Radio One to go international in Delhi and Mumbai

Through content and programming overhaul, the radio station plans to reach out to English-speaking audiences in the two cities.

In a bid to reach out to the English-speaking audience, Radio One will go international in Delhi and Mumbai from February. With this change, it plans to address a two-fold issue of all stations sounding the same, and the radio's inability to offer a profiled audience to a brand as it reaches all demographic segments.

Elaborating on the reason for this strategic change, Vineet Singh Hukmani, managing director, Radio One, says, "Our research showed that radio reaches all, but does not engage a certain profile of audience. It is therefore impossible to target and engage a SEC AB in the age group of 25-40 years on radio without a huge spill over into irrelevant audiences. People who prefer their infotainment in English have lapsed or are lapsing fast from radio. Radio today tries to reach SEC A B C D and E (all 12+ years) and aims for the lowest common denominator. It therefore automatically cannot engage an educated audience."

As part of the change, the RJs (radio jockeys) will not be called so henceforth. Hukmani says, "Our new hosts will reflect our values -- different, intelligent, international, and involving. They will bring a maturity to the dialogue with a listener who has a global outlook."

The station will also introduce three prime shows in a day. The shows are well-segmented and offer a very strong 'engagement product' to the advertiser. Radio One has also made considerable investments in talent and programming on weekends to ensure that the slots are not treated as secondary, and listeners are engaged throughout the week.

The radio station has also seeded new revenue streams in the live concert space and in applications for premium devices, which will dovetail the international radio product to cater to the same 'well-profiled' audience. Radio One will target more metros that have a sizeable population with a global outlook, in line with its aim to reach a total of 10 cities from the current seven.