A Malayalam pulse beats at FM 95.3

Radio Pulse, which stopped operations in late January, has now switched to Malayalam music, sending signals of a new management, say industry experts. Following its closure the station was broadcasting non-stop Hindi music without any radio jockeys. Philip Philips, CEO of Holiday Group and representing the owners of FM frequency 95.3, confirmed to Emirates Business that the radio station, which ran for more than five years playing Hindi/Bollywood music, has changed over to Malayalam language and will be "reintroduced as a new station with a new identity in one month's time". "We have neither leased the frequency nor sold it," said Philips over the phone, but did not reveal any further details about the station or its operations. The station was briefly operated by Arab Media Group as Awaaz and later changed to Pulse. The three-party arrangement for operating the station also included Adva Advertising. However, that was also short-lived when AMG ceased to be part of the operations in January this year. Since then various parties have shown interest in acquiring the frequency, including an Iranian businessman for starting a Persian service, a Gujarati radio and some minor parties who offered to re-start the Hindi radio service. "We have some very interesting offers, and some of them are very tempting with instant cash made available on my desk," said Philips conveying the positive buzz in the market. Gulf News radio was also to be one of the serious contenders ever since the frequency became available in the market. "We approached the frequency owners and seriously wanted to negotiate a feasible deal," said Vikram Dhar, who spearheaded the project for Gulf News Radio. "They were asking Dh8 million as goodwill. Our offer was Dh1m, as we felt that was the right market value." According to industry observers, the frequency owners have signed an agreement with an independent group from India for an annual amount of Dh4m. Philips neither denied nor confirmed the amount. The group is reported to be working in collaboration with the frequency owners, and apparently the group involves four to five investors from the south of India. Adva Advertising, however, is not part of any new business deal. "The frequency was returned to RAK Media and we won't be part of any future operations," said Asif Thotathil of Adva. Under the circumstances, the frequency has not changed hands and a new group in collaboration with the owners is launching a new radio station for south Indian audience that will broadcast Malayalam music. Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the daily Emirates Business 24|7 newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here .