P4 radio has had a change of heart. Eight years after its launch, the Cape Town and Durban-based music station has officially shed its jazz image to reposition its brand and tune into the needs of the mainstream music market.
On February 14, Valentine’s Day, it will be renamed Heart 104.9. But, by February 1, it will have hit the airwaves with a revamped format.
The change is long overdue for a station whose heart has been in the right place, but whose head has lagged behind. Funded by P4 in Norway, the station’s efforts to profit from a niche jazz market have been consistently thwarted by shoddy corporate governance and lacklustre advertising.
Now 100% owned by Makana Radio Communications — an empowerment consortium comprising Makana Investments, Kagiso Media and Tiso radio — P4 has begun sailing on more stable financial waters. But, with 500 000 listeners, its growth remains stagnant.
“Our research shows that the jazz market is too small and our target listeners, urban adults, prefer listening to contemporary, soft R&B,” says Heart’s recently appointed CEO, Gavin Meiring.
“This is the kind of music we’ve been playing for the past year, with vibrant personalities such as Aden Thomas and new recruits such as e.tv’s Saskia Falken and Bongani Njoli steering the overall tone. Yet the perception remains that we are primarily a jazz station.”
Meiring insists that, while new blood will be injected into Heart, jazz will not be entirely omitted from the line-up.
Previously head of programming at East Coast Radio, Meiring successfully expanded the Durban station from 400 000 listeners to 2,1million. Today, it is the third most profitable independent radio station countrywide, after Jacaranda and 94.7 Highveld Stereo.
But transforming the mindset of the Heart market will be daunting. Some listeners fear the station will fade into an audio version of MTV — emulating the style and format of commercial stations such as Good Hope FM.
Meiring concedes that success in a competitive, commercial environment entails targeting the majority and tapping into the “common denominator”. But, unlike other commercial stations that focus on “listeners’ aspirations”, Meiring says Heart 104.9 aims “to keep it real”.
“It’s about fostering and nurturing a friendship with our listeners, tuning into their needs and accepting them just the way they are.”