Chennai listeners can demand their own play list on Radio One

The radio channel will only play the songs requested by the listeners. The 100 per cent request station will play Tamil music.

After changing the content mix for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata stations, Radio One 94.3 FM has now changed the format of programming for the fourth metro, Chennai. Recently, Radio One announced that the Mumbai and Delhi stations would be dedicated to international music, while last month, the channel announced that the Kolkata station will play only retro music.

The station claims that it has conducted a research, which established that most listeners in Chennai were exposed to very little music on FM radio as the talk content was huge and irrelevant. Anil Machado, national programming head, Radio One, says, "The listeners in Chennai are alert about the kind of music they hear. They have all the related knowledge and hence are selective about it."

The channel will dedicate 80 per cent of air time to music, while the remaining 20 per cent will involve interactions with the listeners. On an average, with this pattern, six to seven requests can be played in an hour.

Earlier, the channel had a five hour slot in the afternoon (12 noon-5 pm) dedicated to requests. Now, the Breakfast Show and the Driving Show will also entertain requests from the listeners.

Machado adds, "We have revamped the format to allow requests all day long, coupled with spoken content which is friendly and tailor-made for an educated audience. Once again, this step aims to bring in clear format radio in place of hazy generic radio."

In an official communiqué, Vineet Singh Hukmani, managing director, Radio One, says, "The Chennai market is unique in that the average listener and advertisers are so knowledgeable about the Tamil music around them. This makes them very proud listeners. Already local and national advertisers have been hugely involved with the change and are able to see their brands in this 'co-created' environment."

For the record, there are eight players in the radio broadcast market of Chennai.