual fee for a district be calculated based on five per cent of reserve OTEF (One Time Entry Fee) across India.

Says Association of Radio Operators of India (AROI) president and Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit, This proposal has been part of the original recommendations where we believe that certain markets are difficult markets to operate in and will not be in a position to generate high revenues. At the same time, it is important from a community and social perspective to have FM stations there, thus we are asking for special license fee sanctions....

Agrees Radio Misty CEO Nishant Mittal, who operates stations in Siliguri and Gangtok, This exemption will be beneficial to radio stations in North East regions as we face a lot of problems because of our demography  Due to the hilly terrain, the coverage area is very limited and as this region is sparsely populated, the listenership is limited. Although the advertising in this region is increasing gradually, the return on investment is limited so, dispensation of annual fee would be a breather....

Radio stations in the North East have to pay an annual fee of around Rs one million and have to bear an additional cost of Rs 3,00,000 annually towards tower maintenance. This cost is multiplied according to the number of radio stations owned by the operators.

According to Radio High managing director Milon Chakrabarty, It would be difficult for radio stations in these regions to survive if the present annual fee structure is continued. The annual fee amounts to about 60 per cent of our revenues and the government has to intervene in this matter to make the business profitable. If the annual fees aren't reduced, there would be only five to six national players in the market and the smaller ones will be washed away....

While Big FM operates a station in Srinagar, most other private players are concentrated in the north east, with state broadcaster All India Radio providing stiff competition. Revenues are just picking up in the region, but have been hit by the economic slowdown.

Mittal affirms that radio stations in these areas feel revenue crunch as retail markets have not yet developed as compared to big cities.

While the retail market in this region was expected to expand, it hasn't kept up with expectations. Chakravarthy says, Many licenses have been issued to radio stations in this region and the size of retail hasn't increased accordingly. Many frequencies in this region caused diversion of profits among the players and the revenue share received by each station has reduced....

The radio stations in North East region includes Chinar Circuits's Nine FM in Gangtok and Siliguri, four frequencies by Positive Radio- Ohlala in Agartala, Guwahati, Itanagar, Shillong, Radio GUpshup in Assam, SFM frequencies in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Shillong, Gangtok and few frequencies by My FM and Big FM.

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has sought recommendations of Trai in terms of Section 11(1)(a) of TRAI Act, 1997 on the modifications to be incorporated in the policy guidelines for FM Radio Broadcasting Phase-III.