There is a talk about India having over 1000 private FM radio stations by 2009. The emphasis in the forthcoming phase, likely to be named Phase III, would be on giving licenses for stations in cities even smaller than the likes of Aligarh, Gangtok, Rourkela, Tirunelveli and Dhule, the cities for which the licenses were offered in Phase II.

Does this level of localization make sense in the times of proliferation of such global phenomena as DTH, satellite radio (WorldSpace), IPTV, VoD, and iTunes, which meet the entertainment and information needs of people from anywhere to everywhere? Surprisingly, yes.

People all over the world are getting more and more local, concerned and involved with the things around them. They need to know first about issues that affect them directly rather than anything that is remote, national or international. The changing content of newspapers anywhere in the world is a reflection of that. A change in the admission policy of high schools in a city is likely to feature more prominently on the front pages of the local newspapers than would, say, the recent earthquake in China.

Radio works pretty much the same way in any city, any language, any community, anywhere in the world. India is going to be no exception.

So there are always reasons to check if syndicated programs broadcast over a network of stations (no matter how big a celebrity presents them), programs voice tracked from a remote location, programs sponsored by a brand to be broadcast in all its markets have chance of becoming popular.

Almost as a rule, a live, local station would enjoy better ratings and thus higher profit, than stations broadcasting from an unknown location.

Government of India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) perhaps appreciates this and perhaps that is the reason why it offers licenses for each city separately, rather than a couple of national licenses, and restricts the number of licenses owned by a broadcaster nationally to 15 percent of all licenses in the country. That is also a way of the government to address local aspirations and to promote local governance and micro economic activity.

How can station owners make this phenomenon of localization work for them? Big River Radio, the consulting firm that advises top managements of radio stations in India, has developed a structure for strategic thinking on localizing an individual station or a group of stations. Here, in brief, are some of the aspects covered by this structure.

Get involved in the community the station serves

This is a sure formula for success for any radio station. This involvement can take the form of public service campaigns of local interest, organizing events or being present at local events, or featuring discussions about issues that are of concern to all members of the community. Even if these activities are sponsored by another company, they create a sense of local involvement. The key is to reveal the station identity and merge it with community events. Not only does it promote the station itself, but it also binds the station to the city.

Make on-air references to the community

The most obvious place for local on-air references comes from weather and traffic reports, which undoubtedly include mention of areas of local interest and local roads. Many stations have a list of local suburbs and other local places in the studio for quick reference when doing a weather report, but it is often only the weather report that they are incorporating. In order to sound truly local, the entire station must be integrated with the community. Using phone-ins is a great way to involve the community in the station, by putting "Anitha from Anna Nagar" on air, or letting someone dedicate a song to her. That blends the local element unobtrusively with the station. Any station in a medium size or a small size market is likely to have great success during evening dedication hours and the like, by having students mention their school name.

Speak as a member of the community

In a country that speaks 18 official languages, 325 recognized languages and over 1200 dialects, one of the major pitfalls of any attempt to network programming is going to be that the presenters would not sound local and may in fact sound foreign. This provides a ready-made opportunity for station owners. In many cases, radio would be the only medium in that linguistic system. For example, in the North East, there are some languages which do not have a written script and have survived purely because people in an area speak that language.

Speaking the language of the community also involves speaking what matters to people - about their favorite pastime, their religion, their festivals, and their community leaders.

Celebrate with the listener

Let a listener, rather than a film star or a sports person or a national celebrity say. That is the best testimonial. BBC World Service has done a remarkable job of having listeners from their target areas read top of the show IDs like, "I am Ram Lakhan Yadav from Begu Sarai and you are listening to the Hindi service of the BBC" in local dialect making a SW (long distance) broadcast sound like coming from within Bihar.

Make a syndicated format sound local

Ensure that the producer provides enough windows/slots for station liners, local announcements, and local commercials. In fact it would be advisable to set specifications for all your stations and make all concerned aware of the need for it.

Be locally visible

Besides sounding local, it also pays to create a local look and feel by locating studios and offices in an area that is considered the heart of the city. An upcoming, satellite location may give the station, the look and feel of an outsider.