What Is Needed to Become a Radio Personality?

It is perceived that Radio Jockeys (Disc Jockeys) have a dream job where they get paid to talk, and that’s about it; they come on-air for couple of hours have loads of fun, interact with the listeners and as a bonus they end up becoming a celebrity too, so the fun never stops. Although I will agree to this that we do what we love to do, but being a RJ or DJ whatever you prefer to call it, is a very serious business.

And not everybody who can continuously chatter can be a RJ/DJ, as people normally think. If you talk too much that does not qualify you as a RADIO HOST. A positive attitude with a sense of responsibility, and extrovert nature without going overboard is an apt description about the kind of personality one must possess.

Like any job being a Radio Personality requires certain skill sets & personality type. So what are these:

• A Good Radio Voice

A good radio voice is not too deep or too high, and generally free of regional inflections (accents), except in specific radio genres or local broadcasts. A radio personality should always properly enunciate words.

• A Sharp Mind

Radio personalities are renowned for their sharp wit and ability to quickly respond to subtle cues. These traits are not inherent to all individuals, and a very sharp mind is required to keep up with on-air requirements.

He/she should also keep abreast with all the latest happenings of the world and should possess a general understanding of things.

• The Ability to Control

Radio personalities must refrain from vulgarities, profanity and even seemingly subtle allusions to comply with broadcast regulations. Not only does a radio personality have to know the rules, he/she must have the self-discipline to follow them.

• Command over language & Grammar

Fluency over the language in which the radio station airs is amongst the most desired key-skills and is something which cannot be done away with.

• The Ability to Read with Emphasis

An ability to read copy while sounding natural and spontaneous is a hallmark of a successful radio personality.

• The Ability to gel with the World Around

A radio show host must have the willingness to learn from the world around. And he/she should possess humility. Arrogance only leads to ultimate failure as the listeners will sooner or later drift away. 

Why Use Radio To Advertise?

The Radio Multiplier Study
Conducted by Millward Brown International, in October 1999 - April 2000. Commissioned by Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) UK

• Toplines of Research
• Findings Research Summary 
  
  Toplines of Research Findings
• A large-scale continuous tracking survey of radio and TV
  This Millward Brown study involved nearly 5500 interviews in continuous research to track awareness and attitudes to 17 brands. The media tested were Commercial Radio and TV in the Central Region of UK.
• Adding radio to TV has a 15% multiplier effect 
  If 10% of a given TV budget is re-deployed onto radio, the efficiency of the campaign in building awareness increases on average by 15%
• Radio in isolation was measured to be three-fifths as effective as TV at raising advertising awareness
  On average, in this test, radio was three-fifths as effective as TV at increasing advertising awareness amongst an audience of 16-44 year old radio listeners
• But this radio effectiveness result was achieved at one-seventh of the cost 
  On average, in this test, radio prices were about one-seventh of those for TV. While the price relativity for other audiences will vary, the achievement of three-fifths of the result at one-seventh of the cost makes radio significantly more cost effective than TV.Obviously price variance between radio and TV will vary depending on area and audience.
• More effective radio campaigns
  The most effective radio campaigns outperformed even the average for TV. Enjoyability is an important factor but, above all, the best-performing ads are well branded
• Misattribution
  There is clear evidence that consumers often think they have seen a campaign on TV when in fact radio was the only advertising medium used; splitting the sample into listeners and non-listeners helps to offset this misattribution

Research Summary 
This study was devised to find out how effective radio advertising can be relative to TV, and to learn more about what kind of radio advertising is more effective: effectiveness was gauged in terms of measuring increases in advertising awareness.

The study tracked perceptions amongst consumers aged 16-44 for seventeen brands advertised in two comparable regions. For each brand, one town had radio advertising while the other did not. TV advertising was the same across both towns.

Millward Brown, who conducted the study across October 1999 to April 2000, model effectiveness in terms of the Awareness Index

Across the seventeen brands:

• the average Awareness Index for radio was 3
• the average Awareness Index for TV was 5

Therefore radio was, on average, three-fifths as efficient as TV at driving advertising awareness amongst radio listeners.

In terms of price advertising agency Universal McCann, advise that for the TG 16-44 Yrs, TV is around seven times the cost of radio. So, by achieving three fifths of the awareness at one seventh of the cost, the radio campaigns were significantly more cost-efficient than the TV campaigns.Obviously price variance between radio and TV will vary depending on area and audience. 
This cost effectiveness advantage means that radio has a multiplier effect when added to a TV schedule. If 10% of a given TV budget is re-deployed onto radio, the efficiency of the campaign in building awareness increases on average by 15%.

Some radio campaigns performed much more strongly than others - indeed the strongest outperformed the TV average.

Radio campaigns with higher scores were characterised by good branding - these were campaigns where consumers were in little doubt which brand was being advertised. Enjoyability was also a characteristic of the better performing campaigns, although this could not overcome weak brand linkage.

Branding and enjoyability appear to be significantly more important factors than spot length or media laydown.
Proprietary branding devices (e.g. jingles, theme music) were strong contributors to the effectiveness of radio advertising, even though they may have originally been established on TV.

Misattribution is an important issue. Consumers may think they have seen a campaign on TV even when it has only run on radio. This has important implications for measuring the effect of radio - most importantly, research samples need to be split into listeners and non-listeners.

Introduction to the Radio Industry of India

Radio, until sometime ago, was a public sector offspring, hampered by low technology, depressed utilization and poor content. However a gradual reforms process is setting new signals for the radio industry. The Government, on 6 July 1999, took the initial step in privatization of this sector and announced the Phase I Policy, permitting participation by the private sector by allowing companies to bid for 108 radio channels in 40 cities.

The first phase was, however, not successful because it was characterized by a high license fee, with a 15% annual escalation, which resulted in longer break-even periods. The Phase II policy, announced in 2006, has given the radio industry the much-needed impetus, resulting in network expansion across the country. Under the Policy, the Government announced bidding for an additional 338 radio channels in 91 cities/towns of A+, A, B, C, & D categories.

Earlier, companies had to pay a fixed license-fee, irrespective of the revenues generated, resulting in huge fixed costs; until 2005, all radio channels were  loss making. However, the shift from the license-fee regime to the revenue sharing model, where Annual License Fee is 4% of gross revenues or 10% of reserve OTEF (One Time Entry Fee), whichever is higher, is expected to result in a more viable radio business and thus drive growth for the industry.

Currently, the sector generates annual revenues worth US$ 49.5 million and is growing at around 20 percent annually, according to the joint report by KPMG and an industry chamber. The radio advertising industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.2 per cent over 2010-14, reaching US$ 342.7 million in 2014 from the stand of US$ 192.8 million in 2009, as per PwC.

The Ist Phase players included (but not restricted to):

·        Radio City 91.1 FM

·        Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM

·        Red FM 93.5

In the IInd Phase many more players joined in, including (but not restricted to):

·        BIG 92.7 FM

·        94.3 MY FM

·        Oye! 104.8 FM

·        Fever 104 FM