Big Plans

Zee Entertainment CEO Mukund Cairae tells Austyn Allison about the network’s foray into radio in the UAE.

- Austyn Allison

On 30 January, if your radio was tuned to 106.2 in the UAE you would have been among the first to hear Big FM. Until 15 December it was home to another Hindi-language station, Hum, but since then the Umm Al Quwain-owned frequency had been playing only ads, music and cricket commentary while its new tenants got ready to bring their DJs to the air for the first time.

The launch is only the second time Indian television broadcaster Zee Entertainment has ventured into radio. It bought a 49 per cent stake in Big FM in India, which operates about 50 stations, and had previously been owned by mega-conglomerate Reliance Capital. It will complete the buyout after a lock-in period expires in 2020.

In the UAE, Zee took over the broadcast licence when Sharjah-based Hum decided not to renew its contract.

Zee Entertainment first launched in the Middle East in 1994, ‘skimming’ its Indian programming with local commercials. Ten years later it began broadcasting specifically to the local market, and in 2008 launched Zee Aflam, which added Arabic dubbing and subtitles to Bollywood films. In 2012 Zee Alwan launched, offering Arabic series as well as dubbed Indian, Turkish and Eastern European ones.

In 2015, says Zee Entertainment’s Middle East and Asia Pacific CEO Mukund Cairae, the broadcaster anticipated an economic slowdown. Looking back at the financial crash of 2008 it saw that radio had been one of the least affected forms of media, and decided to invest in that area.