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International meet optimistic about FM radio in India

The first international meet on FM radio to be held in India has concluded with a call to the government for streamlining broadcast policies if various media are to grow and contribute to national development.

A unanimous resolution at the FM Radio 2000 that radio will manage to attract advertising and revenue despite the challenge posed by television belied the pessimism with which the meet had commenced earlier when most of the 27 successful would-be broadcasters were wondering if they had taken the right decision.

The general view was that FM broadcasting will open new opportunities for revenue generation. "The advertisers and media planners go by the currency and numbers. Gone are the days when TV and radio attracted advertising revenue just by perception. Now is the time when clients want total value for money," media analysts said.

The three-day exhibition-cum-conference on FM radio organised by Exhibitions India and the Radio Group from June 12 to 14 had attracted about a hundred participants from all over the world in addition to a large number of Indian and foreign exhibitors.

Licensees who spoke regretted that progress on setting up the channels was proceeding at a snail’s pace and even the letters of intent had not been issued yet. Most of them also felt that the amounts paid by them -- totalling Rs. 422.68 crore -- had been too high and they may not be able to break even in a reasonable period. It was also felt that the spending on advertisements had gone up in television by 21 per cent during the last year, but come down by 16 per cent in the case of radio. The various problems listed by him were in the fields of license fee, infrastructure, copyright, marketing, regulatory mechanisms and manpower.

Speakers at the inaugural were Bennett and Coleman executive director Arun Arora, the Radio Group president Tariq Ansari, Prasar Bharati deputy director general M.C. Gaekwad, former AIR director general Shashi Kant Kapoor, Broadcasting Engineering Consultants chairman-cum-managing director P.S. Sundaram, marketing wizard Shunu Sen, and Charles Kelly of Broadcast Electronics of the United States.

The discussions were divided into various sections like "Let’s Get Technical", "If Cash Is King, Where Is Your Business Going?", "Lend Me Your Ears", and "Heave Ho Radio Is Here To Stay". The sessions featured almost 30 speakers from India and abroad, including professor S. Raghavchari of the Indian Institute of Mass Communications, Sunit Tandon, BBC World Service managing director (South Asia) Sam Miller, and A. P. Chaudhri who is joint wireless advisor in the communications ministry.

FM broadcasting at present covers only 17 per cent of the area and 21 per cent of the population of the country through 104 transmitters, and the auctions will more than double the FM network existing at present. Only companies with 100 per cent Indian equity are allowed to enter FM broadcasting. An applicant can get only one license per centre. All broadcasters will have to follow the programme and advertising code applicable to air. Under the policy, private operators have to set up their own studios and transmitters and they would be given additional frequencies. FM broadcasting is not permitted in the field of news and current affairs, and the channels will be free-to-air.