Radio Mantra to be merged with Radio City

Decision aims to streamline operations and ad sales

Radio Mantra, the private FM radio station cluster run by the promoters of Jagaran Prakashan, will be folded into the Radio City cluster by the end of this quarter. This means that the eight stations under Radio Mantra will be rebranded Radio City, increasing the latter's current station strength of 39 cities, say sources.

Jagaran Prakashan acquired Radio City in December 2014 with the intention to add radio to its multimedia operations. The group operates daily and monthly publications in multiple languages. These include Hindi daily Dainik Jagaran, English tabloid Mid-Day, women's monthly magazine Sakhi, and Urdu newspaper Inquilab.

Apart from print operations, the company also has interests in out-of-home media, on-ground activations, and digital media.

 

The decision to merge Radio Mantra with Radio City was taken to streamline operations and ad sales. Radio City which operates in 39 cities, recently added Kanpur to its list of stations enjoying a strong resonance within the SEC AB audiences in the country.

At the time of acquisition, Shailesh Gupta, director, Jagran Prakashan, had told Business Standard, "For us, Radio City 91.1 FM makes sense as an acquisition mainly from an advertising standpoint. We have a robust presence in media like print and outdoor but were lacking when it came to radio. With the audience that Radio City has and its dominant position in most of the cities it is present in, we hope to strengthen our advertising offering to our clients." He added that both the brands will operate in tandem.

Radio Mantra is present in Agra, Bareilly, Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Ranchi, Hisar and Karnal.