Radio reinvented: Sector taps on higher reach in tier cities

One of the oldest mediums of mass communication, radio has been reinventing right from the 1900s to the present day. Despite facing tough competition from TV and digital platforms, radio has been able to hold its ground.

With 2022 on the way out, we reached out to industry players to understand how the year fared for them and what were they looking forward to in the upcoming year.

The year that was

The last two years were difficult for every sector across the globe, and radio like most others adapted to changes brought in by the digital era. Talking about how 2022 was for the industry, Nisha Narayanan, COO & Director, Red FM & Magic FM, said, “After 2 rough years of the pandemic, radio has been witnessing steady growth. The volumes and revenue in the smaller markets are almost back on track. While macroeconomic factors impacted budgets, we experienced a shift from large corporates and categories to smaller markets.”

“Tier 2 & 3 cities were the major growth drivers for us across the country. Post-August, events, and activations picked up and unleashed new energy amongst the marketers and listeners. We are observing radio branching from traditional to digital and expanding its base amongst the youth as they have options and a variety to choose from. Radio is diversifying in the consumption of content as well. Music and non-music formats were highly appreciated by audiences and advertisers this year,” she added.

Agreeing on radio’s popularity in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, Abraham Thomas, CEO, of Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd, said, “Radio is expected to recover to around 75% of the pre-pandemic level with the growth being driven through tier 2 and tier 3 markets. It has also strengthened its foothold in the realm of digitalization in 2022, as the medium has acclimated itself to the new era of 'techceleration’. The opportunity in digital audio is exploding too with audiences growing in reach, time spent and engagement.” 

“According to a report from India Cellular and Electronics Association and EY, the adoption of digital radio technology will help the sector double its revenues within five years to Rs 12,300 crore. Harnessing the power of technology, radio has taken great strides in developing innovative solutions and offerings to benefit consumers and advertisers alike. Despite the massive explosion in the category of video consumption, radio continues to maintain an edge as a medium that delivers reliable real-time information, companionship and a source of instant mood elevation,” he added. 

Talking about technological advancements, Ashit Kukian, CEO, Radio City, said, “Radio has been popularly acknowledged as a medium for city-related updates and groovy music. With the advent of time and technology, it has transformed into a novel content-consuming platform that adds value to the lives of listeners. While radio is essentially an audio platform, the pandemic provided a fillip to the industry to integrate digital formats to widen revenue streams and leveraging digital initiatives.”

“The year 2022 has been quite exciting for Radio City as we developed a strategic roadmap by converging radio plus digital solutions terming it ‘Radigitalization’. This phenomenon offers integrated solutions to advertisers that make economic sense to them allowing them to utilize the power of radio and digital to target messages to the audience base. We will continue to build indigenous properties both for on-air and digital platforms to reach out to our audience effectively,” Kukian said.

While radio might still be trying to survive, there is a whole bunch of new types of platforms, and content that is out there, trying to lure in audiences. Radio platforms with their RJs have made a lot of noise over social media platforms. Brands love to get associated with an RJ making 360-degree solutions for the advertiser. This year saw RJs become popular content creators and influencers.

Talking about the same, Mansi Datta, Chief Client Officer and Office Head – North & South, Wavemaker India shared her insights and said, “The radio industry in India is about 3000-5000 crores strong contributing approximately 3-5% of the adex. COVID affected radio in terms of listenership as well as revenue. One source of listening to radio ie on the go got wiped out. However, there was a recognition that all of these rjs enjoyed a good amount of followership and this insight led a lot of advertisers and agencies to leverage radio listenership along with a social plan. The spectrum of power distance shows that on one end we have RJs who are our next door neighbours/ peers/friends and on the other end of the spectrum we have celebrities who people look up to and adore and adulate and even in some cases worship.”

Back to the Future

Every year brings new hope and a new set of expectations. While Radio is still adapting to the growing technology, there is a lot one can do in this space. Right from different formats of content to taking radio into an integrated space of audio-visual platforms. 

The coming year will have players make a run to get back to pre-pandemic levels and maintain a healthy presence of the medium amongst the audiences.

Talking about coming at par with pre-pandemic levels, Kukian said, “After over two years of pandemic-led restrictions, the world is returning to normalcy as festivities and weddings are being celebrated on a huge scale. This has provided an opportunity for brands to advertise their products and attain pre-pandemic sales numbers. As radio continues to stay one of the most relevant and significant mediums of communication, revenue earned through advertisements will also continue to see an upsurge in the coming year. As Radio City is on a digital transformation journey, the upcoming year will witness deeper integration of radio and digital formats being adopted by the audience and advertisers.”

The 360-degree solution is the way in the future for radio as a medium including digital as well as traditional platforms. It will provide a seamless experience to audiences as well as advertisers.

Commenting on what they expect from the future, Narayanan, said, “360-degree integrated solutions using radio, digital, on-ground events and activation are how we see the upcoming year. Radio has the advantage of the highest reach and penetration at the lowest cost whereas digital provides ROI driven mechanism and we plan to leverage them all. Radio has the possibility to add reminder value for any brand when added to the print or tv campaigns.”

A medium that thrives on language and content format, experts say that it is going to be sheer hyperlocal as people are embracing their native languages. 

Seconding the same, Kukian said, “In today’s time, audiences prefer consuming content in a language that is most native to them. Radio City understands this phenomenon well and consistently diversifies itself by offering content in varied languages and genres. We will continue focusing on this aspect in the coming year and continue to offer unique yet relatable content solutions to our audiences as well as advertisers to stay ahead of the curve. We will also focus on optimizing our new offerings through an increasing number of podcasts and video interactions with celebrities and popular artists thereby entertaining the audience through exclusive infotainment.”

Apart from social media platforms, technologies like AIML, AR, and VR have also been buzzwords in this year and will continue to rule in the coming years.

Elaborating on the same Thomas said, “The trend we will see in the coming year is of the radio plus digital being further leveraged in a massive way that gives a more holistic, immersive, and personalized experience to its listeners. Technology will play a major role in the way radio-like experiences are explored in the audio space and how it is perceived by advertisers and audiences. Audio digital will become a substantial part of our revenue streams in the next two years.

“The combination of ‘technology’ in the creation and distribution of audio content with the ‘technique’ of creating radio-like experiences and connections will be a game changer for the audio industry. Another trend that is gaining momentum internationally is In-car audio streaming. With the connected dashboards in cars and a smartphone, one can tune into the music right away offering a seamless experience.”

While experts say that the medium is here to stay, there is a lot of competition out there to grab audience attention and thereby have advertisers. Radio had always reinvented itself, and came out with new technologies and innovations to stay relevant amongst the masses. It will be spectacular to watch out for this medium in the coming years adapting to the world turning virtual.