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Arabian Radio Network targets Gulf’s Asians |
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 Arabian Radio Network, the region’s largest group of radio stations, recently launched Pulse 95.3 for the region’s Pakistani, Indian, and Sri Lankan communities. Pulse is the first station in the region to broadcast Hindi oldies and Hindi film songs to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
“We thought there was a market, a need for this,” Pulse’s programming head Karan Singh tells MEB Journal. The Gulf is now home to over four million Indians. Pulse has signed some of India’s most popular radio personalities, most notably Amin Siyahn, whom Singh calls “the oldest name in broadcasting in India.”
“Initially, we thought that because it’s not a mass station, it would be difficult to sustain,” says Singh. But he reports that the feedback from India’s expatriate community has been overwhelming: “We get e-mails all the way from Canada.” Most programs on Pulse are presented in Hindi.
Indian pop music and contemporary hits are not the concentration of Pulse, which targets the Asian population over 30 by playing only “golden oldies,” or what Singh calls “evergreen songs.” About ten percent of the music on Pulse is contemporary.
The station’s non-music programming also caters to the same age group.“There’s a lot of talk on Pulse,” says Singh. “Even if we talk about Bollywood, the angle is different, more mature.” |
