This is a presentation of radio report (Indian context) designed to summarise the reports of FICCI and EY, by Divya Divyanshu.

2. Indian radio segment saw an increase of 6.5% in 2017, an year marked by
policies like demonetisation and GST
Key drivers of growth
-large youth population
-increased quality and quantity of film music
-built-in FM receivers in most hand phones (76% of audience)
-increased time spent in transit
-strong local connect
-radio being free medium
Volume growth specially the increase of private radio stations in smaller
regions has surged the volume of inventory, leading to increased revenue
growth.
Increased inventory has also led to decrease in effective rates
Key advertising categories were real estate, FMCG, BFSI, auto, telecom, e-
commerce and media
2018

3. 60% of the radio segment’s revenues were generated by the top 10 cities, mostly
larger cities.
Local advertising rose due to small stations being a coft-effective medium
Travel entertainment as an independent vertical - Increased time spent in transit
pushed companies to partner with and target transit mediums like airports, railways
and metros for imcreased reach.
Ex: Radio city FM partnered with Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation
Lack of universally accepted surveys, data and measurement of listenership are
limiting the growth of the radio industry. Although, Indian Readership Survey
(IRS) launched in 2018 and the emerging bodies of industry’s own measurement
are meeting the demand.
Recent past saw an increase in consolidation.
Ex: Jagran Prakashan Ltd. Acquired Music Broadcast Ltd.
ZEE, subsidiary of Essel Group acquired Anil Ambani’s RBNL
Operationalization of second frequencies at it’s infancy stage becomes an
interesting addition to analyse after government of India allowed multiple
frequencies of a radio station in a city
2018

4. Digital platforms as an opportunity for radio – To connect with the youth
which heavily consumes subscription-based digital music content, platforms
like Wynk, Gaana and Saavan etc becomes a critical but effective option for
radio to launch talks, news and comedy etc.
RJs can build communities that can be monetized on social media driving daily
high engagement levels.
Second screen interactive services like play-along, polling, quizzes, karoke and
contest etc can be incorporated for high monetization. Ex: Radio One’s
Tambola.
Increase in technology will drive profit - Reduced requirement of labour and
high fixed costs will force weak and unprofitable players to exit the business.
Elements like Increased programmatic ad buying and others will further reduce
labour requirement.
Although Batch 2 of Phase III auctions of radio frequencies by the
Government of India received a tepid response, Cabinet has given the approval
for the e-auction of Batch 3 of private FM radio phase III, aiming to generate a
revenue of INR 11,000 million.
2018

5. Radio grew 7.5% in 2018 to reach INR 31.3 billion
It was driven by 3% volume growth
Non-FCT (free commercial time) revenue coming from digital, activation and
events, and newly operationalized Phase III stations resulted in rise in inventory,
again a major percentage of ad volumes came from the larger cities i.e top seven
cities
Top five categories advertising on radio were services, retail, food and beverage,
auto and BFSI
Like previous year, small stations relied on local advertising
Operationalisation of second frequencies aided to growth in ad volumes in larger
cities.
Importance of non-FCT (music streaming, concerts and digital communities etc)
revenues increased. Radio companies are providing more such solutions to
advertisers.
2019

6. Digital venture grows – Radio Umang, India’s first online radio station was launched
in February 2018. 94.3 Radio One India launched the first audio business channel
live stream at www.1cast.in
India reached 386 operational private FM stations.
Many popular new smartphones not having built-in FM receivers posed and will
pose an issue, given more than 76% of audience access radio through mobile phones
Universally accepted measurement of listenership still remains an issue to be solved
except the four metros with RAM availability
Private FM got approval to air news but only in the form or replays of news
broadcasts created by Prasar Bharti, without any modification.
2019

7. Industry would drive upto 20% of topline from non-FCT revenues by 2021
Radio and audio streaming will increase collaboration and further sell segmented
audience to advertisers. It will aim at building communities through RJs to
understand the audience, build loyalty and increase reach.
Increase in automation and programmatic advertising
For scaling, consolidation on rise among radio stations, generally the small
operations with limited budget.
Due to multiple audio offerings specially in automobiles, exclusivity becomes a
focus
2019

8. 2020
Radio segment revenues fell 7.5% in 2019, on the back of economic slowdown
fears
7-8% of radio segment revenues were non-FCT driven. Ad funded content
production, specially celebrity led short and snackable content videos were used
as marketing and seen in demand.
AdEX volumes fell 11% majorly due to fall in government spends
Highest volumes falls were recorded in government, auto and retail sectors
Five states generated 60% of total radio ad volumes, again Maharashtra and
Gujrat led the list
Local advertising share of ad volumes increased to reach 29% of total ad
volumes, an increase of 24% from the last year
Digital interactivity saw an increase with emergence of new models to bundle
inventory from digital platforms, providing 360-degree solutions to advertisers

9. 2020
Radio will skew towards SMEs and retail advertisers.
Local advertising will increase, fueling the small stations. National advertisers will
continue to use radio as a call-to-action medium, integrated with digital
Digital and radio combination will become more important
Community building through RJs, establishing loyalty and connection with youth
will continue, as will the selling of segmented audience to the advertisers
News and podcasts could also enable Direct-to-Consumers community building
Subscription models will emerge, focusing niche subscription to loyal consumer
base. Partnering will audio streaming platforms will continue.
PPL agreement will be again under re-negotiations in 2021 which will result in
reset of royalty amounts paid to the music labels by radio companies (presently
fixed at 2% of its revenues)

10. Media companies are looking to provide multiple services, such as music
streaming, online radio under one package, driving cross-industry convergence
Radio automation software gaining traction to reduce operating costs. It is a way to
keep a stations running 24/7 using scheduling software, which helps to focus more
on content creation that operational effectiveness.
2020

11. Radio segment revenues fell 54% in 2020 to INR 14.3 billion
Ad volumes fell 27% and skewed towards non-metros/ non-larger cities unlike
previous years, but Maharashtra and Gujrat still remained the states with highest
ad volumes. UP, MP and Rajasthan improved their volume rank significantly.
Indoore and Jaipur overtook all the large metros.
Rates fell over 37% on average
Pandemic drove the focus towards online content production
Radio generated 61% of its volume in the second half of 2020
Key advertising categories were services, banking, food. Due to lockdown, retail
sector’s rank fell due to reduced footfalls
Local advertiser’s share of ad volumes decreased
Recovery will be driven by resumption of travel, revival of retail footfalls and
growth in local services brands.
India had 1,097 operational radio stations, private FM broadcasters constituting
31 of them.
2021

12. Imagining the future radio companies-
Radio companies core strengths include a deep understanding of music, creation
of audio content which resonates with communities and building brands.
Technologies like AI and ML will be incorporated to determine playlists
Radio brands will differentiate itself through building out strong entertainment,
news and information-related products.
It will garner an estimated 60% of total revenues.
Creation of alternate media platforms –
*build audio and video content for digital, TV, podcasts etc.
*Enabling D2C through gamification of content (play-along, contests), thereby
generating audience data for brands.
*Online gaming
*Diverse utility content
2021

13. Provide media related services to brands
Radio can build communities for clients wishing for cost effective D2C
New audio experiences using technology such as AR, VR, audio gaming, live
audio collaboration, crowd-sourced compositions, tune generators, etc.
2021

14. 2022
Radio segment revenues grew 12% in 2021
India had 1,203 operational radio stations, including 34 private FM
broadcasters and 339 community radio stations
Ad volumes recovered 29% over 2020
Ad rates fell 13% on an average
Share of non-FCT revenues increased and comprised around 15% of total
revenues. Events, content production, branded content, and syndication were
the top contributors to such revenues.
Measurement still remains an issue, creating online presence which has a
huge potential still needs to be addressed
AIR service operates in 479 stations in 23 languages and 179 dialects,
reaching 92% of the country’s area and over 99% of India’s population

15. 2022
FM radio receivers were prevalent in around half of the top 10 phone brands sold
in India
Radio sets were available in most car music systems
Radio channels were also carried on DTH services and Prasar Bharti’s News on
AIR app
SMEs ad volumes remained subdued, will take two years to revive
Key advertising categories remain similar to that of 2020 – services, banking,
food and beverages, auto and retail.
47% of the ad-volume share was contributed by non-metros. Maharashtra and
Gujrat again led the list, followed by Tamil Nadu. Local advertiser’s share of ad
volumes increased 2% to reach 39% of total ad volumes

16. 2022
Podcast emerged as a popular audio alternative, generating millions of listeners per
month. Popular categories included comedy, business, news, religion and
storytelling.
Revenues will continue to recover in 2022
Growth will be driven by the recovery of SME advertiser segment, retail revival,
growth in bank credit, re-opening of offices, and focus on non-FCT revenues could
grow at 17% or more
Rate recovery will continue to be a challenge
Lack of measurement, limited online presence, limited genre, B2B perception and
restrictions in airing news by the FM radio stations still pose a challenge in the
growth of the industry.

17. Benefits of Digital FM radio
-large listener base
-no broadcast charges for consumers
-better audio quality and interface
-more ad inventory and higher rates due to segmented audience
-listenership data can be obtained, will further increase trust and revenue
-less power due to the absence of analog radio transmitters
-programmatic ad delivery
-increased taxes from increased revenues
-Ability to use digital radio infrastructure for emergency warnings and traffic
information for the regulators

18. Imperatives for a successful transition
-Approve digital radio rollout by all FM operators in a simulcast mode to protect ad
revenues
-bundle digital radio with other technologies to optimize cost and reduce capex
(capital expenditure) burden.
-permit sharing infrastructure cost between AIR and private FM companies to reduce
capex burden with a progressive license free regime.
-A formal policy mandating automobiles / mobile phone manufacturers to include the
required hardware in devices.
-Lower the cost of chipsets and antennas to a reasonable rate.
-Enable possibility of software upgrade to enable digital radio on phones.
-Enable existing linear companies to transmit on digital frequencies without
additional license fees in the short term to build consumer base
-permit new players to bid for additional frequencies to support this transition.

19. THANK YOU