Friday, January 13, 2006

Mumbai Local Mirchi

I say Radio Mirchi should look into penetrating the Mumbai Locals.

A simple yet profitable avenue is awaiting to be exploited.


Whats da the potential? 6 million
captive listeners a day, or 180 million a month. These listeners have no choice to jump to the next station when an ad comes.

The potential average airtime exposure: 180 million listening to 10 min each time = 1.8 billion minutes every month.

Typical airtime sold on radio: 16 hours a day * 12 breaks an hour * 1.5 min commercial * 30 days = 8640 min per month

Airtime advertising charges: Rs. 80,000 per min that translates to Rs. 69 crores a month??

Lets see the cost and operational issues:
No of radio+ speakers : 3000 trains * 12 coaches * 10 speakers = 3,60,000

Capital cost
Cost for speakers 3,60,000 speakers * 150 = rs. 54 million
Cost of installing 3,60,000 speakers * 50 = rs. 18 million
Cost of being an FM player :
license fee - very low,
Revenue share with Govt 4%
Cost of set up: nil (already exisisting player)

Cost of operations
Ground maintenance 100 inspection crew * 4000 rs a month = Rs 400,000
Technicians 25 engineers * 10,000 rs a month = Rs 250,000
New offices : rs. 1,000,000
Content - no additional operations required :) But separate and unique content can be planned for this medium.

Total running cost: rs. 2,000,000 a month

Other costs
Revenue share with Railways: 10%
Signing up with Railways : rs. 50,000,000

Conclusion
There is a huge disconnect between the potential and cost.
This can benefit the Railways for
i. cleanup activities - radio mirchi can take this up and outsource this at a minimal cost
ii. revenue - 10% of rs. 240 billion is good money for railways that can be used for developmental, modernisation and other activities.
iii. for Radio mirchi it should be a good idea to have a captive audience so that it can sell the airtime at a premium. It needs to sign for atleast 5 years of contract.

The bureaucracy, corruption and politics may have their own say on the timelines for a project like this.

Can an ambani can pull this project??