Nivedita Mookerji

Mumbai: Radio on the internet or online radio is at last set to click right in the country with industry experts working out a viable revenue model.

Currently there is no FM radio company offering online services in the country. This is in sharp contrast with the trends in the West where online radio stations are a rage.

Besides Radio Mirchi and Radio Broadcasting, Anil Ambani’s Big FM is also learnt to be keen on starting internet radio. The online radio stations may follow the American model of free content.

While most of it would be advertising-based, online listeners may have to pay a small subscription fee for some of the premium content, says Anil Srivatsa, COO of Radio Today Broadcasting.

“It would be like payment for on-demand television for any compelling content.”

Online radio may take off in a big way in India once broadband penetration in the country goes up. Currently, it is a little over 3 million.

Even as most of the FM radio players are readying for an online beginning, there are still some hurdles to be overcome.

Srivatsa, who was speaking on the sidelines of Ficci-FRAMES conclave in Mumbai, said FM radio players were not allowed to put the entire channel content online as per their contract with the music industry and that was a big hindrance.

Also, any additional royalty that FM players have to pay to the music industry for putting their content online would be an added burden on them. Prashant Pandey, CEO, Radio Mirchi, said, “We would like to launch internet radio as soon as possible, if the roadblocks are cleared.”

There are currently no regulatory hurdles in launching online radio, industry representatives said. In fact, there are no government guidelines yet in India on internet content.

Listenership trend of radio in India is about half and half for men and women, according to Pandey. He said home listenership was much higher at 80% compared to listenership while driving, which was at 20%. However, mobile radio listenership, which is on the rise, is hardly being tracked.

Sample size for tracking radio listenership is around 1,500 and it is tracked only in three cities - Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. But, the sample size is likely to increase soon with the tracking system moving from manual to electronic.

As for news on FM radio, the industry is waiting for a government policy allowing the same. Business news and sports would be the main attraction on radio, it is believed. Industry players are even gung-ho about the idea of acquiring sports rights for radio and also striking alliances with television broadcasters for the same.

Source : DNA