We’re beefing up our digital properties with multi-media content: Rachna Kanwar

Radio City has been on a roll recently. Premium web radio network PlanetRadiocity.com has launched seven new web radio stations – RC Hindi Classics, RC Kannada Gold, RC Tamil Gold, RC Telugu Gold, Lata Mangeshkar Radio, Kishore Kumar Radio and RD Burman Radio, dedicated to retro music.

Having recently acquired the music rights to HMV Saragama’s collections, where listeners can tune in to classics from the 1960s to the 1980s. Radio City is the only global web radio network to add seven stations to the genre at one go. Through this plunge in the retro space, Radio City caters to retro demands of audiences worldwide. The ability to give listeners content across generations and languages was the intent behind the launch of these seven stations, which now takes the bouquet of PlanetRadiocity.com to 31 stations.

In conversation with AdGully, Rachna Kanwar, COO, Jagran Digital, sheds light on the popularity of retro music and the reach that a digital platform achieves, how the convenience of a web radio with a collection of 400+retro songs to choose from is a gift box to all the retro lovers across generations, and more. Excerpts:

You recently launched 7 new stations. What was the need to launch so many stations at one go?

We believe in the adage, ‘Old is Gold’. Retro music is something that has always been in demand, be it for Hindi or for regional languages. When we did our research, we found that even today’s generation loves the sound of old film music. Not just Hindi, but all the four South languages have a rich legacy of Retro music. We wanted our listeners to enjoy all this and more. Apart from the radio stations, listeners will be able to enjoy hundreds of curated playlists and Artist Radios too. The inherent melody of this music makes it timeless and pretty much cuts across target groups. The new web radio stations will be under the bouquet of Radio City Gold.

What is your strategy to capture listener base on digital in regional market?

As mentioned earlier, apart from Hindi, we have Retro stations in four other languages – Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam. Apart from web radio, we have also launched hundreds of playlists of great artists of Indian music across languages. With the launch of these four regional retro stations, we are already increasing our listenership base in the regional market by reaching out to a wider audience in India and globally. Our existing regional stations – RC Tamil, RC Malayalam and RC Kannada – have been doing really well and garnering good listenership. We have a Telugu station in the Devotional Category, called Radio City Bhakti, that has been getting good traction. Soon, we will be launching Retro stations in other languages too.

Three of your new web stations are targeted at the Southern market. How has Radio City been performing in the South? How has the revenue and advertisement side been?

It is four now, we have launched Radio City Malayalam Gold too. Regional music in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada has a very rich history and because these film industries have been there for several decades, they have a huge bank of retro music. Tamilians, Kannadigas, Malayalis and Andhraites are present all over the world, and we saw a definite need gap for curated radio in these languages. Therefore, these languages were our first choice. We have just launched Malayalam and will be soon launching Marathi. We have a very strong base in the south. Like I mentioned, our existing online regional stations have been doing really well.

Recently, the market has seen the launch of retro music genre channels by quite a few FM radio players, how different are you from your contemporaries?

Retro music is not new to Radio City – on FM or on Digital. In our show, ‘Kal Bhi Aaj Bhi’, we have one of the most recalled Retro shows on radio. We have recently partnered with HMV Saregama, so PlanetRadiocity.com had all the more reason to go retro. In fact, we are the first and only radio station to have exclusive online music rights for Sa Re Ga Ma.

Please tell us more about the nature of the deal with HMV Saragama?

We are happy to associate with the vast, valuable catalogue of Saregama. When a leading FM network and India’s first Web Radio Network comes together with such rich legacy, magic is bound to happen. 

Are you planning more such deals with record labels, music producers and artists?

We already have several other deals with leading record labels. Apart from that, we are focusing in a big way on non-music content. The other category where we partner with artists is Independent music, where we provide a platform to thousands of artists and their music.

How has the web radio network of Jagran Digital been performing overall in terms of revenues generation in first quarter of FY17?

The Web Radio Network is a part of Music Broadcast Limited. We have seen an overall growth in our revenue, vis-à-vis last year, offering 360 degree solutions that combine the website, social media as well as Web Radio.

Apart from these seven stations, what are your plans for the web radio network?

Like I mentioned, apart from the retro stations we have launched hundreds of playlists on our website of Great artists of Indian Music in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. We also have a devotional playlist. You can select and listen to the music of any actor, singer or music director.

Who are the major advertisers and sponsors on Radio City web radio network?

We have advertisers across categories. We have done some very interesting campaigns for ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’, Mom’s Magic, Ministry of Textiles, ONGC. As you can see, we have advertisers across categories.

Digital revenue has seen 28.7 per cent growth. What are the factors that have contributed to this growth?

With the whole ecosystem – with the mobile phones, the connectivity and the bandwidth increasing these days, advertisers are showing a lot of interest in Digital. We can see that the growth is seeping in to the Tier 2 and 3 cities. Internet is becoming more and more accessible. 4G network is also one of the factors contributing this result.

How are you strategising to expand the reach of your digital network?

Currently, we have 31 online radio stations on our website spread across genres. We have Bollywood, Regional, Non-Film, International. We are pretty strong in the Indie genre. Lot of our promotion is online through social media search. Apart from that, we do on-ground events which are more like an extension of some our content online. For example, the Free Verse Sessions at Monkey Bar every month, where we invite poets and spoken word artists to come and recite poems is an extension of our show Open Mic on Radio City Freedom – our Indie music station. Then we have the Radio City Freedom Awards every year – the biggest award platform for Indie artists in India. We also tie up with various communities across India to promote our devotional content.

What are your immediate focus areas of growth for Jagran Digital?

Midday.com is a big focus area for us this year. We are looking to make it more mobile centric, richer in content and bringing back the Midday nostalgia for Mumbaikars. As is the need of the hour, we are focussing on strengthening all our Digital properties with multi-media content.