Do You Really Need Radio Advertising In India?
Since its start, radio has become a part of our culture. In some way, it touches the lives of almost everyone, every day. Radio, as a medium, offers a form of entertainment that attracts listeners while they are working, traveling, relaxing or doing almost anything. Radio offers information such as: news, weather reports, traffic conditions, advertising and music for your listening pleasure.
What is Radio Advertising?
Radio Advertising is the second most widely used medium that people can connect to. It can be called word of mouth advertising. Due to its popularity, it is one of the best platforms to market the services of several businesses.
FM Radio Advertising in India started with the launch of Radio City Bangalore on July 3, 2001 as the first private FM station in India. Radio broadcasting started in the year 1927 but the commercial broadcasting started in the year 1967 by the All-India Radio also known as AIR.
Popular FM stations in India are Radio Mirchi, Radio FM, Radio One and FM Air Rainbow.
How is Radio Still the top medium for advertising in India
Radio at present covers 97.5% of the total population and 91% of the total area of India. There are 150 medium wave transmitters, 54 short wave transmitters, 104 F.M. transmitters. As of 2018 there are 369 radio stations across 101 cities across India. Large FM markets are in the cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata.
Growth of Radio in India
Credits-Tam AdEX- Five states generated 60 percent of total radio ads.
- In the year 2019, Maharashtra and Gujarat remained the states with high ad volume in radio.
- The top 10 cities generated 69 percent of total ad volumes, led by New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Indore.
Top 10 Radio Stations in India
According to the statistics by Iram Radio the top 10 Radio stations for the last weeks of 2019 were:
| 1. | Red FM,Delhi | 1.4M |
| 2. | Radio Mirchi,Delhi | 1.4M |
| 3. | Big FM,Delhi | 1.1M |
| 4. | Red FM,Kolkata | 1M |
| 5. | Radio Mirchi,Kolkata | 985.9K |
| 6. | Radio City,Delhi | 670.8K |
| 7. | Red FM,Mumbai | 658K |
| 8. | Radio Mirchi,Mumbai | 632.6K |
| 9. | Big FM,Kolkata | 623.3K |
| 10. | Big FM,Mumbai | 603.7K |
According to the study Radio city is the most listened radio in India. It is followed by Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Red FM, Radio Fever, Suryan FM, Radio 1,my Fm, Mirchi 95 FM and Hello FM(106.4).
Top 10 Radio Stations in New-Delhi
1. Radio City
2. Big FM
3. Red FM
4. Hit FM
5. Radio Mirchi
6. AIR FM Gold
7. All India Radio
8. Ishq FM
9.Fever 104 FM
10.Radio One
Top 10 Radio Stations in Kolkata
1. Big FM
2. Red FM
3. Radio One
4. Radio Mirchi
5. AIR FM Gold
6. AIR FM Vividh Bharati
7. Fever 104 FM
8. Ishq FM
9. AIR FM Radio
10. Friends FM
Top 10 Radio Stations in Bangalore
1. Radio City,Bangalore
2. Radio Indigo,Bangalore
3. Big FM
4. Radio One
5. Radio Mirchi
6. Radio Fever
7. Vividh Bharati
8. Red FM
9. Amrutavarshini
10. Rainbow FM
Top 10 Radio Stations in Mumbai
1. Radio Mirchi
2. Radio One
3. Big FM
4. Radio City
5. Radio Fever
6. Red FM
7. Vividh Bharati
8. AIR FM Radio
9. Gyan Vani
10. AIR FM Rainbow
Top 10 Radio Stations in Pune
1. Red FM
2. Radio City
3. Big FM
4. Radio One
5. Radio Mirchi
6. Mirchi Love
7. Vividh Bharati
8. All India Radio
9. AIR Rainbow
10. Radio Vidyavani
Top 10 Radio Stations in Hyderabad
1. Red FM
2. Radio City
3. Radio Mirchi
4. Big FM
5. Radio Fever
6. AIR Rainbow
7. Deccan Radio
8. Community Radio
9. Bol Hyderabad
10. Vividh Bharati
Top 10 Radio Stations in Ahmedabad
1. Radio Mirchi
2. Red FM
3. Radio City
4. My FM
5. Radio One
6. Vividh Bharati
7. Mirchi Love
8. All India Radio
9. AIR Gyan Vani
10. Radio Nazariya
Top 10 Radio Stations in Chennai
1. Radio Mirchi
2. Suryan FM
3. Big FM
4. Radio City
5. Radio Fever
6. Hello FM
7. Radio One
8. Chennai Live
9. AIR FM Rainbow
10. AIR FM Gold
Top 10 Radio Stations in Jaipur
1. Red FM
2. My FM
3. Radio Tadka
4. Radio City
5. Radio Mirchi
6. Mirchi Love
7. Vividh Bharati
8. Community Radio Jaipur
Top 10 Radio Stations in Kochi
1. Radio FM
2. Club FM
3. Red FM
4. Big FM
5. AIR FM Rainbow
6. Radio Mirchi
7. AIR Gyan Vani
Top 10 Radio Stations in Kanpur
1. Red FM
2. Big FM
3. Radio Mirchi
4. Radio City
5. Radio Fever
6. Mirchi Love
7. AIR Rainbow
8. Vividh Bharati
Top 10 Radio Stations in Odisha
1. Big FM
2. Sarthak FM
3. Red FM
4. AIR Rainbow
5. Radio Choklate
6. Vividh Bharati
Types of Radio Advertising
There are major types of radio advertising being dialogue commercial, straight commercial, dramatized commercial, jingles, blip commercial, live commercial.
1. Jingles- These are the most common form of radio imaging. Music is a really important branding element for the branding station. Having a catchy jingle with a good tag-line will help listeners remember the brand easily.
2. Sponsorship Tags- Brands can also sponsor a popular programme on air. It generates brand awareness by connecting directly to the customers.
3. Time Check
4. RJ Mention- Popular RJs talk about the brand on the radio
5. Radio Contest- It engages the audience by running interesting contests. The radio station connects with the audience and informs them about the advertisers giving the listeners a chance to win a prize provided by the advertiser.
6. Road Block- In this the advertiser consumes all the available advertising spots within a given time frame.
7. Outdoor Broadcast- The RJ’s of the radio station and their team can broadcast the event at the advertisers location.
Commercial Timings
The commercial timings is in 3 categories:
| Band | Time |
| Morning prime Time | 7am-12 noon |
| Afternoon | 12 noon-5pm |
| Evening Prime Time | 5pm-11pm |
Benefits of Radio Advertising
FM radio advertising has various advantages. Advertisers choose to advertise on the FM radio for the following reasons:
1. Radio ads can help businesses with selective targeting based on specific market and demographic segmentations.
2. Radio ads works with the frequency and being able to expose your ad to the audience repeatedly to build awareness.
3. Radio ads are effective, transparent and strongly stored in memory.
4. FM radio rates have significantly less costs compared to other types of media.