MUMBAI: Red FM is poised to launch the first of its new stations, acquired under the phase III licenses in Mumbai next Monday under a tentatively new brand name ‘Red-tro’.
The new station, sources tell us, will be a ‘retro music’ station, making it the third ‘retro’ station to play in Mumbai. Big FM has been ‘retro’ for a while now, and the newly launched Radio Nasha, that plays on frequency 91.9, also plays Hindi film music from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. It is still not clear how Red-tro will carve another niche for itself in the ‘retro’ space in the city.
Mumbai will be Red FM’s first launch this year. Digital Radio Broadcasting, the Red FM parent, acquired six frequencies in the first batch under Phase-III of FM radio in the country last year. Among the other cities that Red FM will launch in the first round of phase III launches are Srinagar and Jodhpur.
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The station, sources say, will have a quiet launch on 22 June 2016. The marketing and promotions blitz will happen later, after gauging listeners’ response.
Interestingly, the new launches in Mumbai seem to be sparking off a tussle for talent already. It is learnt that RJ Saurabh from Radio Mirchi, RJ Palak from Radio City, RJ Sudarshan from Radio City and RJ Pritam from Red FM. Among these, Pritam is an erstwhile Red FM jockey, who had quit the station and is believed to be joining back on board Red-tro. So, far four out of five RJs have been finalised for the station.
The Red FM network however seems to have singled out only Mumbai for its ‘retro’ station. Its other upcoming stations in other cities are likely to be vanilla stations, except for the one in Chennai which could be an English radio station. Red FM Mumbai currently airs on frequency 93.5.
Red FM CEO Nisha Narayanan remained unavilable for comment.
