I&B Ministry
76% listen to FM radio using mobiles: Study
MUMBAI: Seventy six per cent of people now listen to FM radio using their mobile phones, AZ research has shown. AZ Research Partners, a market research player in South East Asia, conducted a comprehensive survey to study current trends in FM Radio Listenership across India. Parameters for study included listenership, frequency, mediums, drivers and motivators, preferences and recall amongst others. Some of the key findings are included below.
·Representation: According to the study, respondents were asked about the radio station they thought represented the essence of their city best. Radio City topped the charts in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Pune while Suryan FM came out in front in Chennai and Radio Mirchi in Hyderabad. The cultural essence of the city was measured using parameters like local flavor, local preferences with locally popular activations and programs.
·Consumption patterns: With regards to the place and medium of radio consumption, the study found that a whopping 76 per cent of consumers accessed FM Radio through their mobile phones while an average of 22.5 per cent of them listened to the radio while driving. Another 36 per cent used the radio at home. With mobile phone penetration growing in rural India, radio as a medium of mass communication is now reaching the remotest corners of the country via the mobile phone.
·Listener Preferences: The study identified a set of drivers that motivated listeners to listen to one particular type of radio channel. These motivators were centered on four parameters including the image of the radio station, the kind of programs it aired, the kind of music it played and the Radio Jockey who hosted these activations. It is seen that while 100 per cent of respondents considered good music as a motivator, only 50% felt the image of the station and RJs impacted their listening patterns. A whopping 83% of respondents thought that the quality of programs aired highly impacted their frequency of listening on a particular station.
·Listenership: In terms of listenership, the study concluded that Radio City topped the list with a listenership of 5.2 crore followed by Radio Mirchi and Big FM with 4 crore and 2.6 crore respectively.
·Most popular Radio Jockeys: Based on overall recall and approval ratings, popularity of Radio Jockeys are ranked as below:
|
City |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hyderabad |
Love Guru – Radio City |
Bharghav – Radio Mirchi |
Chaitu – Red FM |
|
Delhi |
Sayema – Radio Mirchi |
Annu Kapoor – Big FM |
Love Guru – Radio City |
|
Bangalore |
Love Guru – Radio City |
Rashmi – Big FM |
Didha – Red FM |
|
Chennai |
Love Guru – Radio City |
SHakthi – Radio City |
Munna – Radio City |
|
Mumbai |
Archana – Radio City |
Salil – Radio City |
Jeetury – Radio Mirchi |
|
Pune |
Shonali – Radio City |
Bandya– Radio City |
Filmy Chokri RJ Aparna – Radio City |
Methodology: The survey was conducted among a sizable portion of the population across 23 cities including male and female participating above the age of 12. The report documents factors like most popular radio channel based on listenership, drivers for listening behaviour and preferences, perception of these channels among listeners, top-of-the-mind recall of channel names, programs, jingles and names of radio jockeys (RJ). Additionally, it also compares radio listenership against other mass mediums of communication like print and television. It covers 23 cities including Jaipur, Nagpur, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Bareilly, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Agra, Pune, Ranchi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Vizag, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Hisar, Jalandhar, Karnal, Lucknow and Ahmednagar with over 7000 respondents across cities.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
