Radio Mirchi

History

The original avatar of Radio Mirchi was Times FM. Radio Mirchi began operations in 1993 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Until 1993, All India Radio or AIR, a government undertaking, was the only radio broadcaster in India. The government then took the initiative to privatize the radio broadcasting sector. It sold airtime blocks on its FM channels in Indore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Goa to private operators, who developed their own program content. The Times Group operated its brand, Times FM, till June 1998. After that, the government decided not to renew contracts given to private operators.

First round of licenses

In 2000, the government announced the auction of 108 FM frequencies across India. ENIL won the largest number of frequencies, and thus started its operations under the brand name Radio Mirchi.IT'S HOT

Second round of licences

In January 2006, Radio Mirchi purchased 25 frequencies in the second wave of licences that were issued by the Government of India. This pushes the Radio Mirchi presence in 32 centres. In the first wave of launches, Indore was the first city in India having grade of first private radio channel.Times decided to start radio channel to address the mass audience as advertisers can be attracted by showing a low cost per thousand.

Third round of licenses

Radio Mirchi invested above Rs.339 crore during phase III auctions and purchased 17 new channels in new cities such as Chandigarh, Kochi, Kozhikode, Jammu, Srinagar, Guwahati and Shillong, as well as in existing cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur and Surat. This pushes Radio Mirchi presence in 49 centres.

Global expansion

Radio Mirchi started operations across UAE, streaming across three frequencies: 97.3FM in Abu Dhabi, 88.8FM in Dubai and the Northern Emirates and 95.6FM in Al Ain. All the RJs have been recruited from various Radio Mirchi stations in India including Praveen Nair, with a total seven who will take to the air.

Areas of operation

Currently, Radio Mirchi has a presence in 38 cities.

Radio Mirchi operates in the following cities:

It reaches out to almost 52% of FM radio listeners in Delhi, 44% in Mumbai,40% in Indore,35% in Jaipur,30% in Bhopal, 20% Chennai, 17% in Kolkata, 15% in Nagpur 60% in Mangaluru and 12% in Bengaluru. Radio Mirchi has started providing Visual Radio to its subscribers in Delhi from 25 July 2006 onwards and in Mumbai from September 2006. It also has started its Visual Radio service from Kolkata recently.

According to the Radio Audience Measurement Reports (RAM), Radio Mirchi has been dominating in Delhi & is the leader in Mumbai and Kolkata. However, in Kolkata they are not clear leaders in SEC ABC segments. The SEC ABC segments were earlier dominated by Big FM & now by Friends FM. However, in the SEC D & E segments Radio Mirchi has total domination.

Programmes

Radio Mirchi has city-wise programming, with a minimum of one program relating to the city it airs in.

Radio Mirchi Kolkata airs programs named "Hi Kolkata", "Nobboi Not Out", "Harano Sur", "Kolkata Express", "coffee house Classics","Sunday Suspense". Some of their RJs are Mir, Alisha Orin, Deep, Neel, Riya And Sree. Saturday nights Radio Mirchi airs "Club Mirchi" by DJ Richard. On Sunday radio mirchi airs "Sunday Suspense" at 11 pm.

"Hi Kanpur" is a show played in Kanpur from 7 AM to 11 AM hosted by RJ Charu. RJ Charu, in her initial stages dominated 78% listenership of Kanpur as per the Car Track Survey. She was also the No.1 Jock in Kanpur as FGD (Focus Group Discussion) Results of Kanpur, 2011. In 2012, she made the record of having the maximum listenership ever in Kanpur.

Radio Mirchi Mangalore airs programs named "Munjaane Raaga by RJ Lavanya between 5am - 7am", "Hi! Mangalore by RJ Shwetha between 7am - 11am", "Rewind Raaga by RJ Nayana between 11am - 2pm", "Tamashe Factory by RJ Arpith between 5pm - 9pm" and "Mirchi Dilkhush between 9pm - 12am".

Radio Mirchi Ahmedabad airs programs named "Hi Amdavad" (RJ Dhvanit 7-11 am), "Meethi Mirchi" (RJ Nehal 11 am-2 pm), "Meethi Mirchi" (RJ Ekta 2-5 pm), "Kitli Kulture" (RJ Ruhaan 5-9 pm), "Purani Jeans" (RJ Sayema 9 pm-midnight). (Source)

Radio Mirchi Vadodara airs programs named "Hi Baroda" (RJ Kshitij 7-11 am), "90's Not Out" (RJ Aditi 11am-2pm), "Ishq Dopahari" (RJ Aditi 2-5 pm), "Kitli Kulture" (RJ Mohini 5-9 pm), "Purani Jeans" (RJ Sayema 9 pm-midnight).

Radio Mirchi Rajkot airs programs named "Dinn Huva Begin" (5-7 am) "Hi Rajkot" (RJ Ishita 7-11 am), "Meethi Mirchi 1" (RJ Sheetal 11am-2pm), "Meethi Mirchi 2" (RJ Grishma 2-5 pm), "Dhamal Choukdi" (RJ Sammiiir - the cyclone 5-9 pm), "Purani Jeans" (RJ Sayema 9 pm-midnight).

In UAE, Radio Mirchi is broken into a five-part day, which will commence at 6 am with the breakfast show. This is followed by a midday show between 11 am and 2 pm, which will target the housewives. Between 2 pm and 5 pm will be the Bollywood-driven content, titled Totally Filmy. Post which, the drivetime show will be on till 9 pm and then they switch to retro classics up to midnight. The late hours play back-to-back music nonstop.

RDS service

In Mumbai and Kolkata; Radio Mirchi sends Radio Text containing information about The Name of Channel, Next Song and Currently Playing song.

Mirchi Music Awards

The Mirchi Music Awards are annually given awards instituted by Radio Mirchi for excellence in Bollywood film music. It was first given in 2008.