Brett Davidson : In your ear
The country’s older radio stations have been re-inventing themselves to better compete against the fresh-faced commercial debutants new on the scene. The degree of change is generally in proportion to the level of competition in any given region.
On the one end of the scale is 94.7 Highveld Stereo. It’s been around for years and years, but since it left the SABC fold the face-lift has been so fundamental that the general manager, Malcolm Fried, can say quite seriously, “We’re a very young station.” There’s a completely new line-up of presenters and the playlist has been tightly focused to fit the “all hit radio” niche. There are new station identities and a whole new look.
At the other extreme is Radio Oranje, which decided to remain the comforting earth- mother, making almost no changes for a year after being sold.
Says station managing director Alb Grobbelaar: “There was so much change going on at the time of the hand-over, because the SABC was also relaunching its stations. The listeners were worried, so we wanted to be the one thing they could turn to and know, `at least this is just the same’.” Now that listeners are secure again, the station has employed a consultant from the United States to help fine-tune the playlist.
The station’s policy is understandable, given that Bloemfontein hasn’t had the huge infusion of new sounds that some other areas have. This also means that in contrast to the tight niching happening elsewhere, Oranje has been able to remain `all things to all people’. So aside from playing music, it’s now introduced a talk show on Wednesday nights, and it broadcasts in English and Afrikaans.
The rest of the stations fall somewhere between the two poles, with varying degrees of change. Jacaranda has a “if it works don’t mess with it” approach, but has also not had much time to change, as it was only privatised on September 1 this year. East Coast Radio and Radio Algoa have both done some tweaking, mainly ditching “safe” sounds for more risk-taking and excitement. Radio 702 has reshuffled its presenters, with John Robbie going solo in the mornings and John Berks back in the afternoon drive- time seat. It’s sticking to its formula of personality-based talk.
Although it has remained within the SABC, Good Hope FM has had to change too – not only to meet the challenge of increased competition, but because it lost a lot of talent when the new stations opened up.
A number of presenters went over to P4 and Cape Talk, station manager Randall Abrahams was poached by YFM, and hit morning host Mark Gillman moved to 5FM. “It was a back- handed compliment,” says present station manager Paul Kaye. “It showed our DJs were good, but it also hurt. We’ve had to have a radical re-shuffle of existing talent, in addition to employing new people.”
One of the upshots of the turmoil has been that Good Hope now has more female DJs on air than any other station in the country. And Kaye’s upbeat about remaining within the SABC stable: “To be honest, we were nervous at first about not being sold, but the SABC is also changing. The dead wood’s not there anymore and Hawu Mbatha [the new radio chief] has shown his commitment to running on basic business principles.”
Radio Metro is another SABC station that has had to change. As a national broadcaster it has to fight off multiple challenges from local broadcasters who are in a better position to key into listener preferences, and can offer valued services like local news, weather and traffic reports.
Metro’s adopted a two-pronged approach – focusing its R&B-based format more tightly, and boosting the station’s visibility. “We’ve got to move away from the station just existing in the radio monitor,” says station manager Zolisile Mapipa. “It must be out there, it must be visible.” So Metro launched the Cape Town-to-Soweto roadshow, broadcast from Soweto on Youth Day, and from a cell in John Vorster Square on Freedom Day. “We can’t be complacent,” says Mapipa. “The new competition is keeping everyone on their toes.”
Without exception, station managers say they welcome the competition. Radio is more risky these days, but more exciting too. And there’s the general feeling that “if we can make it now, it proves we’re good”. But will everyone survive?
“That’s difficult to answer,” says Yvonne Johnston, group media director at Ogilvy & Mather. “The new stations have really launched themselves well. What we have yet to see is whether the radio advertising pie is going to increase. My instinct is it probably isn’t – but we’ve had some good responses from advertisers.” What advertisers haven’t responded to well is the dramatic increases in rates charged – especially by the former SABC stations, with KFM and Highveld named as the biggest culprits.
“It’s difficult to justify to our clients that they must pay double to get the same impact,” says Tony Banahan, media director at FCB. “I would like the stations to re- assess their prices.”
The problem, says Banahan, is that radio works because of high frequency – lots of spots played often because the impact isn’t as strong as other media.
Advertisers find their radio budgets pay for only half the frequency they had before. In addition, says Johnston, “My clients buying nine stations with the SABC got a discount for bulk. Now this has also fallen away, because each station is independent.”
The station managers are unapologetic. Many of the regional stations say they offer large audiences with a high level of disposable income, and were undervalued under the SABC.
Then too, with independence has come higher costs – stations have to pay for new premises, new state-of-the-art equipment, and higher salaries for popular DJs who are in demand.
Highveld’s Fried says it’s a system of supply and demand. “If there’s high demand for a time slot, we charge more.”