 Big 92.7 FM
Big 92.7 FM is poised to create history with its pan-India presence, spanning across 45 cities, 1,000 towns and 50,000 villages and reaching 200 million Indians across the length and breadth of the country. The company plans to take radio as a medium of entertainment not only to the key metros, but also to virgin markets that have never before experienced radio as a medium of entertainment.
And for the record, every fifth Indian will now listen to the same frequency 92.7 FM all across the country. The station will talk to every third urban Indian and one in every eight rural Indians. In a nutshell, Big 92.7 FM aims to give the largest coverage by any private radio channel in the country.
Every medium of entertainment relies on its 'content' to get its target audience attracted to it. To address the competitive nature of radio as a medium and to ensure the station stands out from the clutter, Big 92.7 FM has
undertaken extensive research and in-depth analysis of the likes and dislikes of its listeners before putting together its innovative
programmes.
Big 92.7 FM promises not only to entertain but to inform and empower the listener with "utilities" that one may take for granted. The station has designed utilities such as traffic and weather updates along with time checks and health tips to help optimise the listeners' time management and health.
Another important content strategy of the station is 'Acknowledgement of Local Heroes in our Society'. Big 92.7 FM aims to honour the deserving common man who works relentlessly and voluntarily for the betterment of society.
Manav Dhanda, National Programming Head, Big 92.7 FM, says, "We have a lot going for us, but it will be our unique content that will set us apart. Extensive research in region-wise psychographics has helped us construct
original and relevant matter that will appeal to the varying emotional make-up of the audiences across the nation. It is our endeavour to ensure we have a station that has relevance to the listener and is also high on aspiration."
Vishal Mull, National Creative Director, Big 92.7 FM, adds, "The importance of such findings cannot be stressed enough as our research has given us vital facts about this nation's people and are utilising this information to
the hilt in order to deliver a fine product. We are doing away with irrelevant information that does not prove useful to our listeners. At the end of the day, we don't want to restrict our audience to only the existing listener population, but want to attract the non-listener and that is what we have worked towards."
Auditorium Music Tests (ATMs) have been conducted across all cities and over 1,000 songs run past the sample audiences to verify both local flavour and the city-connect. It was observed that most cities played songs that
were 'perceived' as favourites but in actual fact were not so! Hence, based on these findings, the station will air tunes, 40 per cent of which will be exclusively heard only on Big 92.7 FM. The music played will span eras and genres so that it appeals to all.
The radio station will boast of outdoor broadcasting vans which will be stationed across the cities to broadcast listeners' opinions and comments on various topics.
Big FM will invest over Rs 40 crore in the first year itself. With an investment of Rs 400 crore dedicated to transmission equipment, infrastructure and licensing, the proposed network for Big 92.7 FM will be the largest ever. The overall manpower strength will stand at 1,500 employees nationwide. The IP protocol technology being utilised for Big 92.7 FM has been sourced from AXIA, US, making this station amongst the first to utilise such superior gear in Asia.
R Rangaraj
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