Every traditional media platform is logging onto the internet for something that no other medium of communication can provide; interactivity between users. Social Media is being used to completely change the way we consume and dissipate information. Instead of the one-to-many format we are now adapting to a many-to-many format for broadcasting where users are not just listeners, they are talkers.
The latest media platform to jump onto the Social Media wagon is radio, specially the national FM radio players. Prominent examples include My FM on social networking websites like Facebook, Orkut and Twitter; and Big FM on the popular BigAdda, where they have a micro blog.
What’s happening?
By having an online presence on social networking sites via communities, forums and blogs My FM is now updating listeners about new contests, new programs and also receive high quality feedback. The loyal fan base is slowly gathering momentum as they connect with their favorite RJs and discuss their favorite songs on the internet.
Anand Chakravarthy, Senior VP – Marketing, Big FM, stated, “All our RJs have a blog, they even invite listeners to come online as one cannot discuss endlessly on-air and, therefore, online becomes a little more detailed in terms of conversation or interactivity. I believe social media provides a great opportunity in terms of creating awareness about the activities we do and even the programming line-ups and so on.”
The end result is connecting with the audience even when they are not tuned in.
What can be done?
Radio might be a live medium and also as interactive as the internet, yet it is limited to a one-to-one engagement between users. And therein lays the perfect logic of extending radio services to the social media. You can have much more detailed conversations in social media, unlike FM radio where you are time bound. And I personally believe that the number of people online are much more than the number hooked on to the radio channels. I mean, when was the last time you switched on the radio expect in your car during a traffic jam?
The absolute numbers that social media might be addressing are still low, given the slow internet penetration rates in India. Surely the internet audience is an elite audience, whereas radio wants to reach out to all cross-sections of the society. But we are not talking about online radio channels here. I don’t want an order-song-by-twitter system. I just want the two medium to integrate their main influencers and help each other out.
Parting thoughts?
As every brand evaluates where its target audience can be found, they will eventually end up on the internet. The only interesting aspect will be how each brand uses social media to convey itself.
