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Covid-19 Impact: Radio sector reels under crisis; AROI seeks support from govt
Covid-19 Impact: The AROI said government intervention will help the radio industry survive this crisis in the short term till the economy stabilises itself.
The radio industry, one of the key industries to have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, on Friday appealed to the government to step in to help the sector that is staring at a huge financial crisis.
In a letter to Union Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar, the industry body of private FM channels Association of Radio Operators for India, or AROI, sought ‘a support package’ to help the sector “survive this crisis in the short term till the economy stabilises itself”.
The association said the radio industry was already going through a tough phase with advertising revenue shrinking over the past year with a de-growth of 20%. “Further, post the lockdown the ad revenues have crashed 80%,” the AROI said.
Harshad Jain, CEO – Radio and Entertainment, HT Media Ltd and Next Mediaworks. acknowledged that the government must be hard-pressed to deal with the public health emergency at hand. “But revenues are down by 80 per cent post Covid-19. Now the sector is under pressure to keep the kitchen fire burning,” he said.
In a four-point SOS message to the government, the AROI asked the government for a one-year waiver on all licence fees and charges by the government and Prasar Bharti, restoration of government advertising on radio, besides clearing the long-pending payments from the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity”. It also asked the government deferment of the advance regulatory payments for financial year 2021.
Nisha Narayanan, Director and chief operating officer, Red FM and Magic FM said the industry was looking at government help to restore normalcy.
“The radio industry is already seeing a financial slowdown that seems like it will grow quite exponentially in the months to come,” she said.
Nisha Narayanan said the industry is “conscious that the government is dealing with multiple emergencies at the same time while facing this crisis”, these are “desperate times” for the industry that need support from the government.
The AROI also underlined the many occasions the radio industry had risen to the occasion in times of crisis including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Recently, it recalled, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, during an interaction with prominent radio jockeys, acknowledged radio as a critical media for educating the listeners, spreading awareness about Covid-19 and building positivity.
