MUMBAI: According to the results of the first wave (for Kolkata) declared late on 29 Dec 2006 of the Indian Listenership Track (ILT), conducted by MRUC and ACNielsen ORG-MARG, radio as a category in Kolkata has shown a fast track growth, with Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM being far ahead of its competitors, across various age groups and socio-economic classes. The study indicates that 400.81 million people listen to radio everyday and Radio Mirchi is clearly a preferred choice of with 270.31 million Kolkatans tuning in every day.

Radio Mirchi senior vice president marketing Kaushik Ghosh said, "The study confirms the fact that Radio Mirchi leads with an overwhelming share of the Kolkata market. We have always maintained that Radio Mirchi was the dominant Number One in Kolkata based on the IMRB LT figures. The MRUC ILT figures simply vindicate our stand. Radio Mirchi has more listeners than ALL the other stations put together in Kolkata."

This is the result of the combination of Bengali talk and Hindi music and also having the best programming talent in Kolkata on our station.” He further added, “Radio Mirchi is the second largest media vehicle in the city, close on the heels of Ananda Bazaar Patrika with a readership of 300 million (NRS 2006). Our next target is to be the largest media vehicle in Kolkata. The ILT results confirm we are the market leaders in the three largest metros of the country and offer the best reach in these three cities.”

Red FM was the next station in terms of reach – with 70.64 million daily listeners. Aamar FM had 50.82 million and Power FM had only 30 million daily listeners.

The Indian Listenership Track, a product of MRUC and ACNielsen ORG-MARG research, has been designed on the ‘Day After Recall’ methodology, which provides Yesterday Listenership (YDL) data across all stations in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. The fieldwork for Kolkata was done from mid September 2006 to End November 2006.