MUMBAI: Radio Choklate 104 FM, the radio initiative of Odiya daily â€?Sambad’ from Eastern Media Ltd group targets attaining breakeven in a year. With two frequencies in Orissa- Bhubhaneshwar and Rourkela, Radio Choklate is the first commercial FM venture in Orrisa.
Having launched in May 2007, Radio Choklate is self sufficient without reliance on its parent company. Talking about the plans, Radio Choklate director Monica Nayyar Patnaik says, Being the first FM radio station in the region, Radio Choklate has managed to garner revenues and can now sustain itself by paying music royalty, broadcasting fee and other expenses….
The group is also stepping up its music production wing to reduce the expense towards music royalty. States Patnaik, Our music wing, Eastern Media Entertainment works in the areas of programming, production for radio shows and music production. We are targeting producing 500-600 songs a year where we would have a database of our own copyrighted songs…. The music arm produces regional oriya non-film music which is in demand in the area, she says.
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As the copyright of the music lies with us, we can also license it to other radio stations opening up fresh revenue avenues. Our current on-air content includes 60 per cent of regional music and 40 per cent of Bollywood. Major chunk of our revenues goes towards music royalty so music production is a way to economize….
Political advertising provided a major boost to the radio station. Says Patnaik, Many slots on our station were bought by political parties for their propaganda. Political advertising almost doubled our revenues during the elections and it might add about five to six per cent to our annual income….
Radio Choklate boasts of broadcasting live for 24 hours with RJ slots allotted even during the wee hours. Referring to the advertising in the area, Patnaik says, Our advertising pie constitutes of 40 per cent national and 60 per cent regional retailers. There has been upswing as many have realised the potential of radio in the local markets. But radio is still in the nascent stage and other mediums- print and electronic still dominate the advertising. But awareness about radio advertising has been created and there lot of advertisers coming for repeat ads every months which explains success of the medium….
In phase 3, Radio Choklate would be concentrating on acquiring more licenses in Orissa and then venturing outside the state.
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