Radio in the Digital Age
The radio industry is a very small part of the broadcasting universe. At 2300 odd crores of rupees, we comprise of about 5% of the broadcasting sector in India.
Although the reach and impact of radio in India includes the public service broadcaster and community radio when I say ‘radio’; it is considerably greater than its rupee value. Its modest market share is probably the reason why the path to digitization of radio is so poorly defined. Radio should be as much a part of our master plan for the ‘Digital India Vision 2020’.
It talks about digital infrastructure as a must-have utility for every citizen. If we go by available research data on media habits it is alarming to note that the consumption habits of audiences are changing almost every quarter. Once Digital India is implemented, there is no doubt that media consumption patterns in the country will go through a huge, dramatic change.
Our current situation
As a media market, we have the best of both worlds: multiplicity of genres as well as diversity of languages. Radio is a powerful medium that gains from these advantages. It is not only interactive, but is also very local in nature and is free of costs, unlike C&S television. There are many technologies we need to experiment with to realize the vision of Digital Radio in India, while remaining true to radio’s fundamental character as an interactive, free-of-cost, local medium.
All said and done, radio is growing at steady speed. Today it is the second fastest growing sector after internet in India. While Digital is growing exponentially, private FM radio in India is growing at a formidable 14.5%, and that is primarily because of FM expansion in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, although the ad-pie continues to be only 4%. This is not very encouraging as internationally, in countries like US, the radio ad pie is about 14 %. However, we hope to see it grow to 7% in India by 2020.
Barriers faced by the radio industry
The unfortunate thing is that the world has gone digital while we are still talking analogue FM technology with a horizon spanning over 15 years. What I mean is, in this digital age, one of the biggest drivers for broadcast media is technological advancement, which could drive both content and revenue.
For instance, the public service broadcaster, All India Radio, has introduced Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) transmitters. These are now capable of transmitting signals in analogue, digital or even simulcast mode (that is, a mix of both analogue & digital). This progressive technology has replaced 37 obsolete Medium Wave and Short Wave transmitters of AIR. However, private FM broadcasters are still operating on analogue FM technology and paying a huge license fee for it.
Though the trend of AIR shifting to DRM is encouraging, the challenges faced by terrestrial radio from streaming platforms (web and mobile) cannot be ignored. The digital audio entertainment sector is fast changing. The likes of Saavn and Gaana are establishing themselves and have become a major competitor to the radio industry today. While they are seamlessly interactive, they also offer on demand services etc. They are luring audiences away from broadcast radio, just as Netflix and its competitors are taking away mass audiences from television and cinema.
In a nutshell, listeners want to take control of their music, and thus the penetration of broadband internet makes it easier for them. Consumers have become platform agnostic; content is king and customer convenience is paramount.
So, the challenge is not one Private FM player competing with another player; the challenge is the battle of FM players against the ever-changing technology around it. The listeners here have far more options to listen to their kind of music rather than FM radio – there are web radio, podcasts, audio-on-demand etc.
iHeartRadio is another such global example that provides an all-in-one listening experience, bringing a variety of content to the listener, be it music, news, talk radio, sports or comedy. Along with aggregating most US radio stations, iHeartRadio thendistributes this content over the internet through web or mobile, whichever medium is desired by the digitized listener. Now this is something we need to experiment with in India, and adapt to our conditions.
In India, another challenge is that high end smart phones have done away with FM tuners altogether. Decision makers in the mobile industry view internet radio as the way forward. Their logic is simple: data brings in money while FM radio is free. This is an area of concern. The importance of terrestrial radio has to be properly understood beyond its rupee value.
Besides regular programming and the entertainment that it provides, it has always played the age-old role in disaster management. When the telephone system is down and neither the television nor the internet works, FM radio is usually the only medium of communication available during emergencies, broadcasting useful news and information. We have seen this during the Chennai floods; during cyclones in Orissa; the Mumbai floods of 2005: all occasions when FM radio proved its worth time and again.