ASSIGNMENT ON

SUBMITTED BY: ANANT CHAUHANABHISKEK SHARMAPEARL TANGRIRIDHI GOELTAKSHILA NANDA

•In India, radio is used as a medium of communication

since the early decades of the last century.

•Since the time when crackling voice informed Indians

about Independence, Radio has been an internal part of

our daily routines.

•Today, in India, Radio is very much prevalent as FM

(Frequency Modulation) Radio channels.

•There are only two types of radio formats present in

Delhi, viz. Talk Radio Format and Music Radio Format.

Introduction

•Radio meow a FM radio station used to come at a frequency of 104.8 mega hertz. Meow

FM an India Today Group venture was launched on 30th may 2007, with Anil Srivatsa as it's

Chief Operating Officer.

• Radio Today Broadcasting Ltd, the radio division of the India Today Group, had launched

Meow 104.8 FM in Delhi.

•Meow 104.8 FM was a niche talk-based radio station, targeted at women.

•Talk was the primary form of entertainment while music was secondary form of

entertainment.

• Meow in its earlier format claimed to be India’s only Talk format radio station. .

About MEOW 104.8 FM

•The radio channel could be heard taking long call-ins involving discussions on

various topics related to various walks of life.

•Being a serious radio channel, the discussions on the channel were sober,

sincere and thoughtful. Initially meow did not use to play more than 4 or 5

songs in an hour, however later they started playing more songs in an hour.

Although the time allotted to talks was still much more than songs being

played.

•Meow was also particular about the seriousness to different issues and

discussions topics

About MEOW 104.8 FM

•Talk radio is an exciting, new concept and was estimated to certainly be an emerging trend in

the Indian market.

•They also believed that there were a lot of facets of a woman that could be brought alive by

radio. The anonymity of radio was considered to be an added strength.”

•Srivatsa had said, “Looking at it another way, we have people spending most of the time

thinking, the process punctuated by music. Radio Today’s programming will reflect this

everyday reality by making talk primary and music secondary. Meow 104.8 FM will seek to be

the voice of the woman.”

•India Today Group’s CEO Ashish Bagga, had said “The radio market is not only cluttered but

challenging too. A niche radio station was the need of the hour and the way to go in today’s

times of low attention spans with the existing multitude of similar FM stations.

The idea behind the business model and its objective:

Why the name “Meow”

• Meow embodied the attributes of a woman, where she could be all by

herself. It symbolised spirituality, sensuality, professionalism.

• It was more than a cat call as everyone initially perceived it.

• The cat is much more feminine, clean and free in itself.

• Also its tagline ‘Thodi Meethi, Thodi Catty’ reflected the station’s

positioning, and conveyed its desire to appeal to the myriad moods of a

woman.

Strategy “Kill two birds with one stone” strategy : The management at Meow 104.8 FM believed that it was obvious for women to

tune into (because it was the first women oriented radio station) and they also were convinced with the fact that men too will follow to check what women talk or discuss about.

New Media

Meow had a social networking website – merimeow.com which had 4,000 members. Men were signing up there too, so much so that there was a regulation for entries from men on the site.

Market ShareAs per RAM data• Delhi 3%• Mumbai 2%• Kolkata 8%• Besides the three metros, Meow also used to beam from three smaller cities –

Amritsar, Jodhpur and Shimla.

Program Schedule at Meow FM Delhi (Monday through Saturday)

Show analysis1. Morning Show- ‘Meow Zindagi’ Host- Ved Timings- 8 am to 11 am•The content of the show was informative, as the topics were pegged from that particular day’s headlines.•The show was bare with no sparklers and no contests were being taken up on the show.•Everyday in the morning, a different headline was taken up on the show.

2. Noon Show- ‘Meow Matinee’ Host- Divya Timings- 11 am to 2 pm•Again, producing this show on the basis of Talk format, Meow infused lot of debates and discussions in that time slot as well. But, the talks were influenced with issues of personal life. •The show tried to explore the personal experiences of people related to different situations of life. The show attempted to entice sentimental or nostalgic feelings of the listeners.• Topics like ‘first love’, ‘visit to our old school’ and ‘meeting your old friend’, were often taken up during the show.

3. Evening Show- ‘Mama Meow’ Host- Manisha Timings- 2 pm to 5 pm

•As the name suggest, the show was hardcore for mothers of National Capital Region.

•Also,fathers concerned about their kids might also tune into the show.

•Parental tips, advice, good care, better raising and handling of growing kids and other similar

topics were discussed at this show.

4. Drive hour Show- ‘Tu tu meow meow’ Host- Ginnie Timings- 5 pm to 9 pm

•The show came at a time, when most of the people are driving back home in their cars or are

in public transport. Generally people at this time are tired, angry or annoyed about their day

at work. Therefore, the show was produced such that it helped in sharing and counseling the

grief of the listeners.

•Most of the discussions involved office place.

•Few examples of discussion topics taken up on her show are, listener’s office, how is the

office, sexual harassment, peer pressure at the work place.

Night Show-only musicHost- No hostTimings- 9 pm- Till late night

•Program Format- The format of the show was music.

•Music was played non-stop and with very less advertisement breaks.

•The music got softer as the night progressed.

•The show witnessed no call-ins and no voice of any host.

•English songs were also played during the night.

•The song count per hour was pretty high because of no host talk and plus no sparklers

being aired on the show.

Comparative AnalysisBetween radio one (94.3 FM) & Meow (104.8 FM)

Social Message:

•The policy of Radio One and Radio Meow is somewhat similar on the context of social

message. The number of social messages on both the channel is very less.

•But the reason behind this policy is different in both the channels.

•As Radio One is more on the lighter side, therefore using social messages in their programmes

is a really bad thing and thus they do not include social messages.

•On the other side, Meow includes many discussions on the topics which are socially relevant,

like Students Suicides, Sexual Harassment etc, therefore especially including social messages

might not work with them.

•But, inclusion of such messages in their programmes might be able to bring forth their matured

mindset further.

Station Format

•Both the radio stations follow totally different radio formats.

•If Radio Meow is Talk format radio station then Radio One is based on Music format.

•Meow indulges in long discussions with their listeners and also they are serious in their

approach towards topics.

Station Sound

•Station sounds of both the channels are pretty distinct. The station sound of One is hip and has

got high vibes for youngsters.

•While Meow has got simple and station sound which will attract lot of women as it is chirpy.

The top of the hour of Radio is easy to remember with fewer instruments and more of vocals,

but this piece is decently arranged and mixing is done very well.

•While, Meow’s top of the hour is bare and has got really high vocals in the back. Its mixing is

not done nicely and sometimes it irritates ears.

Music

Radio One plays lot of remix songs in its programme on their different show.

Also, songs with high tempo are chosen to be played on different shows. But, songs earlier

than 90’s are rarely heard on Radio One.

On the other hand Radio Meow plays fewer songs on weekdays and lot of songs on weekends.

Unlike One, Meow also plays English songs for its listeners, but this is done only in the night

show.

Listener Connect

•Local Connect of Radio One is very high as compared to Radio Meow. Though Meow also

keep local connect through local call-ins and updates in morning and in the evening but on the

parameter of local connect, One is very ahead as compared to Meow. Also, Meow has got a

special section where they give updates of happening in Delhi but its reoccurrence is very low.

•In humour connect also Radio One is ahead of Radio Meow, as all of its RJ’s cracks jokes on

their show from time to time. All the RJ’s of Meow are pretty straightforward and serious in

their approach. But jockey’s of Meow are more peppy and lively than jockey’s of One.

•On the parameter of emotional connect; Meow is ahead than iRadio One. Topics

of discussion are sensitive; therefore tampering with them just for entertainment is not

justified. But shows like Meow Matinee, Mama Meow and Tu Tu Meow Meow brings in lot

of emotional connect with the listeners.

•On the context of information Connect, both the channels are on par, as evening Drivehour

show of One and Morning show of Meow are both based upon latest headline.

But Meow is more into information purpose than One as they take up discussions directly

based upon the headline, while One bends the days headline to include humour into the

show.

Also meow being a talk oriented is more information based .

Target Audience

Target audience of One is Urban and Niche which includes age group of 25 years to 40

years, while Meow caters to Urban Women of Delhi in the age group of 25 to 50 years. The

target audience of Meow is very well defined through its callers and type of content in

their show, while One has got discreet approach towards their target audience.

Promos

•The promos of One and Meow differ in their strategy.

•While One promotes music of the station and the point that it plays maximum music of all

radio stations through their promos, Meow promotes content of the show.

•One plays their promos lot of time and their recurrence cycle is very fast and also they

•promote all of their shows.

•On the other hand, Meow only promotes just morning show and Evening drive-in shows

and above that their recurrence cycle is very slow.

Commercials

•There are not many commercial breaks on Meow, this might be probably because of low

number of sponsors they get due to low listeners.

•Also, number of breaks on One is not big aswell.

MEOW RE-BRANDED AS OYE !

One of the most intriguing channels undoubtedly in Radio was Meow FM, the one of its kinds

Radio channel targeted only at women/ female audience. The main reason of people tuning

into this channel was obviously because it engaged the listeners.

SO WHY ARE NICHE RADIO STATIONS NOT WORKING OUT TOO WELL AND WHY DID MEOW FAIL?

•Well, Sure, Niche radio stations have the right mix of content and are targeted towards a

particular audience, but somehow there is a flaw in the business model, such that not many

of them are able to sustain their niche status throughout their lifetimes.

•The tagline of Meow, which is ‘thodi meethi thodi katty’ doesn’t go with the topics taken up

on the channel. The mismatch between tagline and content of the show is huge.

•Not many people are interested in discussions, they prefer listening to music and relaxing.

Reason behind re-branding the MEOW as OYE – Sabse Filmi:To cater to a larger market

ABOUT OYE! :

•OYE – Sabse filmi, is far from being a women only focused channel.

• Its a generic radio station like many others we already have, Radio Mirchi, Radio One,

Big FM and the rest.

• There is nothing new as anyway even the other channels play bollywood stuff 24/7.

Stations in various cities: