FM auctions: 26 channels in 13 cities have no takers

The amounts being bid for FM stations are talk of the town with provisional winning price for 94 channels in 56 cities crossing Rs 1130 cr, more than double the price of all the 135 channels being auctioned.

A thing to notice, however, is also that 26 channels in 13 cities have attracted no bids till the end of 80 rounds on Day 20 of e-auctions being held. What is even more glaring is the fact that out of these 23 channels in 11 cities are from Southern states. These cities are Gulbarga ( 3 channels and base price 1,50,05,000), Mangalore (1 channel, base price 2,75,10,000), Mysore (2 channels, base price 3,21,30,990), Puducherry (1 channel, base price 4,01,00,000), Rajahmundry (3 channels, base price 1,50,00,500) Tirunelveli ( 2 channels, ,base price 26,00,000), Tirupati (2 channels, base price 4,50,50,000), Tuticorin (2 channels, base price 1,50,00,500), Tiruchi (2 channels, base price 5,00,00,500), Vijayawada (2 channels, base price 7,00,20,000), Warangal (3 channels, base price  1,25,25,000).

The phenomenon perhaps needs a complete study in itself to figure out why it is like this. Do the people not listen to radio? Do they have low purchasing power? Or, is the music in South Indian Languages an expensive preposition for FM channels?

The other two cities with no bidders in fray are Siliguri (1 channel, base price 65,00,501)and Asansol (2 channels, base price 1,94,05,000) Both from West Bengal.

Five cities that are still are entitled for a price hike in the next round are Allahabad (5%), Guwahati (5%), Jodhpur (5%), Shillong (5%) and Varanasi (1%)

Moving to the official communique, at the close of the 20^th day of bidding, 94 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of about Rs 1130.51 Crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459 Crore. Thus the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the corresponding 94 channels by Rs 671.65 Crore or 146.3%. Overall, cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch i.e. Rs 550.18 Crore by Rs 580.33 Crore or105.5%.  

The following Table summarizes twenty days of bidding: