The five FM radio channels have incurred losses of over Rs 121 crore (Rs 1.21 billion) in their first year of operation on a turnover of Rs 48 crore (Rs 480 million). Licence fees alone accounted for over Rs 74.25 crore (Rs 742.5 million) of the total losses.
The broadcasters, who have been lobbying for a revenue-sharing model to replace the existing licence fees regime, submitted their financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2003, to the information and broadcasting ministry on Thursday.
The Times group's Entertainment Network, which runs the Radio Mirchi channel in four cities, recorded the highest turnover at Rs 21 crore (Rs 210 million). It also registered the highest losses at Rs 47.8 crore (Rs 478 million).
"The industry players have submitted a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravishankar Prasad, enclosing a draft of the unaudited financial statements of the radio companies that have been on air for at least nine months. It intends to demonstrate to the government, with facts and figures, that a substantial portion of the losses are on account of the licence fee component," said A P Parigi, managing director, Entertainment Network.
He, however, refused to disclose the losses incurred by Radio Mirchi.
The P K Mittal-owned and Star India-marketed Music Broadcast, which airs the Radio City channel in three cities, posted a turnover of Rs 19.6 crore (Rs 196 million) and losses of Rs 32 crore (Rs 320 million). A company executive, however, declined to comment on the figures.
All the companies confirmed the total turnover and loss figures, but did not comment on individual losses.
Arun Poorie-controlled Living Media's Radio Today incurred losses of around Rs 13 crore (Rs 130 million) on a turnover of less than Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million).
Gautam Radia's Millennium Broadcast (Win 94.6) registered losses of around Rs 14.28 crore (Rs 142.8 million) on a turnover of Rs 3.82 crore (Rs 38.2 million), while Tariq Ansari's Radio Midday recorded losses of Rs 2.7 crore (Rs 27 million) on a turnover of Rs 13.4 crore (Rs 134 million).
Industry sources say: "The FM broadcasters have requested the government to complete the licensing of the 80-odd radio channels in the remaining 30 cities. This was supposed to be the second phase of the licensing process. The industry, in a joint letter signed by the broadcasters, has provided the financial details of their operations for the year ended March 31, 2003."
FM radio operators have requested the government to grant a 90-day moratorium for the payment of licence fees.
During this period, the industry expects the ministry to review the licence fees regime and consider the implementation of the revenue-sharing model.
The annual fees for operating licences in Mumbai is Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) along with an annual escalation clause of 15 per cent per annum.