IRS 2009 R1: Mirchi continues to lead across India; but SFM gains the most

The IRS 2009 R1 data released on May 8, 2009 has put Radio Mirchi on the top, followed by AIR FM Rainbow and Big FM in the top 10 list for FM radio players. However, in terms of gain in listeners in the last six months, SFM has gained the highest of 3.09 per cent, as compared to Radio Mirchi’s 1.53 per cent increase in listenership.

by Robin Thomas
Published: May 11, 2009 8:02 AM | 2 min read

IRS 2009 R1: Mirchi continues to lead across India; but SFM gains the most

The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2009 Round 1 data, released by the Media Research Users’ Council (MRUC), on May 8, 2009, puts Radio Mirchi as the leading FM radio player. The top 10 FM stations in the all India market are: Radio Mirchi, AIR FM Rainbow, Big FM, Radio City, Suryan FM, AIR FM Gold, Red FM and SFM. Also included are AIR and other FM stations. The good news is that all these FM stations have seen an increase in listenership as compared to IRS 2008 R2.

As per the IRS 2009 R1 data, Radio Mirchi tops the chart among FM players in the all India market, attracting 41,416,000 listeners, a sharp rise from IRS 2008 R2, where Radio Mirchi had attracted 16,347,000 listeners, an increase of 1.53 per cent.

SFM has registered the highest growth in terms of listenership – 3.09 per cent – at 5,972,000.

The second and third most heard FM stations, according to the IRS 2009 R1 data, are government-owned AIR FM Rainbow and Big FM with 22,153,000 listeners and 20,381,000 listeners, respectively, an increase of 1.14 per cent and 1.99 per cent from the listenership numbers in IRS 2008 R2, respectively.

At No. 2 is Radio City with a listenership of 14,656,000, registering a growth of 1.56 per cent. Suryan FM is placed fifth with listenership of 13,343,000, an increase of 0.95 per cent. AIR FM Gold is at No. 6 with a listenership of 10,002,000, followed by Red FM at No. 7 with listenership of 9,021,000. SFM, which has shown the highest gains, has attracted 5,972,000 listeners. These apart, AIR FM Others attracted 21,888,000 listeners (a gain of 0.70 per cent), while Other FM station attracted 21,119,000 listeners (a gain of 0.68 per cent).