Hello FM is now Radio Hello FM

Keeping an eye on the phase III FM rollout, Hello (106.4) FM, owned by Malar Publications Group, has changed its name to Radio Hello (106.4) FM. The Tamil Nadu-based radio venture, which till now was more inclined towards the Tamil language, has decided to focus on colloquial language.

Rajeev Nambiar, chief executive officer and president, Radio Hello FM, explains to us that the radio station was better known by its frequency rather than the brand name. However, as the brand equity is built now, it was the right decision to focus on brand name rather than frequency.

Nambiar says, “We decided to reduce the usage of regional language, when and where it is not required. While we still continue to be a Tamil-centric station, we are dropping heavy Tamil words and will now use many of the English phrases.”

Nambiar adds that the radio station will now focus on metro Tamil audience rather than the rural Tamil segment. The rebranding effort started since the end of July across all the stations of the group in cities such as Chennai, Kovai, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Nellai, Tuticorin and Puducherry.

The FM station has renamed its breakfast show as Hello Cafe. For the 11 pm-12 am slot, it has launched a new show, called Hello Gramophone, which is about nostalgic retro numbers.

For the programming on the station, the channel has also tied up with BBC Radio, whereby the latter will provide 90 second capsules throughout the day on Bollywood, sports, lifestyle and other topics. The show is called Hello Nimisham BBC Vishayam, and will go on air from August 17.

Recently, the station has also started a radio contact activity, called Aircel College Semastar, wherein the radio jockeys (RJs) of all the stations of Radio Hello will go to 91 colleges across Tamil Nadu and identify about 5,000 people, who could probably make their mark in the field of radio.

SFM rebranded as Red FM

In what is being pegged as one of the biggest rebranding exercises across private radio stations, SFM has been rebranded as Red FM. All the 38 stations of SFM – which comprise 23 stations of South Asia FM (SAFL), 14 stations of Kal Radio and one station of Udaya FM – will undergo a change in identity.

With this, the rebranded Red FM will have a total of 41 stations in its kitty, including Red FM’s existing stations in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. The new brand identity of the radio venture will be unveiled on August 14 in the North, East and West regions; and in the South, the new brand will go on-air on August 17.

K Shanmugam, chief executive officer of the unified Red FM, says, “Consolidating our radio FM business under the Red FM brand was a strategic move by us to offer pan-India audience a single, strong brand representation. This will help us unify our programming across key cities and help garner a larger share of ears.”

“Advertisers can now reach out to a wider listener base and can capitalise on the unique Red FM programme format. Launching the brand nationally fulfills our vision of creating the single largest FM radio station network across the country.” Shanmugam says.

The exercise will result in a shift in the programming style, content, format and presentation of the stations. All the rebranded stations will incorporate Red FM’s theme and the tagline of ‘Red FM, Bajate raho’.

According to the company, which has a footprint in 16 states, the network reaches more than 20 million listeners. To communicate the change in identity, the rebranded station has lined up a series of marketing activities, including ATL, BTL and OOH initiatives, in all the cities where the new Red FM has its presence.

The stations which will come under the rebranding exercise are: Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Gulbargha, Kochi, Trivandrum, Trissur, Kannur, Kozhikode, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Vizag, Warangal, Rajmundry, Tirupathi, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Bhuvaneshwar, Asansol, Siliguri, Kolkata, Gangtok, Guwahati, Jamshedpur, Shillong, Aizawl and New Delhi.

Sunny Deol slaps legal notice on Big FM

Actor Sunny Deol has sent a legal notice to Mumbai radio station Big FM for allegedly making a mockery of him in ‘Son Sunny’, a popular filler on the radio station which is a spoof on Sunny Deol and his father Dharmendra.

The actor has claimed damages of Rs two billion on the station. The show has an artiste who mimics Sunny and Dharmendra, having an imagined conversation and thus entertaining the listeners. It has been on air for over six months now and Sunny has decided to sue the station for the humour capsule which according to him is in ‘bad taste’ and ‘below the belt’. The actor has sent a legal notice to the station on 1 August 2009 asking it to pull the capsule off air.

If adequate steps will not be taken by the station within a week, the actor will file a lawsuit against the station, he said in a media conference held in Mumbai on Tuesday. “The station should not have undertaken such cheap comedy. The show is on air for quite sometime. But since it didn’t go off air I had to take the legal course to put an end to something that insulted me and my family,” said Sunny. “I was busy myself and also I thought it would be pulled off on its own after sometime but since that did not happen for a long time teaching them a lesson became important,” he further added.

The actor’s lawyer Ashok Sarogi said, “We have sent a notice as a preventive action to the station for the cheap publicity that they have resorted to. The notice puts forth liquated damages of Rs two billion.” Big FM officials have declined to comment on the issue.

Gyan Vani to add 11 more FM radio stations soon

The number of Gyan Vani FM Radio channels set up by the Human Resources Development Ministry and the Indira Gandhi National Open University with the help of Prasar Bharati will go up to 37 shortly, with 11 more channels coming up in Phase-1.

These 37 stations, with a radius of 60 to 70 km, are dedicated FM stations for education and broadcast programmes of interest to students. Some of these are located in places such as Jabalpur, Raipur, Guwahati, Shillong, etc. which have significant remote areas with tribal population in their reach.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan told Parliament on Tuesday that as the broadcasts usually reach the villages and areas surrounding the main town in which they are located, they are tailored to cater to the needs of this population in the remote areas.

All India Radio sources said the channels have been established by Prasar Bharati as turnkey solutions to IGNOU. Infrastructure like land, building and tower has also been leased out to Gyan Vani stations.

According to IGNOU Vice-Chancellor V N Rajasekharan Pillai, two channels of IGNOU’s Gyan Darshan – GD 1 and GD 2 – have been put on the Direct To Home (DTH) platform of Doordarshan Direct Plus to ensure greater reach of these educational channels all over the country.

He said this was aimed at reducing the cost on downloading equipment. While the cost of the system on DTH comes to around Rs 2,500 to Rs 3000, the present cost of C-band receive system is about Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. The maintenance cost will also come down.

“Students can have ‘receive facility’ at home to participate in the live teleconferencing,” he added.

Star Plus gets Farah Khan to host weekend chat show

Star Plus is surely betting big on large-format reality shows to captivate existing and newer audiences.

After firming up its weekday lineup with Sach Ka Saamna and now Aap Ki Kachehri – Kiran Ke Saath, the channel is now gearing up to strengthen its weekend primetime with a new celebrity-driven chat show, come August.

Titled Tere Mere Beach Mein, the show will be hosted by Bollywood director Farah Khan.

As per the format, the show will discuss various issues on fears, emotions, relations, happiness and everything a star shares with the common man.

Says a Star Plus spokesperson, “The time slot is yet to be decided but it is a weekend primetime show.”

First on TvToday >> S FM gana be Red Fm

There have been strong speculations about SFM set to be rebranded as Red FM. We has not received any official confirmation in this regard from either Red FM or SFM despite repeated attempts.

SFM, a part of Sun TV’s subsidiary, South Asia FM, has around 45 FM stations across the country with a very strong presence in South India. Red FM, on the other hand, is present in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

It may be recalled that Sun TV Network had taken a 48.9 per cent stake in Red FM way back in 2007, which is said to have provided a common advertising sales platform for the two FM players. ValueLabs, a Hyderabad-based IT company, NDTV and Astro Group hold minority stakes in Red FM. The strategic alliance with Red FM was also aimed to further its FM radio business.

Since SFM is seen as a stronger brand in the South, will rebranding to Red FM make sense from the Southern viewpoint? exchange4media.com spoke to a few media planners to find out more.

According to Sandeep Lakhina, COO (South Asia), Starcom Worldwide, “Since SFM is a very strong brand in the South, so definitely a rebranding to Red FM will have a positive impact and add value to the synergy. While radio is usually a local medium for clients, however, having a national reach particularly where it has a strong presence certainly helps, therefore, unifying of the brands may have an adverse effect.”

Sanjay Sharma, Director, Synergy, observed, “Red FM is known in the metros – Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata – and having an extra 45 stations reach, especially in SFM strongholds mainly in the South, makes absolute sense for rebranding to Red FM.”

Kunal Jamuar, GM, Madison Media, noted, “I don’t see rebranding to Red FM making a huge impact as there is no station loyalty, but song loyalty, among the listeners. However, if there is a change in the content, then we can expect a strong possibility, especially in terms of attracting new listeners, but even from advertising point of view, I don’t see much of an impact, since the two have been in partnership for a long time now.”

If true, then possibly it would be a first-of-its-kind, wherein an FM station has a complete transition into another brand name. This could well become one of the biggest consolidations in the FM space so far, and that too before the Phase III rollout. Media planners have already given the thumbs up to the rebranding as they see it having a positive impact, particularly from the client’s perspective, keeping in mind the wider reach the FM station will now possess.

Big 92.7 FM Hyderabad to campaign for Deccan Chargers

For the second time in succession, Big 92.7 FM Hyderabad has inked a deal with Deccan Chronicle’s IPL franchise Deccan Chargers to be their official radio partner. Under the terms of the agreement, all Big 92.7 FM stations in Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad, Vizag and Tirupati) will be extending their support to Deccan Chargers.

Says Big 92.7 FM Hyderabad station head Ramesh Bhaskar, “The radio station had big plans if the matches were held in India. We were planning to entertain the in-stadia crowd through lots of contests around Deccan Chargers. We were planning to have live booths in stadiums but unfortunately those plans went awry. But what we continue to do is to explore all options to charge the team from back home.”

As part of the new plan, the radio station has started airing promos supporting Deccan Chargers titled Deccan Chargers Dhumle Pandi. The radio station will air exclusive interviews of the players of Deccan Chargers.

“We will host ‘Radio Cricket’ a contest around Deccan Chargers which will be aired on days of the home matches. Also, we plan to give away exclusive Deccan Charges merchandises to our contest winners. Additionally, our OB vans branded with Deccan Chargers will roam around the state taking messages from listeners which will be later aired as part of celebrating Deccan Chargers”, adds Bhaskar.

The radio station is not sending its listeners to watch Deccan Chargers match live in South Africa. “Sending listeners to South Africa to watch the matches involving Deccan Chargers is not part of the deal. We have tied up with hotels in Hyderabad for example, ‘Platinum’ where listeners will get a chance to see the match on the big screen,” explains Bhaskar.

Big 92.7 FM is in advanced talks with other IPL franchises and is looking at closing deals with them shortly.

The radio station has not signed up with any other radio station in South Africa for the IPL updates. “We have not yet thought about partnering with any external media for updates on IPL either. The Deccan Chronicle team, which is in South Africa, will be giving us all the updates on the IPL matches,” adds Bhaskar.

Big FM, Chennai introduces four humour characters

Big FM, Chennai will raise a few laughs from its listeners in Chennai as it has introduced four comic characters to rule the airwaves in Tamil Nadu.

The on-air interstitial’s, titled Dammara Seidigal, Big Lollu, Situation Chinnaraasu and Major Manikkam, have been introduced to boost the music being played on the radio station.

Starting with the breakfast show till the evening show, these interstitial’s are part and parcel of the daily programmes. The interstitial’s are short of 30-45 seconds each.

PB Ramaswamy, cluster head, Big FM – Tamil Nadu, says, “What makes our station going is the fact that it is local and hugely interactive. We have integrated humour as part of the station’s programming mix for that immediate kick and refreshment. Our new tailor-made properties will provide wholesome entertainment to the listeners.”

The first interstitial to be introduced on-air will be Chinnaraasu, where the funny character will be presented with a humorous situation and he will come up with a song to match the situation. Big Lollu, the second character, will dole out helpful trivia and information on varied subjects.

The third character, Dammara Seidigal, will keep the listeners abreast of the latest happenings in and around their city. The fourth entertainer is Major Manikkam, who having served in the army, takes great pride in delivering witty dialogues, and will ask the listeners to come up with equally rib-tickling responses.

Big FM Bangalore launches ‘Bitti Harusha Idi Varusha’

Big FM Bangalore has embarked on an initiative to ease the financial burden through a contest christened as ‘Bitti Harusha Idi Varusha’. The contest, which commenced on January 8 and will continue till January 14, is aimed at giving listeners the opportunity to win something for free for an entire year this Sankranti.

A combination of on and off-air events, the campaign is essentially a simple fun quiz, aimed at testing the knowledge of Big FM listeners around recession and jobs. The Big Ticket shall entitle winners to an annual free supply of groceries, gym memberships, gold jewellery, apparels and sarees, fitness and beauty vouchers, and much more.

While six winners will be declared each day, the grand finale is something to be looked forward to, which is scheduled to be held on January 13, 2009 at a popular mall, where 10 shortlisted listeners would be quizzed and fight for big prizes to last them an entire year.

Sunil Kumaran, head, Big FM – Karnataka & Kerala, said, “We are committed to creating superlative content and entertaining our listeners by providing them wholesome entertainment while addressing their need requirements.”

“‘Bitti Harusha Idi Varusha’ has been conceptualised keeping in mind the prevailing mood of the listeners, and we are confident of receiving packed participation from our listeners, who have made us the No. 1 station in the city.” Sunil adds.

South Asia FM to host Kalaa Awards 2009 on January 24

 

KAL Radio Ltd’s South Asia FM Karnataka will host the Kalaa Awards 2009 to felicitate the best in the Kannada film music industry on January 24, 2009 in Bangalore. KAL Radio Ltd is promoted by the Sun TV Network.

Sathish Chandra, programming director, SFM Karnataka, says, “Radio stations depend mainly on the film music industry, nothing has been done in the past to acknowledge its contribution. The Kalaa Awards are our way of giving back to the industry for its contribution to our success over the two years of our existence.”

There are no nominations for the awards. Listeners from Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore and Gulbarga were requested to vote through SMS for the various categories, which include Best Music Composer, Best Lyricist, Best Female Singer, Best Male Singer and Best Song of 2008.

A Special Award and a Music Icon of the Year 2008 Award will be given to the most famous names in the Kannada film industry for significant contributions. The listeners who send in the maximum SMS’s will get an opportunity to present the Kalaa Award – Best Singer (Male and Female) to the recipients on January 24. They will also get gold coins and customised Kalaa Awards goody bags.

On the awards night, the station will host an hour-long special programme interspersed with messages from the winners and their songs across all four stations in Karnataka. 

“Our station will be changing the flow of the programmes for the day.We will play the tracks selected by the listeners and try to be on air from the venue. There will be feeds from the winners interacting with the radio jockeys on air,” says Chandra.