radio duniya 2008
With the opening up of the licences to private sector operators, the national incumbent operator of Broadcasting, Prasar Bharati, including All India Radio and Doordarshan is faced with booming private sector radio operations all around the country. This is ushering in lot of excitement and opportunities for various stakeholders including the opening up of markets and reach to the masses. Several new licences have been given, the sector has also been opened up for academic institutions and NGOs thus creating a new space for communities to take ownership and reach to their audiences. Community Radio is a new space. New advances in digital technologies and convergence has created opportunities for using the Internet, Mobile and other tools, redefining the typical studio based broadcasting as the sole mode of reach. There is also renewed interest as new funding opportunities are opening up for supporting this movement. Not only are well known media houses entering the radio market but also other institutions, thus expanding the scope of the community and reach.
Radio has been the most cost effective source of entertainment in India for a long time. For a long time, the radio industry was dominated by the state broadcaster- All India Radio. However, the radio sector has been gradually liberalized and has been opened for private and foreign investment. The government is going to award licenses to private players through a bidding process. The liberalized government policy initiatives such as increasing the FDI limit and migration to a revenue sharing regime has given a boost to the radio segment.
According to a report by Crisil, Media and Entertainment industry is poised to double its revenues by 2010 with an annual growth rate of 15.6 percent. The study forecasts that the revenues will reach up to the level of INR 74,400 crore by 2010 from INR 36,100 crore in 2005. According to another report by FICCI and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the media and entertainment sector is expected to cross turnover of INR 100,000 crore by 2011 from the present INR 43,700 crore, thereby registering 18 per cent compounded annual growth.
Driven by the launch of 50 new private FM radio stations as part of government’s second phase expansion plans, the FM radio industry has registered 60 per cent growth in 2006 within the media and entertainment sector.
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