Entertainment / Rukus Avenue Radio, The World’s #1 South Asian Radio Station, Joins The iHeartRadio App

Rukus Avenue Radio, The World’s #1 South Asian Radio Station, Joins The iHeartRadio App

Entertainment Jan 24, 2024

by Hina P. Ansari

iHeartMedia, the number one audio company in America and Rukus Avenue Radio, the world’s largest South Asian radio and podcast network, today announced a partnership to make iHeartRadio the exclusive home for Rukus Avenue Radio.

iHeartRadio launched Rukus Avenue Radio on Friday January 19th, 2024, making it the first ever mainstream network in North America dedicated to South Asian culture. From its robust catalog of celebrity-hosted podcasts to being on the pulse of Indian and South Asian music, adding Rukus Avenue Radio will offer something unique for iHeartRadio’s millions of listeners.

And for good reason. South Asia makes up the largest addressable marketplace in the world of over a billion and a half people. With Indian media and entertainment expected to rise to a $74B (USD) a year enterprise by 2027 globally, Rukus Avenue Radio’s emergence is a larger illustration of the growth of South Asians consuming podcast and radio content.

Founded in 2018, with a current listenership of over 10 Million listeners a month, Rukus Avenue Radio is the most listened-to South Asian radio and podcast network globally. With over 50 hosts recording weekly shows around the world, Rukus Avenue Radio generates over 200 hours of original content a month.

“We are excited to welcome Rukus Avenue Radio to the iHeartRadio app,” said Michael Biondo, iHeartMedia President of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships. “We are committed to delivering diverse content to our audiences and this partnership also provides Rukus Avenue with the platform to reach millions of new listeners.”

Rukus Avenue Radio, The World’s #1 South Asian Radio Station, Joins The iHeartRadio App: L-R: Sammy Chand, Chairman & CEO of Rukus Avenue with Michael Biondo, iHeartMedia President of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships. Photo Credit: Rukus Avenue Radio

Rukus Avenue’s music has been featured in over 75 film and TV shows (including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Indian Matchmaking and David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction). Rukus Avenue assembled the largest collection of artists to ever come together for a charitable album, when they collaborated with the United Nations and their fight against human trafficking on a 60 track, 55 artist, triple CD compilation (featuring some of the world’s most famous musicians, activists, and dignitaries including President Jimmy Carter, Quincy Jones, and AR Rahman).

“This moment is indeed transformative,” added Sammy Chand, Chairman & CEO of Rukus Avenue. “Our South Asian culture is rich and diverse, and we have so much to share with everyone. Having Rukus Avenue Radio on iHeartRadio not only celebrates our community, but also gives people of all backgrounds a common place they can press play and come experience the best our culture has to offer.”

Chand continued, “We also couldn’t be more excited for our dear friend and Rukus Avenue Radio host Raj Girn’s show to reach an entirely new audience through this transformative partnership.”

ANOKHI Founder & CEO Raj Girn who also has a podcast on Rukus Avenue Radio exclaimed “What a proud moment to see the South Asian community continue its meteoric rise with companies like Rukus Avenue Radio securing a partnership with iHeart Radio,” exclaimed Raj Girn, Founder of The ANOKHI Media Brand. “This serves to amplify the voices and brands of all shows on their station, including our popular weekly podcast show, ANOKHI UNCENSORED.”

L-R: Raoul Juneja. Vice President of Rukus Avenue Radio, Raj Girn, Founder & CEO of ANOKHI and Sammy Chand, Chairman & CEO of Rukus Avenue who also received the ANOKHI Emerald Award at ANOKHI’s 20th Anniversary Gala. Photo Credit: Rukus Avenue Radio

iHeart’s broadcast radio assets alone have more consumer reach in the U.S. than any other media outlet; twice the reach of the next largest broadcast radio company; and over four times the ad-enabled reach of the largest digital only audio service. iHeart is the largest podcast publisher according to Podtrac, with more downloads than the next two podcast publishers combined and has the number one social footprint among audio players, with seven times more followers than the next audio media brand, and the only fully integrated audio ad tech solution across broadcast, streaming and podcasts. The company continues to leverage its strong audience connection and unparalleled consumer reach to build new platforms, products and services.

Rukus Avenue Radio will kicked off this incredible news with a special program from 19th to the 21st of January to celebrate its inaugural weekend on iHeartRadio, with its regular slate of shows beginning on January 22nd. From Punjabi, to Carnatic, to the rise of South Asian hip hop music, to Bollywood culture, to socially relevant discussions that help shape the evolving identity of the South Asians living abroad – listeners can tune in and hear weekly one-hour shows, from hosts covering the hot topics that matter to the South Asian diaspora around the world.

For more information visit www.rukusavenueradio.com or www.rukusavenue.com

Hina P. Ansari

Author

Hina P. Ansari is a graduate from The University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario). Since then she has carved a successful career in Canada's national fashion-publishing world as the Entertainment/Photo Editor at FLARE Magazine, Canada's national fashion magazine. She was the first South Asian in...

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Rukus Avenue Radio, The World’s #1 South Asian Radio Station, Joins The iHeartRadio App

by Hina P. Ansari

Hina P. Ansari

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