Special Report
Radio listenership growth slowing down in metros
The message is loud and clear: growth of radio listenership in the two metros of Mumbai and Kolkata is slowing down. Even Delhi is seeing single-digit growth.
Mumbai has seen a marginal 0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise at 5 million while Kolkata grew 1.14 per cent at 4.24 million.
Delhi beat this trend with listenership jumping 8.1 per cent to stand at 6.23 million.
This is the latest findings of the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) commissioned Indian Listenership Track (ILT).
The MRUC listenership data takes into account the age group above 12 years. The field work was conducted between 17 February and 28 April, 2007, covering a sample size of 4500 in each metro. The research firm uses the day-after-recall (DAR) method.
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What is particularly disturbing is that listenership is tending to stagnate in the advertisement-rich market of Mumbai. FM radio operators promote their stations heavily in the Mumbai market.
Radio Mirchi Deputy CEO Prashant Panday contributes the overall slowdown to the absence of differentiated content. “The listeners can not differentiate one radio channel from the other. There is need for us to provide them with a varied programme mix. Niche radio station is required to widen the listenership base.”
Agrees Red FM COO Abraham Thomas, “Segmentation of content is the only solution for speeding up listenership growth.”
AC Nielson director client service ND Badrinath, however, attributes the slow growth to no adequate efforts from radio broadcasters to ‘shake up.’ He explains ‘shaking up’ as aggressive marketing and brand promotion. This is despite new players entering into the marketplace, he adds.
How the players stack up?
In Mumbai and Delhi, the big gainers are Radio City 91.1 FM and Radio One 94.3 FM. While Radio City has seen a 19 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise of listeners in Mumbai and 3.6 per cent in Delhi, Radio One’s listenership has gone up 23.8 per cent and 10.7 per cent in these two metros. Both these broadcasters have no operations in Kolkata.
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“Despite having no marketing actvities, our growth is relatively stronger. After the shift of Radio One’s frequency, there was a huge set back in our listenership. But we have come back,” says Radio One VP programming and brand Vishnu Athreya.
Radio Mirchi, however, stays at the top. In Delhi it has 3.65 million listeners. Red FM lags behind at 2.11 million while Radio City is at 1.66 million.
The gap is narrower in Mumbai with Radio Mirchi having 1.97 million listeners followed by Radio City at 1.85 million.
Radio Mirchi, however, has lost a good amount of listenership in Mumbai and Kolkata. The number of Radio Mirchi listerners in Mumbai declined from 2.23 million to 1.97 million (11.73 per cent fall). In Kolkata, Radio Mirchi lost 16.94 per cent from 2.53 million to 2.10 million listeners. But in Delhi it has achieved a growth of 4.5 per cent.
Admits Panday, “We have recognised the decline, but we never look at a single city data. We are the largest network and with the widest coverage. One reason for the dip could have been because we overplayed on cricket during the World Cup. Nobody was really interested after India’s exit. Listeners basically want music from FM stations.”
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Big 92.7 FM, a late entrant, has something to cheer about in Mumbai with a quarter-on-quarter growth of 31.1 per cent (1.22 million). But the disturbing trend is in Delhi and Kolkata where it has slipped by 8.2 per cent and 14.5 per cent respectively, according to the ILT data. Delhi, in fact, is one market where it has still to make a major impact with 0.6 million listeners.
Big FM COO Tarun Katial dismisses such conclusions, “I am not aware of any such data. We do not subscribe to MRUC. I am waiting for the RAM ratings from TAM Media Research which will use the diary method. Only then we will get a clear picture.”
A big gainer in the Delhi market has been Red 93.5 FM which has seen a 17.5 per cent rise. While in Mumbai it has gone up 8 per cent (1.56 million), it has shed 1.4 per cent in Kolkata.
Industry observers, however, feel that this may be a temporary setback. Listenership can expand in the three metros with heavy marketing, they say.
And many, like Katial, are waiting for the diary radio measurement system before they come to any hasty conclusions. Till then, they would like to believe that they are growing radio listenership in the three metros.
MUMBAI: Some friendships are made in heaven; others are coded in Mumbai. Hamara Vinayak, the first-ever digital original from Siddharth Kumar Tewary’s Swastik Stories, turns the divine into the delightful, serving up a story that’s equal parts start-up hustle and spiritual hustle.
Some tech start-ups chase unicorns. This one already has a god on board. Hamara Vinayak takes the leap from temple bells to notification pings and it does so with heart, humour and a healthy dose of the divine.
At its core, the show asks a simple but audacious question: what if God wasn’t up there, but right beside you, maybe even debugging your life over a cup of chai?
The show’s tagline, “God isn’t distant… He’s your closest friend” perfectly captures its quirky soul. Across its first two episodes, screened exclusively for media in Mumbai, the series proves that enlightenment can come with a good punchline.
The series follows a group of ambitious young entrepreneurs running a Mumbai-based tech start-up that lets people around the world book exclusive virtual poojas at India’s most revered shrines. But as their app grows, so do their ethical grey zones. Into this chaos walks Vinayak, played with soulful serenity and sly wit by the charming Namit Das, a young man whose calm smile hides something celestial.
He’s got the peaceful look of a saint but the wit of someone who could out-think your favourite stand-up comic. Around him spins a crew of dream-driven youngsters – Luv Vispute, Arnav Bhasin, Vaidehi Nair and Saloni Daini who run a Mumbai-based tech start-up offering devotees across the world the chance to book “exclusive” poojas at India’s most sacred shrines. It’s a business plan that blends belief and broadband – and, as the story unfolds, also tests the moral compass of its ambitious founders.
“The first time I read the script, I found the character very pretty,” Namit joked at the post-screening interaction. “It’s a beautiful thought that God isn’t distant, he’s your closest friend. And playing Vinayak, you feel that calm but also his cleverness. He’s the friend who makes you think.”
The reactions to the series ranged from smiles to sighs of wonder. Viewers were charmed by the show’s sincerity and sparkle, a quality that stems from its creator’s belief that faith can be funny without being frivolous.
Among the cast, Luv Vispute shines brightest, his comic timing adding sparkle to the show’s more reflective beats. But what keeps Hamara Vinayak engaging is the easy rhythm of its writing – one moment touching, the next teasing, always gently reminding us that spirituality doesn’t have to be solemn.
Luv spoke fondly of his long association with Swastik. “Since my first show was with Swastik, this feels like home,” he said. “Every project with them is positive, feel-good, and this one just had such a different vibe. I truly feel blessed.”
Saloni Daini, who brings infectious warmth to her role, added that she signed up the moment she heard the show was about “Bappa.”
“We shot during the Ganpati festival,” she recalled. “The energy on set was incredible festive, faithful, and full of laughter. It’s such a relatable story for our generation: chaos, friendship, love, kindness, and faith all mixed together.”
Vaidehi Nair and Arnav Bhasin complete the ensemble, each representing different shades of ambition and morality in the start-up’s journey. Their camaraderie is easy and believable, a testament to how much the cast connected off-screen as well.
This clever fusion of mythology and modernity plays to India’s two enduring loves, entertainment and faith. Mythology has long been the comfort zone of Indian storytellers, from the televised epics of the 1980s to the glossy remakes that still command prime-time TRPs. For decades, gods have been our most bankable heroes. But Hamara Vinayak tweaks the formula not by preaching, but by laughing with its characters, and sometimes, at their confusion about where divinity ends and data begins.
Creator Siddharth Kumar Tewary, long hailed as Indian television’s myth-maker for shows like Mahabharat, Radha Krishn and Porus, explained the show’s intent with characteristic clarity, “This is our first story where we are talking directly to the audience, not through a platform,” he said. “We wanted to connect young people with our culture to say that God isn’t someone you only worship; He’s your friend, walking beside you, even when you take the wrong path. The story may be simple, but the thought is big.”
That blend of philosophy and playfulness runs through the show. “We had to keep asking ourselves why we’re doing this,” Tewary added. “It’s tricky to make something positive and spiritual for the OTT audience, they’ve changed, they want nuance, not sermons. But when the purpose is clear, everything else aligns.”
For the creator of some of Indian TV’s most lavish spectacles, Hamara Vinayak marks a refreshing tonal shift. Here, Tewary trades celestial kingdoms for co-working spaces and cosmic battles for office banter. Yet his signature remains: an eye for allegory, a love for faith-infused storytelling, and an understanding that belief is most powerful when it feels personal.
Hamara Vinayak, after all, feels less like a sermon and more like a conversation over chai about what success means, what faith costs, and why even the gods might be rooting for a start-up’s Series A round.
As Namit Das reflected during the Q&A, “Life gives us many magical, divine moments we just forget to notice them. Sometimes even through a phone screen, you see something that redirects you. That’s a Vinayak moment.”
The series also mirrors a larger cultural pivot. As audiences migrate from television to OTT, myth-inspired tales are finding new form and flexibility online. The digital screen lets creators like Tewary reinvent the genre, giving ancient ideas a modern interface, without losing the emotional charge that’s made mythology India’s storytelling backbone for decades.
In a country where faith trends faster than any hashtag, Hamara Vinayak feels both familiar and refreshingly new, a comedy that’s blessed with heart, humour and just enough philosophy to keep the binge holy.
For a country where mythology remains the oldest streaming service, Tewary’s move from TV to OTT feels both natural and necessary. Indian storytellers have always turned to gods for drama, guidance and TRPs from Ramayan and Mahabharat on Doordarshan to glossy mytho-dramas on prime time. But digital platforms allow creators to remix reverence with realism, and in Hamara Vinayak, faith gets an interface upgrade.
The result is a show that feels like a warm chat with destiny, part comedy, part contemplation. And in an age of cynicism, that’s no small miracle.
As Tewary put it, smiling at his cast, “The message had to be positive. We just wanted to remind people that even in chaos, God hasn’t unfriended you.”
With 5 episodes planned, Hamara Vinayak promises to keep walking that fine line between laughter and light. It’s mythology with memes, devotion with dialogue, and a digital-age reminder that even the cloud has a silver lining or perhaps, a divine one.
If the first two episodes are any sign, the show doesn’t just bridge heaven and earth, it gives both a Wi-Fi connection.
