MUMBAI: Although FM phase III auctions have created a lull in the radio industry, many broadcasters still have a lot to cheer about in terms of listenership growth and registering a good turnover this year. Amongst these players is Muthoot Group’s channel, Chennai Live.

Launched in 2008, the channel has been positioned as the only English playing station in the city focusing on content more than music. Staying away from the herd has helped the station grow tremendously since its inception. While the station registered a 100 per cent growth last year, they have already touched a 60 per cent growth rate this year with around 65-70 per cent listenership (as per RAM data).

Speaking about the growth with Radioandmusic.com, Chennai Live station head Prem Kumar said, “We always positioned ourselves as providing infotainment and focusing more on talk shows rather than music. It took four years to build a good listenership consisting of the evolved Chennai-ite. Last year’s RAM data in August stated us having a listenership of six and a half lakhs, in a market of less than a million. Our owner group is not from a media background but still we are growing at a good rate and aim to achieve more success.”

To further their success and growth, the station is launching a new segment titled ‘Vodafone Voice of Chennai’ from 28 November. The segment will feature every Wednesday from 8:30-10am during the Breakfast Show (7-11am). It will be hosted by popular prime-time jock Sanobar Sultana aka Sano, who will be accompanied by guest anchor Sanjay Pinto- the lawyer, columnist and former resident editor of NDTV 24x7.

The 12 week property will address, discuss and debate one new topic every week aiming to give a powerful voice to the people of Chennai and a platform to discuss their problems and air their views. The topics can range from Arvind Kejriwal’s new party to power cuts, traffic congestion, improper garbage disposal and more.

Keeping the show interactive, the station also has a dedicated IVR number for listeners to call and record their views. Apart from live call-ins, the segment will also play the recorded opinions of the audience.

They have also taken the show out of the studio to an on-ground segment for the last four shows. The culminating episodes will be held in different colleges, where a live discussion on any one topic will be hosted with the college students and the panel of experts.

Elaborating on the show, Kumar added, “Mornings on our station is always about discussing issues pertaining to the citizens of the city. It’s not only social topics; we also cover other topics in the other shows. With this initiative, we are taking this a notch higher and getting in a panel of experts with listener call-ins and more. Thus, we have dedicated only one day in the week so it can have more focus on it.”

With the show focusing on talk based content, communication was the key factor which resulted in the telecom company Vodafone associating as exclusive title sponsor with the station. With the initiative already generating a lot of interest amongst the audience and the brands, Kumar aims to extend it to the second edition as well.

“The show has created a lot of buzz with listeners already sending suggestions on the topics that can be discussed. Apart from that, a lot of other brands are also showing interest in associating with us for the same. While in this season we have Vodafone as exclusive title sponsor and 90 per cent will be renewing the deal, we may rope in other brands for its second edition as well,” he revealed.