MUMBAI: After a successful launch in Jodhpur, Red FM is all set to spread its presence in Punjab. The radio network is all set to launch in Amritsar and Chandigarh on 22 April. These are their stations acquired during Phase III auctions.

These will be Red FM’s pioneer stations in Punjab. “We have done a lot of concerts, on-ground activities in our previous markets; we are carrying ahead the philosophy for Chandigarh and Amritsar. Red FM will be launching with Mika Singh, one of the biggest stars of Punjab,” said Red FM COO Nisha Narayanan.

Red FM believes in standing out of the box with its 'Bajate Raho' style and other specimen like being irreverent and the tongue in cheek humour along with sarcasm within the product. The response has been great during the test run of these stations and Narayanan feels the new set of RJs will take this a notch higher with their unique styles.

Talking about programming, see stated that every city has its own flavour and Red FM has maintained it throughout its stations. “Shows on-air will be Morning No. 1, Dramaqueen, Vellapanti.com, CH 935 and Midnight Masala which are similar to the Delhi stations. The RJ’s and content will be extremely local in nature and very Chandigarh and Amritsar specific.”

She further added, “I think RED FM is already known to people, it is nothing new to them. The people are expecting a lot from us, so to live up to their expectations will be challenging.”

On the existing competition in these markets she commented, “It’s good to have competitors, more the merrier. It is going to be an exciting time for the listeners.”

As we are aware that the industry is working towards putting a cap on ad time and increasing the ad inventory rates, we asked Narayanan if she had any such plans with the new launches, to this she stated, “Anytime we launch new stations, we start up with a minimal of ad time, as 10 minutes and not beyond that. For the new stations, ads will surely be in control till it doesn’t establish completely and become popular. It will surely be in control for the newer markets.”

Red FM will also re-launch its station in Bengaluru with a new tag-line ‘Red FM Hawa Mein’ on the same day. “We wanted to change a couple of shows and make it fresh because the same things are going on for a while. With the amount of competition coming, I think we need to constantly innovate our styles and revive our programming.”

Test transmissions have begun in Patna and Surat. Red FM will soon launch in Jammu, Patna, Surat and Srinagar. These stations were acquired in Phase III.