Crackle And Hiss

Meanwhile, bucking the realty dealer-turned-radio baron trend is Century Communications. Vice-president Gitanjali Sehgal says her outfit will be using the company's expertise in air-time selling and technical support to the TV industry to get into the radio business. The company has bagged eight licenses in Daman, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin, and is looking at strategic alliances with other reputed partners. "We stayed away the first time as the FM policy was not clearly defined and was also relatively new," says Sehgal, adding that the scope of advertising in smaller towns is growing.

Come April 2006, Singal would have started his radio station. His pitch? Listen to the son of the soil—meaning Haryanvi folk music and tips on farming. Goyal too will be making the same pitch around November when his channel goes on air. For radio addicts, all this competition is good news. A bouquet of FM stations to choose from, with some favourites airing their own local gup-shup and music. The radios will now be on even in the remotest corners of India. With the government still debating on allowing news on FM, for now it's all pure entertainment. A dose of politics might be a good diversion. The stirrings of that are already there on the ground.