ENIL CEO Prashant Panday

Year 2013 for Radio Mirchi

The first quarter of the year was a terrific one for the entire radio industry, as advertisers put more money into the medium on the back of more promotional spending. Radio Mirchi revenues grew by 24 per cent. The second quarter was a little muted, but still better than what other media segments reported, primarily because inventories were not available in this quarter. Radio Mirchi grew by about 12 per cent. The third quarter results will be out in January-February. In summary, the first half of the year has been very satisfactory for Mirchi.

The radio industry has done better than print, TV and outdoors. Its share of advertising is now about 5 per cent.

(Standalone total revenue for ENIL for Q2 2014 was Rs.86.55 crores, about 1.5 per cent higher than the Rs.85.24 crores for Q1 2014 and 12.3 per cent higher than the Rs.77.09 crores y-o-y. Radio Mirchi reported a 53.6 per cent PAT growth in Q1-2014 as compared to the corresponding quarter of 2013.)

(Radio Mirchi has seven stations online and intends to add many more in coming time.)

Coming quarter expectation

Like I said, the first half of the year has been very satisfactory. It has been better than we had expected. However, the second half will be more challenging, since inventory constraints will kick in. There is also a sobering of the advertiser’s mood expected for the coming quarter.

Phase III

We are ready for Phase III. We do plan to bid aggressively, but sensibly. At no point will we overbid – in other words, go beyond the economic logic. Radio Mirchi has been prepared for auctions for a long time now.

Phase III means geographical expansion into important growth markets. It may also mean a second frequency in a few big markets, provided we can get them at reasonable prices.

Radio industry 2014

If the economic slowdown continues, radio will continue to grow faster than other media. Even if economic growth picks up, radio should do well because the advertising spends will increase.