The Times Group's FM Radio services Radio Mirchi has recently partnered with Bharti Airtel and VAS company Spice Digital to launch "Mirchi Mobile" radio for Airtel's Mobile customers. The deal appears to be similar to the one signed earlier between OnMobile Global and Reliance ADAG owned BIG FM, except that in this case, the service has been launched. Being launched are 12 Radio Mirchi stations from across India, initially for customers in the Delhi and Mumbai circles: subscribers can call 59830, and listen to 100 minutes of Radio Mirchi content for Rs. 10 per week; this means that the price for Mobile Radio has been reduced significantly, though we should also point out that, over the same length of time (say 30 minutes), comparatively less music content will be delivered, replaced with advertisements and quotes from Radio Jockeys. The choice of Delhi and Mumbai for the launch are also interesting, since both metropolitan cities are home to a large migrant, often seasonal, population. MediaNama spoke with Nandan Srinath, Head of Mobility for the Times Group on a number of issues, including whether they have the government approval to rebroadcast music, on serving advertising, using mobile analytics for content, and the low pricing of the product. Q. You're able to access content for a particular city from any part of the country. How do you deal with this when it comes to the circle-wise limitations put by the government on FM licenses? It is not streaming of the same radio channel, it's not…
