THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — Times Group, Sun Network, Asianet, Manorama and Mathrubhumi....major media houses have launched their FM radio stations in Kerala cities ending the monopoly of the state-run All India Radio that has been dominating the scene for several years.
Days after Manorama launched its Radio Mango 91.9 in the northern city of Kozhikode, Mathrubhumi hit the airwaves with its Club 94.3 from Thrissur followed by Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur.
Sun Network, which has license to operate 45 FM stations across India, soon followed with its Malayalam FM channel S FM 93.5 in Kerala cities while Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Chandrasekhar-promoted Asianet Satellite Communications Limited answered it with its Best FM 95.
Times of India’s Radio Mirchi and Adlabs-Reliance joint venture Big FM are all in Kerala now. The Big FM claims to be different with its own unique Corporate Social Responsibility campaign.
With Kochi also set to jump into the bandwagon, Kerala will soon have at least 17 private FM stations. Many more are expecting federal nod for launching their own stations or the existing ones storming more cities.
Terrestrial transmitters were set up under a common transmitting infrastructure (CTI) by BECIL (Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd), a systems integrator and turnkey solutions provider under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that allots spectrum sharing among the operators.
According to National readership survey, AIR’s FM radio holds a 15 percent slice of the audience base in Kerala with AM radio accounting for another 20 percent. According to rough estimates, Kerala has about five million cable connections and a majority of the 35mn Malayalee population is still not exposed to cable network. The FM radios target this section with a mix of edutainment, infotainment and entertainment programs.
