MUMBAI: The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium is launching its fifth DRM Enterprise Award to be presented to an individual or an organisation that has promoted Digital Radio Mondiale successfully, has convincingly explained how DRM can be applied innovatively and can be actively introduced. The winner will be a remarkable individual or organization, a true social media influencer, who has used for this purpose communications methods like, though not exclusively, social media. The aim in awarding this prize is to spread the word about DRM, stimulate interest and take-up, bring more knowledge and interest to new territories and consolidate interest in existing DRM countries.

To qualify for the award an individual or organisation needs to be nominated by two credible endorsers, aware and ready to testify about the good work of the nominee.

The latest DRM annual prize was aimed at South-East Asia and was awarded in January 2018 to the DRM Stakeholders’ Group led by the Indian network operator BECIL.

The winner of the 2019 award and cash prize will be selected by an independent board of specialists, made up of representatives of the DRM Consortium.

The deadline is 15 September 2019 and the award will be announced before the end of the year.

DRM Consortium Chair, Ruxandra Obreja, hopes, “The fifth enterprise award will recognise the efforts of one exceptional individual or organisation prepared to explain simply and convincingly the many obvious benefits of Digital Radio Mondiale and digital radio.  The attractive features of DRM like the many data services, its traffic information capability or the emergency warning functionality offer new opportunities and applications to meet real and urgent needs of people in many parts of the world.”

MUMBAI: It was a glittering soiree evening at Jiyo Dil Se’ Awards, which concluded its season 7 on a high spirit at Chandigarh city. The awards took place on Saturday where 18 unsung heroes were honored with Jiyo Dil Se Awards for their contribution to the betterment of the society.

Jiyo Dil Se Awards is annual brand property of MY FM that acknowledge and recognize the work of the common man in bringing about a positive difference to the society and spreading happiness in the society at large.

The Chief Guest for the award function was Kirron Kher, Bollywood Actress and Member of Parliament from Chandigarh along with the Guest of honor Mr. Rajesh Kalia, Mayor of Chandigarh. Also, the audiences were enthralled with beautiful voice and engaging performance by Satinder Sartaaj, the Punjabi singer, song writer, actor and poet. The event was well attended by the dignitaries of Chandigarh city.

The winners were honored with awards by Kirron Kher and Rajesh Kalia along with Rahul Namjoshi, Business Head, MY FM. There were 11 categories and the winners were chosen from different cities for their contribution in Education ,Public service, Child Care and Development, Social Economic Welfare,  Public Service, Health and Sanitation,Conservation and Environment, Women Welfare and Empowerment.

The Award ceremony was a culmination of a tedious process which lasted for over a period of three months. MY FM listeners nominated the people who have been working selflessly for the society, the entries were then shortlisted by eminent jury and put up in public domain for voting the winners. The results were tabulated by Ernst & Young, the Process Advisor and official tabulators for the awards.MY FM took a 360 degree approach to promote Jiyo Dil Se Awards using print, radio, outdoors, collaterals, and digital media to reach out to these people.

Elated on the response for the awards, MY FM  Business Head Rahul Namjoshi said, “This is the seventh season, year after year we see more people participating in these awards. We not only discover the gems of our society but we also give them a platform to showcase their work and also become an inspiration to millions of other people.”

Commenting on the Award ceremony, MY FM Programming Head Vinay Manek said, “We are proud of these unsung heroes who are contributing bit by bit to the society and making it a better place for other individuals as well. The Jiyo Dil Se Awards is an initiative from MY FM to motivate them and set them as the example for others to come forward and work towards the betterment of society in large for the nation.”

MUMBAI: With the nation gearing to celebrate the festival of colours, Holi, Radio City is no way behind. The popular radio network has planned some uber cool activities, both on air and on social media in Mumbai and Rajasthan. Do have a look.

Mumbai Burra Toh Maano Holi Hai

Radio City has come up with a noteworthy activity, Burra Toh Maano Holi Hai for Mumbaikars. The radio station aims to educate listeners about what they should and shouldn’t do while playing Holi. To be held on 20 and 21 March 2019 on Radio City will educate listeners on not harming animals with colours and avoiding drunken driving. Besides, they will also be sharing passes to Holi parties through contests run on the radio station. Well, that’s something to take note of.

Rajasthan’s fun and Green Holi

Radio City has taken the fun route for Rajasthan, where it will air quirky content of celebs who garnered negative publicity. Titled City Ki Taane, the fun activity will take place in Udaipur, Bikaner, Kota. When it comes to the capital city, Jaipur and Ajmer, Radio City will promote greenery through, City Ki Green Holi initiative. They will encourage listeners to plant trees, thus promote the green surroundings.

To witness the fun, the guidance on playing safe Holi and Green Holi, tune into Radio City and add colours to your Holi with a twist.

MUMBAI: 93.5 RED FM, one of the largest and most awarded private radio networks in India announced its association as the principal sponsor of SunRisers Hyderabad for the seventh year consecutively. Taking the entertainment quotient a notch higher, RED FM aims to give the fans a sneak peek into Sunrisers Hyderabad. Also, this year, fans can lend their ears and be a part of Kaan Cricket, an entertaining campaign around cricket. The 12th edition of VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) is set to commence on 23 March 2019.

As a part of this association, RED FM listeners will witness exciting content on radio and across digital platforms. The listeners will get to participate in on-air contests, Kaan Laga Ke Sun and Fastest Kaan First to test their cricket knowledge and win exciting prizes by the end of each week. The digital assets of RED FM- the website, app and social media handles will carry exciting behind the scenes content of SunRisers Hyderabad.

Commenting on RED FM’s association with SunRisers Hyderabad, RED FM COO Nisha Narayanan said, “We are really excited to be extending our association with Sunrisers Hyderabad for 7^th year in a row. Over the years, both the brands have benefitted immensely from the association and given their listeners and fans exciting content which is not available elsewhere. We look forward to this year’s association and have plans to give our listeners more of cricket and SRH, bigger and better than the previous years. Brand RED will be buzzing with cricketing content over the next two months. On behalf of the RED FM team, we wish Sunrisers Hyderabad a successful season ahead.”

Commenting on the announcement Sunrisers Hyderabad CEO K. Shanmugham said, “We are delighted to have RED FM as our principal sponsor for seventh year in a row. SunRisers Hyderabad is currently in its best form and we expect an extraordinary IPL season this time. Our association with RED FM will help us elevate the engagement to another level as we plan to create gripping entertainment for the cricket fans.”

India is a country where cricket is a religion. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the biggest festival! It is a platform that seamlessly combines cricket and entertainment in a big sporting spectacle that embodies celebration, fun and passion. This association had grown in the past seven years binding together the people from all segments of the society.

MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) has appointed its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Asheesh Chatterjee on an additional role of Chief Business Officer for the company. Asheesh’s rich knowledge and experience about media industry has guided the company’ Revenue and Business support teams across the company apart from his usual role of managing Finance, Legal, Digital Transformation  and IT.  With his deep knowledge of the business since the past eight years, Asheesh has been contributing in developing practices to help both the radio network’s external as well as internal stakeholders to increase business efficiency, manage costs effectively and deliver great services to clients.

Speaking about his additional new role, Asheesh Chatterjee said, “It’s a pleasure to be taking on the additional position of Chief Business Officer at the company with which I have been associated for eight years. In keeping with BIG FM’s core ethos, I intend to give it my best in taking the company into its next phase of development.”

On Asheesh’s new role, RBNL CEO Abraham Thomas said, “Since his appointment in 2011, Asheesh has been an asset to the company, significantly contributing towards developing practices that enhances business efficiency, manage costs effectively and deliver great value to clients. Over the last year, he has driven the Revenue, Finance and Business support teams to meet the company’s objectives.”

MUMBAI: Club FM, the radio division of the Mathrubhumi Group launched its seventh radio station in Allapuzha (Alleppey), Kerala. The station was launched on the birthday of popular Malayalam poet and lyric writer Vayalar Ramavarma.

The station will be aired on the frequency 104.8 FM and will offer authentic information for day to day life and round-the-clock entertainment and music programmes to the Malayalee diaspora.

Popular cine actor Kunchacko Boban is the brand ambassador and face of the newly launched station.

The launch function was attended by KunchackoBoban as Chief Guest, along with M P Veerendra Kumar (Managing Director), P V Chandran (Managing Editor), M V Sreeyams Kumar (Jt Managing Director),R Jaideep ( DGM – Club FM), and BharathiAmma ( wife of VayalarRamavarma),along with other company officials.

Club FM 104.8 sports the tagline ‘Ton Kannakkinu’ that means ‘tonnes of fun’.

Club FM Jt. Managing director Shreyams Kumar said, “Club FM is a sunshine brand, cherished for its zest, positivity and humour, and Club FM 104.8 will also share the same qualities. We have put in exhaustive research in identifying the station’s positioning and developed a programming mix that will deliver an enjoyable experience for our listeners. We look forward to delight listeners with innovative content and presenters will be an industry first on the radio.”

MUMBAI: The first episode of much anticipated BIG FM show, Muthoot Blue Presents Dhun Badalke Toh Dekho With Vidya Balan saw veteran actresses Shabana Azmi and Neena Gupta, who had a gala time. They spoke their heart out on the show that had a theme of Parental Romance for today.

When Vidya asked Shabana Azmi  on how romantic her husband Javed Sahab is, she shared, “Once while driving by a flower shop, I confessed my love for flowers to Javed Sahab. To my surprise, he bought all the flowers in the shop and presented it to me. It was so beautiful. Few days later, I was upset with him over a disagreement and the romantic man that he is, sent me a message, ‘Ussi makaam par kal mujhko dekh ke tanha, bohot udaas hue phool bechne waale’, reminiscing the incident we cherished together.”

Further, on being questioned on parental romance, Neena Gupta told Vidya, “It is sad that our society believes in an age limit for romance. One cannot romance if grown old, especially if you are a mother. Also, in most of the cases, parents don’t express their love to each other out of awkwardness and fear of being judged. This needs to be changed.”

Talking about whether she felt embarrassed getting married when Masaba was a young girl, she added, “Yes, I felt a bit of embarrassment when I was getting married. I worried how my daughter would react to my situation. Truth be told, I was in love at the same point of time, which is kind of precious. The feeling of embarrassment faded away after a point of time.”

Besides, Dhun Badal ke Toh Dekho was launched yesterday and has various partners on board like Muthoot Fincorp as Presenting partner, MX Player as the OTT streaming partner, VWash Plus by Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. as Co-powered partner, Tracer shoes as the Sports and Fitness partner, Senco Gold & Diamonds as design partners and Imagica as Vacation partners respectively.

Speaking about various brands associating with the show, BIG FM Thwink BIG Country Head Sunil Kumaran said, “BIG FM’s new positioning of Dhun Badal Ke toh Dekho has received an overwhelming response from listeners and advertisers from across the country. Credible brands partnering with the show Muthoot Blue presents Dhun Badal Ke Toh Dekho with Vidya Balan speaks volumes about the radio network’s content capabilities, its reach and excellent communication with the masses. We are really excited to be launching this one of its kind show which has become the talk of the town since its announcement.”

Dhun Badalke Toh Dekho with Vidya Balan aims to put light on social and taboo issues. It will be aired on BIG FM every weekday evening from 7 pm to 9 pm, with repeat telecast on Saturday and Sunday. A special highlights segment named Muthoot Blue presents Dhun Badal ke toh Dekho with Vidya Balan - SPOTLIGHT, will be aired across Monday to Friday between 1pm to 2pm. and will have celebrities, who will chat with Vidya on the social issues.

MUMBAI: 93.5 RED FM has added six more awards to its kitty at the Afaqs! Mi Awards for innovation in Programming and Marketing. The award ceremony took place on Wednesday 27th, March 2019 at Le Meridien, Gurugram. The Media Innovation Awards seeks to recognize path-breaking innovative practices or initiatives which helps publishers and broadcasters take the business into the future. At the ceremony, RED FM won 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze awards.

For Programming Innovation, RED FM won Gold for the show- #AskRashmi. The show was hosted by RED FM’s Morning No.1 RJ Raunac and Robot Rashmi, the world’s first-ever Hindi speaking humanoid robot. The robot interacted with the callers and responded to their questions on topics like politics, environment, road safety etc. RED FM’s Maha Thappa activity received a Silver. The activity is a people’s choice award where the listeners from the cities vote for their favourite places and services; the most voted in the city is honoured with RED FM’s approval stamp, Thappa. 21 Days was awarded with a Bronze which was led by RED FM’s RJ Mandee and RJ Kabir from Pune. The initiative was on water waste. The two RJs enquired about the leakage which was happening in their city for the past 16 years. Mandee and Kabir decided to act like an alarm clock for a good 21 days for the staff in charge and had fixed the leak.

For Marketing Innovation, RED FM won a Gold for Mumbai Ki plastic surgery which was led by RED FM’s RJ Malishka popularly known as Mumbai Ki Rani to make Mumbai a plastic free city. The activity aimed to get plastic into RED FM’s truck which went around the city collecting all the plastic waste and finally reached Pune for recycling the plastic collected.

Riders Music Festival and Yellow Taxi Music Festival which are RED FM’s annual intellectual properties received 2 Bronze awards. Riders Music Festival was a celebration of the spirit of Bikes, Music, and Brotherhood. Popular artists such as Mame Khan, Burudu, Raja Kumari, Divine, Bhuvan Bam, Shirley Sethia, Lucky Ali, Nucleya had performed making it the one stop destination for both the biking and the non-biking community. With Yellow Taxi Music Project- RED FM brought back folk artists together on one stage, to redefine live contemporary folk music scenario in Kolkata. Artists like Tirtha Bhattacharya, Kartik Das Baul, Fiddler’s Green, Nizami Bandhu and The Manganiyer Seduction. The festival left an imprint on Kolkata’s cultural landscape.

Speaking about the awards won, RED FM COO Nisha Narayanan said, “We at RED FM are honoured to have won these awards at the Afaqs! Media Innovation awards for Publishers and Broadcasters. At RED FM, creativity and innovation in content formats and providing newer experiences for our listeners is always deeply embedded in our heart. RED FM is humbled to have received such tremendous support from the community. It is a great achievement and I am very proud of all the efforts that got us these wins. The strength of RED FM lies in innovative ideas and aggressive thinking that we believe in. Our team at RED looks forward to a greater volume of awards in the coming years too Bajaate Raho!” 

The jury for the Afaqs! Media Innovation awards 2019 were Deepali Naair Director, Marketing - India and South Asia IBM, Divya Karani, CEO, Dentsu X, Raghuvesh Sarup, CMO India, Microsoft, Rahul Pansare Head Marketing Communications and PR DCA India Automobiles, Rathi Gangappa, CEO, Starcom India, Sapna Chadha, Marketing Director, Southeast Asia and India, Sidharth Rao, CEO and Co-founder, Webchutney Google, Tushar Vyas, President Growth and Transformation, South Asia, Group M.

MUMBAI: Clocking 30 million listeners per week, NRJ International commercial radio brand has been the ultimate unrivalled leader in the French radio space.  Having opened six franchised radio stations in past two years, NRJ brand has strengthened its international footprint since its advent in 1981. It is the first French commercial radio station founded by Jean Paul.

Speaking on this remarkable growth, NRJ GROUP Founder and CEO Jean Paul Baudecroux exclaims, "The launch of six franchised stations, within last two years, illustrates attractiveness of the NRJ brand and its unique capacity to leverage its power in many radio markets.”

NRJGROUP International Activities CEO Richard Mazeret says, “We are delighted to welcome TVR Media and SBS Belgium in the NRJ family and we are confident that the conjugation of NRJ's strike force together with their one market expertise will once more be a success story.”

“We are making our own version of the world's most listened radio station. The results six weeks after launch of NRJ in Denmark are staggering and we show impressive growth week-on-week. The strength of the NRJ name and the positive vibes connected to the brand has played a massive role in these results,” says TVR Media CEO and partner Lars Nielsen.

“Although we could have taken one of our three TV brands, or launched a new radio brand, the choice for the brand NRJ was a positive and conscious decision. The strength of the brand, the power of the group and the proven success made this an easy choice for Sbs,” concludes SBS Belgium CEO Peter Quaghebeur.

Having its foothold 17 countries, NRJ ENERGY has seen rapid international expansion through direct investments or via cooperation agreements, with the implementation of branded stations in seven countries between 1988 and 1998: Switzerland (1988), Germany (1991), Sweden (1993), Austria, French-Speaking Belgium (1994), Finland (1995), and Norway (1998).

Also, since 2000, NRJ has pursued its international development by franchising its brand and savoir-faire via Trademark License Agreements with leading media groups in Bulgaria(2005), Lebanon(2006), Morooco(2016), Russia(2006), Egypt(2017), Cyprus(2017),  Mauritius(2017), Georgia(2017), Dutch-Speaking Belgium(2018) and Denmark(2018).

Well, the growth witnessed by NRJ commercial radio station is noteworthy!

MUMBAI: Radio City, India’s leading radio network enthralled the indie music enthusiasts at the magnificent grand finale night of Radio City Freedom Awards 6, a one of its kind platform that recognizes honors and celebrates the essence of independent music across genres and languages. Path towards the grand finale of RCFA 6, espoused India’s indie music talent with 6 LIVE gigs across 6 cities culminating with an award night in Mumbai yesterday on 28 March 2019. The scintillating finale in Mumbai witnessed some of the country’s best indie artistes and performers like Sanam, Emiway Bantai and Prateek Kuhad, Ankur Tewari bag awards and titles across jury and popular choice categories. The astounding evening celebrated powerhouse performances by Monica Dogra, Emiway Bantai, Antarman and DJ Pash. A marquee property, Radio City Freedom Awards once again lived up to its repute of recognizing and celebrating talents across the Indie music diaspora.

Radio City Freedom Awards has been fronting the indie revolution of being a platform for aspiring musicians from all parts of the country to showcase their extraordinary talent. The sixth season of RCFA garnered a staggering 1,200 entries across 11 categories including Hip Hop/ Rap, Folk Fusion, Rock, Metal and Electronica in the music-based categories. As the excitement amongst its fans reached its peak, Radio City witnessed an unprecedented participation with overwhelming votes from indie music lovers, which is a true reflection of their loyal fan base and the popularity of this unique property. The non-music categories, screened by the jury included Best Video, Best Album Art, Best Young Indie Artist, Best Indie Collaboration and Indie-Genius: Person of the Year awards.

Commenting on the culmination of yet another prolific season, Jagran Prakashan Limited Digital Media COO Rachna Kanwar said, “Radio City Freedom Awards is now undoubtedly the biggest platform for bringing fresh and untapped talent to the forefront. We are truly delighted to have surpassed engagement and participation levels for RCFA 6 with 1200 participants across the country. This is testament to the massive talent pool which India has to offer. It has been an amazing 6-year journey and it fills us with pride to witness the popularity of the awards. As we culminate the power-packed season, a big thank you to our Jury and the entire music community, and especially to the fabulous new talent that never ceases to impress! We are grateful for all the love and support we have received, and look forward to entertaining music lovers with many more seasons to come.”

On winning the Best Pop Artist award SANAM band said, “Our constant need to create new music led us to produce the track, Itni Door and winning the Best Pop Artist award for this original that too from an established platform like Radio City Freedom Awards, definitely gives us a great sense of accomplishment. So many of us, especially our parents, grew up listening to the radio at our homes and its truly amazing how radio, since its inception, has been helping musicians reach out to people, supporting the artiste fraternity. We want to thank everybody who voted for us and we look forward to witnessing more successes for musicians in the future editions of RCFA.”

Amongst winners, Ankur Tewari, the man behind the music supervision of the 18-songs soundtrack from the most loved and famed film, Gully Boy bagged the Skoda Indie-Genius: Person of the Year award. Sanam won The Best Pop Artist (popular choice) award for Itni Door. The hip hop sensation Emiway Bantai won the Best Hip-Hop Artist (popular choice) for Jump Kar. Prateek Kuhad was awarded as the Best Pop Artist (Judges Choice) and Best Video (Judges Choice) for Cold/Mess. RCFA’s checkered list of past winners include now household names such as Divine, Benny Dayal, Parvaaz, Swarathma, Papon, Midival Punditz, The Ska Vengers, Indus Creed, Dualist Inquiry, Donn Bhatt, and The F16s, to name a few. Radio City Freedom Awards has successfully been India’s only platform to pave way for talent in the indie fraternity to create a mark in the mainstream industry.

Winners of Radio City Freedom Awards 6:

MUMBAI: The recently released TAM AdEx data on analysis of political ads, during the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections 2019m saw mixed opinion from industry mains, who saw the growth promising yet less aggressive compared to last election phase in 2014. Radio outsmarted TV and print by a remarkable growth of 14% compared to 2014, while print and television saw a decline of 9% and 83% respectively.

Commenting on the same, ENIL COO Yatish Mehrishi said, “It has not been as aggressive as the last general election, generally political advertisements would start months before the model code of conduct, relatively it is much delayed and not so heavy. We hoping the coming months of April and May will see much more aggressive campaign.”

“Contrary to the belief that election advertising is all incremental, it’s not the case as the Government advertising stops once the model code of conduct kicks in, So it is not all incremental,” Mehrishi added.

MY FM Business Head Rahul Namjoshi also commented on the stupendous growth. He said, “It is too early to say because political campaigns have not yet started, but surely it has to grow manifolds than the last time. This is because after 2014, additional radio stations have up come in almost all the cities, even we (MY FM) have gone from 17 to 30. The radio reach has increased and it should grow up by 30% - 40% than the currently witnessed, 14%.”

BIG FM Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer Asheesh Chatterjee highlighted how radio, as a medium, is far better than print and TV during the election phase. He exclaimed, “In terms of CPT or ROI, radio stands far ahead of TV and print, while the cost is no comparison with print. A good quality jingle in audio is very easy to make and also localised as well as easy to change. But, you can’t do those things for TV as it has too much loudness and clutter.”

“Political parties spend 15 to 20% of the ads purchased in radio. The belief with the medium is very high. Radio is a very beautiful medium when it comes to high frequency, high tenure, localisation, impact, habit change, knowledge, infotainment, RJ led conversations and that’s the benefit we see during the election phase. I would urge them that radio delivers for them,” Chatterjee added.

Table: Indexed growth of Political Ads on TV, Print & Radio (Y 2014* & Y 2019*)

 But the stupendous growth witnessed by radio was not instant as the medium saw a lesser growth in the initial weeks of 2019 as it was least preferred to only rise massively after the sixth week. But, the political ad insertions recorded the highest on Radio from seventh week onwards up to the 10th week when compared to other mediums.

While TV recorded highest ad insertion for political ads during fifth and eleventh week of year 2019, print topped during first four as well as the sixth week of 2019.

Check out graph below

Lastly, when it comes to political parties, BJP’s domination stands out as the national party has ruled all the three mediums – radio, print and TV with more than 50% share in 2019. Congress had to settle at second position with a mere 14% share.

With very less time left for Lok Sabha Elections 2019, political parties are leaving no stone unturned to promote their candidates. It will be therefore interesting to see the political ads game on the three mediums and if radio sustains its lead in the coming weeks.

MUMBAI: BIG FM’s show, Dhun Badal ke Toh Dekho with Vidya Balan is garnering acclaim for its content surrounding social awakening. And the latest episode had Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar had a chat with Vidya on bullying and the importance of parents to educate their kids on this issue, persisting in the society.

On being questioned about if she was ever bullied as well her thoughts on it, she quickly responded, “I have most definitely faced it when I was growing up. Bullying was a large part of our educational system, especially when I was in school as nobody recognized the repercussion that follows the act. In fact, I lost a friend in school because she was thoroughly bullied. That’s when it came as a big shock to all of us on what the repercussions of making fun of someone can be. Personally, there were a few girls who used to pick on me. I used to feel bad and discuss things back at home for which my parents always said that your beauty lies in what you feel for yourself. The tremendous support provided by my parents never let these bullies affect me mentally. I really condemn bullying. Parents should educate their kids about bullying so that they don’t end up being offenders, which usually happens in most of the cases. Bullying in itself is a vicious cycle which needs to be broken.”

Focussing on bringing to light social issues, Muthoot Blue presents BIG FM’s Dhun Badal ke Toh Dekho with Vidya Balan is aired every weekday from 7pm to 9pm, with a repeat telecast on Saturday, Sunday. Additionally, a special highlight segment - Dhun Badal ke Toh Dekho with Vidya Balan – SPOTLIGHT is also aired from Monday to Friday between 1pm to 2pm.

MUMBAI: With just a few days left for Lok Sabha Elections 2019, Radio City has announced a voting awareness campaign, Votenalli Maja Ide with the objective of increasing voter turnout in Bengaluru. By supporting BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), the campaign aims to enhance voter participation in Bengaluru that sees the lowest voter turnout when compared with others.

Radio City Bengaluru’s RJ Rajas and RJ Sonu are appointed as BBMP’s brand ambassadors to become the only RJs from Kannada’s radio stations in Bengaluru to be nominated as the district icons. As the face of BBMP, the RJs aim to amplify the need to vote, by visiting colleges and attending meetings. The jocks have also been a part of the election literacy club inauguration at various colleges.

As part of the on-air plan, Radio City Bengaluru has highlighted the election toll free number 1950 and aired radio dramas, speaking on the importance of elections, besides sharing crucial information about the voting process and the facilities made available for the physically challenged citizens. Karnataka Chief Electoral Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar shared with listeners the significance of EVM, VVPAT and Cvigil app, amongst other information. The on-ground activation of the campaign included flash mobs at various locations across the city.

The campaign that translates into –‘Voting is fun!’ saw Radio City Bengaluru RJs urging listeners to prioritise voting over their vacation plans in order to establish the importance of exercising their voting rights. They will also gratify few listeners with a holiday package. To add to this drive, Radio City has also created an election song, which is sung by popular playback singer Abhinandan Mahishale.

To check out the election song by Radio City Bengaluru, click here.

MUMBAI: Music Broadcast Limited ranked #sixth on this year’s Best Workplaces in Asia, 2019.  Owing to its best career management, employees love working at Music Broadcast Limited. There are many others in the list released by Great Place to Work’s Best Workplaces in Asia 2019 list, released today. 

Commenting on the occasion, Jagran Group President Apurva Purohit said, “We are delighted to be recognized as one of the Best Workplaces in Asia 2019. We strive to create an atmosphere that inspires every individual to bring their best and empower them to take decisions that leads to the success of the organization. Our standing within the top ten companies is a tribute to our culture that celebrates freedom of expression, collaboration, individuality and diversity.”

According to Great Place to Work, “A great place to work is one in which employees no matter who they are and what they do for the organization are having a consistently positive experience of trusting their leaders, enjoying the people they work with, and having pride in what they do. It is an honor for Music Broadcast Limited to be recognized by their employees as an organization that fosters respect, trust and fairness.”

Jagran Group HR Head Sagorika Kantharia also said, “We are a people first organization and have been at the forefront of offering opportunity, purpose and growth to all our employees. We are thrilled to have achieved this feat and are motivated to stay on top of the rankings in the years to come.”

The study measured almost 1,200 eligible organizations that successfully created high-trust and high-performing cultures in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions. More than 1.6 million employees participated in the survey studies in 8 Asia-region countries where Great Place to Work is represented.

MUMBAI: Jaipur’s famous morning show radio jock, RJ Devangana has recently moved to 89.1 Radio 4 FM. The station known for their hit gaane has welcomed Devangana with open arms.

Her transition phase from FM Tadka to 89.1 Radio 4 FM has been really hard. She explains on what she’s looking forward for, “Music knowledge is something I am keen on learning and yes my shift to Dubai was difficult as I had my heart in Jaipur.”

“Kuch pane ke liye aapko kuch khona padta hai is something that has always been there in my mind. There is a perfect time for everything and I feel that learning is a never-ending process,” added Devangana who was lost in nostalgia.

She would be going on air mid-April and is currently spending her time exploring, she recollects her travel diaries, “I am a big time traveler, it’s in my blood. As I entered Dubai, I wanted to go to Burj Khalifa and it was in my bucket list to sip a coffee there. We saw this fountain musical show, enjoyed at Meena Bazar. Dubai is beautiful and I had loads of fun.”

Of course, on moving from an Indian radio station to now working at an International radio, Devangana has a lot to share about her experiences. She said, “Indian radio is completely different when compared to International radio. In India, we talk about social issues but here we are totally into Entertainment. This one is a commercial radio station, that’s where the difference comes.”

It was last year when RJ Devangana had won, RJ of the year title for non-metro, where she met a few bunch of people from Dubai radio station. This led to the idea of moving to Dubai.

“I had never played on moving out of India like this. To break monotony, I took upthe new learning process. I love to be in that rollercoaster and explore different aspects in terms of entertainment. Now, I am going to entertain the whole of UAE,” said an excited Devangana.

Talking about the content she would be speaking on her station, she revealed, “I would inform my audience about new travel places, which depends on the programming part because it’s a commercial station. Since its Dubai market, you can’t talk much about people, politics. Besides, there are a dozens of do's and don’ts. So we would love to stick to entertainment, giving new segments a fresh feel.”

In terms of work process, an international radio station differs. We asked Devangana if the briefing sessions were already done. On this, she said, “Yes they are done. According to me people over here spread positive energy. Ours is a contemporary hit radio station, where we play different sets of music, which happens to be a way to connect with people. Dubai is mainly into entertainment which is the first priority of the radio station.”

Moving to 89.1 Radio 4 FM Devangana still feels the Indian connect. She exclaimed, “The best part about Indian radio is you can speak your heart out. I do find a lot of Indian population in Dubai. People have helped me here in terms of accommodation and I do find positive vibes coming in.”

We all know the RJ has been into vlogging. On being asked about her next, she revealed, “Lifestyle vlogging is something that I am looking for because Indian lifestyle is different from the international scene. I would like our Indian people to update themselves in terms of fashion, tourism and much more.”

Through her vlogs, Devangana would update her audience on YouTube, on-air and social media.

Well, we at Radioandmusic congratulate her on her move to 89.1 Radio 4 FM.

MUMBAI: With voting campaigns speeding up and a very few days left for the actual voting day, popular radio station, 93.5 RED FM is no way behind when it comes to creating awareness around voting. And through it’s national campaign, Ab Watan Dabayega Button, the radio station has been successful in reaching the village of Dalelpur, whose residents had boycotted the General Election, 2019. RED FM’s clan convinced the people there to cast their vote, which indeed is a noteworthy achievement by the radio station that has a nationwide following.

RED FM’s Morning No.1 host RJ Raunac, who is also the Youth Ambassador of Delhi, appointed by Election Commission of India, decided to help the villagers to be a part of the election by understanding the root cause of the problem.  RED FM has arranged for transportation for the villagers on the day of the election.

Spreading awareness on voting, RED FM COO Nisha Narayanan said, “At RED FM, we want every individual to take equal responsibility to be able to choose their leaders of tomorrow. We have partnered with the Election Commission of India to increase and encourage people to enroll themselves for the elections. RED FM has always stood up to bring a positive change in the society through its campaigns. This initiative endeavored to extend a helping hand to the people of Dalelpur and encouraged them to take part in the General Elections 2019.”

Gautam Buddh Nagar D.M. B. N. Singh also said, “I thank RED FM and RJ Raunac for bringing up the issue and appreciate how RED FM played a vital role in the voter awareness campaign by encouraging Dalelpur villagers to begin voting. It was truly a remarkable job empowered with a positive and change-making thought for the nation.”

It was local resident, Aastha’s story that garnered nationwide support. A national level award winner in power-lifting, Aastha had lost hope when it comes to the basic amenities of her village Dalelpur. Listening to her story on RED FM, supporters from all over the country joined hands to help her. Mukesh, Mr. India 2012 from Dronacharaya Institute volunteered to offer a year-long free training to Aastha and Mr. Rahul Verma from Uday Foundation offered to bear one year of food and accommodation expenses to her.

While the nation is observing massive political campaigns, RED FM has tied up with the Election Commission of India for this national initiative, thus aiming for a milestone voter turnout. The initiative will specially focus on educating and resolving queries of youngsters who feel voting doesn't make a difference. The objective is to keep in mind the first-time voters - people who have just turned 18 or people who haven't voted despite crossing 18 because they think voting doesn't make a difference. RED FM will speak out loud about the fact that every vote counts in building a better and brighter future for India.