MxMIndia

Tag: Fever 104 FM

  • The interviews will feature actress RichaChadda, athlete Namrata Purohit, celebrity Stylist Sanjana Batra, comedienne Kaneez Surka and chef Bani Nanda

    HT Media and Koovs expand strategic partnership

     

     

    Koovs plc, the London-listed fashion online business, has joined forces with strategic partner and investor HT Media to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, by profiling five amazing young women, famous in India in five very different fields.

     

    The daily features will leverage the reach of The Hindustan Times and its Fever 104 FM radio station with profiles in The Hindustan Times HTCity section and radio interviews running parallel on the evening primetime Fever 104 FM daily.

     

    This new initiative is part of the continuing strategic partnership between Koovs and HT Media.HT Media Group has invested £3 million and holds a 6.16 per cent stake in Koovs plc. Said Piyush Gupta, chief financial officer at HT Media: “This is a great initiative to engage our young audience.  We have a huge belief in the long-term investment prospect with Koovs.”

     

    Added Mary Turner, CEO Koovs: “This campaign brings together the reach of HT Media’s channels with Koovs following to provide the right platform to profile these dynamic and inspiring young women.”

     

  • The alliance is for sales, integrated solutions and activations

    94.3 My FM, Fever 104 FM ink strategic sales alliance

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    94.3 My FM & Fever 104 FM have entered into a strategic sales alliance, which is aimed towards leveraging each other’s strengths and market leadership to offer unmatched value proposition to the radio advertisers nationally. The alliance will offer advertisers the best of both metro & non-metro markets while allowing both the radio brands to sell stations they are not present in. The alliance is for sales, integrated solutions and activations.

     

    Mona Jain

    “The alliance will obviously benefit them. Geographical expansion being the main one. Today, everyone is getting into such alliances and collaborations which means there is no monopoly. Hence, making it a seller’s market and not a buyer’s market,” said Mona Jain, CEO, Vivaki Exchange.

     

    The radio business of DB Corp Ltd, 94.3 My FM is present across 17 growing cities of India ie Jaipur, Jodhpur, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Jalandhar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Udaipur, Gwalior, Indore, Ajmer, Amritsar, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Raipur, Kota and Jabalpur. While Fever 104 FM, owned by HT Media Ltd, is present in the four largest metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The purpose of this association is to leverage on the strong local understanding that My FM has in the growing markets for corporate advertisers and My FM advertisers will benefit from Fever’s strengths in the metro cities. The main idea behind the partnership is that the customers should benefit by having the best of both – national reach and local relevance.

     

    Harrish Bhatia

    Harrish M Bhatia, CEO 94.3 My FM said, “It’s a win-win situation for both of us as we can accomplish more this way. Nobody understands the pulse of the growing tier-2 and tier-3 markets better than 94.3 My FM and with Fever 104 FM’s strength in the metros we will be able to provide our advertisers a great platform to leverage their brands.”

     

    According to the official statement, 94.3 My FM is the largest radio station network of the growing India (17 tier-2 & tier-3 cities) attracting over 5 million radio listeners (as per IRS, which is similar to Fever’s reach as per IRS).

     

    Harshad Jain

    Commenting on the alliance Harshad Jain, Business Head, Radio & Entertainment, HT Media said, “With this alliance we aim to provide the best of both the worlds for our advertisers. The combination of our strengths in key metro cities and My FM’s strong presence in growing Indian cities will be a great proposition for any advertiser in the radio category. The expertise of each of the brands will be leveraged to the best to offer unmatched radio solutions.”

     

    “The thought process behind the alliance has been to fill in the gaps in the market. Clients come to us who want certain networks while some want a pan India approach. This will help us reach out to both,” Mr Bhatia told MxM India, adding, “We did a drill and found out the challenges ahead, now let’s see how its goes. We have just announced the alliance.”

     

  • Fever 104 FM and Reliance Commercial Finance has launched Fever iDream, which will give budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to earn Rs 25 lakh

    Fever 104 FM & Reliance Commercial Finance launch iDream

    By A Correspondent

     

    Fever 104 FM and Reliance Commercial Finance has launched Fever iDream, which will give budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to earn Rs 25 lakh. Fever 104 FM, which is said to reach over 15 million listeners across key metros, aims to provide a platform that will enable people to realise their business aspirations.

     

    Launched on September 3, 2012, Fever iDream is a campaign that gives listeners a chance to present a great business idea. The best idea will earn Rs 25 lakh as seed capital to pursue their own venture. Reliance Commercial Finance will sponsor the funding and will give an opportunity to listeners to make their dreams of starting their own SME business come true.

     

    All the listeners have to do is log onto www.fever.fm/idream, fill in basic details and submit their business idea. The jury members will evaluate the submitted ideas and shortlist the ten best ideas from each of the four cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. From these 40 contestants, four finalists will further get shortlisted and awarded Rs 2 lakh each. The final round will be broadcast on TV (Bloomberg TV India) where the best deserving candidate will earn Rs 25 lakh.

     

    The jury includes Vivek Khanna, Business Head – Mint, K V Srinivasan – CEO, Reliance commercial finance and Harshad Jain – Business Head, Fever 104 FM. They bring with them years of operational and strategic experience and will be involved in identifying the brightest business idea.

     

    Mr Jain said, “Fever iDream is the first such radio innovation where common people can fulfil their business aspirations and become their own boss. The concept is aimed towards helping budding entrepreneurs who have the capability but lack funds. Reliance Commercial Finance and Fever iDream can change lives and I am sure it will be a huge success”.

     

    Mr Srinivasan said, “There is an entrepreneur in all of us. However there are only a few who dare to dream big, who want to start their own venture, and who have the ability to make it. Radio is a mobile medium and offers cost-effective reach. Moreover we have UTV Bloomberg as the broadcast partner. Together, we want to reach out to a large number of entrepreneurial people and enable the most deserving to live his/her ambition.”

     

  • Listeners will have to share a business idea and send in their entries, the best business idea will be awarded Rs 25 lakh to make their dream come true

    Fever FM launches iDream for aspiring entrepreneurs

    By A Correspondent

     

    Fever 104 FM has recently launched iDream. Sponsored by Reliance Commercial Finance, Fever iDream aims to give an opportunity to listeners to make their dream of starting their own SME business come true. It is said to be an attempt to fulfill the aspirations of the talented who have the ability to make it big as an entrepreneur but, lack financial support.

     

    Listeners will have to share a business idea and send in their entries, the best business idea will be awarded Rs 25 lakh to make their dream come true. The campaign will run on Fever 104 FM Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata.

     

    Harshad Jain, Business Head, Radio and Entertainment, HT Media said: “It has always been our endeavour to make the radio listening experience special by making it more innovative and interactive. Fever iDream is the first such radio innovation where people can fulfill their business dreams and be their own boss. The concept is aimed towards helping budding entrepreneurs who have the capability but lack funds. Reliance Commercial Finance and Fever iDream can change lives and I am sure it will be a huge success.”

     

  • In his new role, Mr Chandra will have end to end responsibility of finance and related operational aspects of Radio business

    Prateek Chandra appointed CFO @ Fever FM

    By A Correspondent

     

    Prateek Chandra has been appointed as CFO, Fever 104 FM. Mr Chandra has spent more than 4 years with HT Media and in his last role as Senior Financial Strategist, he has been instrumental in adding value on various strategic initiatives and successfully driving several projects including IPO of HMVL. Mr Chandra will be replacing Ritesh Handa who, after 18 months of tenure as CFO, Fever, has decided to move on to pursue other opportunities.

     

    Prior to joining HT, Mr Chandra had spent almost 6 years with KPMG and EXL handling different aspects of Finance function. In his new role, Mr Chandra will report to Harshad Jain, Business Head, Radio with a functional reporting to Piyush Gupta, Group CFO. He will be a part of the Leadership Team of Radio Business, and have end-to-end responsibility of finance and related operational aspects of Radio business.

     

  • The New York Festival platform is not new to Mr Sharma as last year Fever 104 FM was recognized and facilitated with 2 Gold grand trophies

    Fever’s Gaurav Sharma on New York Fest jury

    By A Correspondent

     

    New York festival, world’s best radio programming and promotions award, scheduled to be held in June will have Gaurav Sharma as one of the jurors this year, along with other Industry veterans from across the globe.

     

    Popularly known as ‘G’, Mr Sharma is the group programming head at Fever 104 FM and is the mastermind behind various breakthrough innovations at Fever 104 FM. The New York Festival platform is not new to Mr Sharma as he was here last year when Fever 104 FM was recognized and facilitated with 2 Gold grand trophies for  ‘Best sound’ & ‘Best Editing’ for its unique radio epic – Radio Ramayana.

     

    A penchant for music and a voice to croon makes Mr Sharma a true blue creative programming guy. He is an MBA and has extensive experience in leading creative & radio teams. Mr Sharma is always full of ideas and innovations and spontaneity is nature’s gift to him.

     

    Fever 104 FM, operated by HT Media Ltd, is available in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata with a vibrant, youthful, creative and interactive programming. HT Media Ltd’s association with Virgin brings global strengths and expertise in radio markets across the world including Bangkok, South Africa, Paris and Malaysia. With the best quality and most quantity of music on-air, constantly playing only the top contemporary hits Fever 104 FM is synonymous with less talk,  more music.

     

  • The Business Head – Radio and Entertainment, HT Media Ltd speaks about on the consistency of his station's leadership status in Delhi, Phase III plans, radio play Gandhi and more

    Differentiation & Innovation key to success, says Harshad Jain

    As Business Head – Radio and Entertainment of HT Media, a role he assumed last year, Harshad Jain has his role tailormade for excitement. The FM Radio market may be small when compared to television or print, but given the nature of competition is a challenging play. In conversation with MxMIndia’s Robin Thomas, Mr Jain spoke about Fever 104 FM’s radio play – Gandhi, the consistency of the FM station’s leadership position in Delhi, Phase III plans and much more. Prior to joining Fever 104 FM, Mr Jain worked with companies like Pepsico, Worldspace and Airtel to name a few.

     

    Fever 104 FM recently launched radio play – Gandhi… What is the kind of response you have been receiving?

    The radio play, Gandhi, has done extremely well. It is currently aired at three different day time slots, and we have extremely good sponsors – Maruti Suzuki, Union Bank of India and Tata chemicals. We have been inundated with thousands of SMSes and calls, along with over 3,000 plus responses on Facebook wherein people have appreciated our initiative. And I do believe this has been one of the finest innovations in the radio industry.

     

    Do radio plays still strike a chord with listeners?

    Absolutely, because it drives a lot of appointment listenership. Today, the issue with the radio industry is the fact that it is tough to create differentiation. A radio drama like Gandhi or Ramayan is a high end production which drives appointment listening and, it is very relevant for any target group.

     

    According to RAM, Fever 104 FM Delhi consistently claimed the No 1 spot… What, would you say, are the factors that led to this success?

    Today, we are the single largest radio station in Delhi, not only among the private FM radio stations, but we have managed to go ahead of AIR FM Gold – we are the undisputed number one FM radio station in Delhi. The key reason for our success in Delhi is because we are a station which is very much integrated in Delhi. We believe that we have got a differentiated product offering in Delhi, we do a very high level of innovation and we’ve got an extremely strong local connect which makes us very powerful competition.

     

    IRS, on the other hand, seems to have a different story to tell… What would you say are the takeaways from IRS Q4 numbers?

    IRS is a readership survey; it is not a survey for radio. Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) on the other hand is an exclusive survey only for Radio. Second, IRS is a quarterly survey whereas RAM is a weekly survey. Third, the detailing in terms of RAM is excruciating as it provides time-band listenership, number of listeners by show, cumulative listenership, time-spent listening, therefore RAM is a measurement system meant to track a certain kind of medium. IRS is principally a tool for print media, it is about readership survey and a readership survey cannot do justice to a listenership survey.

     

    What, according to you, worked in Delhi but did not work in Kolkata and Bengaluru? What is the learning from Delhi for the remaining markets?

    The learning from Delhi comes from the fact that we need to be high on innovation, we need to have a differentiated product, and a very strong local connect.

     

    How has the Fever 104 FM Digisound impacted listenership?
    We used to be a distant number five in Mumbai, now we are a dominant number three player in the city. This proves that the strategy has worked positively for the station.

     

    What are your FM Phase III plans? Do you plan to expand to newer markets? Any specific cities or towns you are eyeing?

    We will participate in FM Phase III, we are still strategizing and only after thought through consideration, will we do what is required. We do have our expansions plans as to which markets we need to expand and depending on the how the viability and economic model works, we will expand.

     

    How active is you online presence – your website, Facebook and Twitter? How do you engage listeners off air?

    We do a lot of activities online, a lot of our RJ promotions and other engagement activities are done online. Digital is, therefore, a key part of our strategic mix in terms of reaching out to a larger audience, and we use it very effectively.

     

    How has the year been so far for Fever? And what would you say are the challenges and concerns facing the radio industry today?
    It has been a good year for us so far. We have entered the year very well, and we are looking at very strong sustained growth. As far as the challenges are concerned, there are couple of challenges – lack of differentiation in content is one of them. Second, the size of the advertising category is relatively small which needs to grow dramatically in the next couple of years, and third, the licence fees needs to be reduced.

     

  • Fever 104 FM proudly supports Delhi Daredevils for the fifth consecutive year and Mumbai Indians for the third year in a row

    Fever is Official Radio Partner of Delhi & Mumbai IPL teams

    By A Correspondent

     

    The teams have changed, the stakes have changed, but Delhi Daredevils’ and Mumbai Indians’ official radio partner in this IPL season has not changed, it is Fever 104 FM yet again. Through changing times and constant churn in the world of IPL, the partnership between GMR Sports and Fever 104 FM has stayed unmoved and ‘not out’!

     

    Fever 104 FM, country’s most sports friendly radio station proudly supports Delhi Daredevils for the fifth consecutive year and Mumbai Indians for the third year in a row.

    For this special association, Fever 104 FM has planned an on-air festival of cricket with some innovative programming to help bring the heroes closer to their fans in both the cities. From giving away match tickets every 104th minute, meet and greet with the players to original IPL merchandise, Fever 104 FM promises to give its listeners experiences that money can’t buy.

     

    While Mumbai campaign talks about ‘RJ Sidhu aur Mumbaikars Honge Ek’ where the evening show RJ will bring together the city to cheer for their home team; the Delhi station is running a campaign of ‘Daredevils Ke Damaad’, where the on-air contest winner gets an exceptional treatment during the match. Another unique campaign by the Delhi station is the ‘Junior Daredevils’ which involves an on-air battles of parents and the winner’s child gets selected to walk with the players till the field.

     

    Fever 104 FM believes the game to be a perfect fit with its brand positioning and beliefs inDelhiand Mumbai. Cricket is a religion across the country and there can be no better opportunity than IPL to leverage this advantage. The radio station has always presented the game in a very distinct manner and intends to take the cricket madness further and amplifying the same on radio with a strong local connect.

     

    Mr. Harshad Jain, Business Head- Radio and Entertainment, Fever 104 FM, said: “It is an honour for us to partner with two of the best IPL teams – Delhi Daredevil and Mumbai Indians. The format of the game is very entertaining and highly active. Our programming initiatives, too, are equally fun and exciting. We aim to provide a platform for our listeners that will help them engage with the IPL team members in an enjoyable manner”.

     

  • The contest is simple and effective! Readers have to find a mnemonic dot that appears in two advertisements in the Hindustan Times every day

    HT innovates to increase ad engagement

    By A Correspondent

     

    Given the continual struggle of advertisers to grab attention of consumers, Hindustan Times has launched an initiative to engage its readers with the advertisements appearing in the newspaper daily.

     

    Called ‘Spot the Dot”, Readers have to find a mnemonic dot that appears in two advertisements in the Hindustan Times every day and message the brand names to a shortcode. Respondents stand to win attractive daily and weekly prizes such as watches and laptops.

     

    “As leaders in our field, we have always strived to innovate and set new benchmarks. We believe the advertisements are an important part of the newspaper, and a reader looks forward to the combined package every morning. This contest further increases engagement with the ads, and the response has been quite remarkable,” said Shantanu Bhanja, VP Marketing, HT Media.

     

    Dinesh Jain, CEO, Hover Automotive India, an advertiser with HT, added: “Spot the Dot is a unique initiative undertaken by HT, which helps in building brand recall and creating buzz around the brand. We applaud HT for this initiative.” Promoted every day in the paper through innovative ads, the promo has generated buzz amongst the readers as well as the advertiser fraternity.

     

    HT Media Limited is one of India’s foremost media companies, and home to three leading newspapers in the country in the English, Hindi and Business news segments – ‘Hindustan Times’ (English daily), ‘Hindustan’ (Hindi daily, through a subsidiary) and ‘Mint’ (business daily). ‘Hindustan Times’ was started in 1924 and has a more than an 85-year history as one of India’s leading newspapers. The Company also has four FM radio stations – Fever 104 FM inDelhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

     

    The Company has also made a foray into the Internet space through its subsidiary Firefly e-Ventures Limited and has launched successful portals, www.Shine.com, www.HTCampus.com, www.Desimartini.com. These are in addition to the existing websites livemint.com, livehindustan.com and hindustantimes.com.

     

  • Mr Uppal confirmed to MxM that he has quit Fever 104 FM and joined Red 93.5 FM

    Rajat Uppal is the new GM Marketing, Red FM

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    Rajat Uppal has quit Fever 104 FM and moved to Red 93.5 FM as General Manager- Marketing. On being contacted Mr Uppal confirmed the news to MxMIndia.

     

    In his new role, Mr Uppal will be responsible for strengthening the brand “RED” and drive all marketing initiatives of Red FM. Mr Uppal comes with close to 10 years of marketing experience across Liquor and Media Conglomerates like UB Group, Radico Khaitan, Reliance BIG Entertainment (BIG FM) & Hindustan Times (Fever 104 FM).

     

    Prior to working with Red FM, he was the Deputy General Manager- Marketing at Fever 104 FM (HT Media Ltd.)

     

    At Fever 104 FM, he was working as part of the national marketing team and handling marketing for Fever 104 FM, Fever Entertainment( Events Division) & FAT Productions, a new business venture of creating, aggregating and selling content for all digital media including, but not limited to, Mobile, Internet, radio, TV, CDs and other similar storage hardware devices. He was also responsible for managing key national campaigns for trade & consumer audiences besides spear heading online, digital & new marketing innovations.

     

  • The radio play is aimed to make the youngsters understand that there is an alternate way of thinking for everyday situation they come across

    Fever FM’s new radio play – Gandhi

    By A Correspondent

     

    After the success of Ramayana, Fever FM will air a new radio play, Gandhi beginning March 12. Fever FM is said to have put together a story for the youth that revisits the life of Mahatma Gandhi. The radio play, Gandhi, is aimed to make the youngsters understand that there is an alternate way of thinking for everyday situation they come across.

     

    With celebrated artists such as Farooq Sheikh, Rajit Kapoor, Heeba Shah and Sachin Khedekar as a part of the play, Gandhi promises to be one of the most ambitious and out of the box radio projects of all time. Farooq Sheikh will be voicing the role of Bharat, Rajit Kapoor voices Gandhi, Sachin Khedekar voices Ambedkar and Heeba Shahand voiced Kasturba Gandhi.

     

    Harshad Jain, Business Head, Radio & Entertainment, HT Media Ltd said: “Mahatma Gandhi needs no introduction. He is one of the greatest men this country could possibly ever have. Through Gandhi, we are paying a tribute to the Father of Our Nation and reliving the life of the man for the present day world. This is another ‘first’ that Fever 104 FM brings for its listeners. Packaged with great music and superior production quality, I’m sure it will be loved and much appreciated across age groups”.

     

    Fever FM’s radio play, Gandhi is sliced over 60 episodes. The first episode will be aired on March 12. Gandhi will be a two month long series with episodes airing every day.

     

    Fever 104 FM (radio operated by HT Media Ltd.) is available in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata with a vibrant, youthful, creative and interactive programming, that just lets the music play! HT Media Ltd’s association with Virgin brings global strengths and expertise in radio markets across the world including Bangkok, South Africa,ParisandMalaysia. With the best quality and most quantity of music on-air, constantly playing only the top contemporary hits Fever 104 FM is synonymous with less talk, more music.