Andy Davis

The laaities on the coast don’t listen to radio ‘cos there’s no radio for them to listen to, writes Andy Davis. While the adult contemporary stations have dominated thus far, the new licences up for grabs in 2006 could shake things up.

How does a society rehabilitate a 14-year-old rapist? In South Africa, we don’t. We lock children like this up. Put them away, run them through the criminal justice system and turn them into hardened criminals. But is this an effective and humane way to deal with children?

There are some clever theories explaining the modern world’s fascination with sport, but they don’t really matter to the broadcasters’ bankable captive audience -the fans. Andy Davis asks SA’s sports TV bosses how they cover their massive rights costs.

Is there a niche, a valid gap in the market? Is the new title attracting new magazine readers to the pool, or is it simply cannibalising the audience and adspend of other established titles? Is the magazine more dependent on its advertising than its audience? It all comes down to the business plan…

There’s modest growth in the broadsheets, but the really big circulation gains in local weekly newspapers are coming from the tabloids. Andy Davis unravels a segment that mirrors the international trends.

The overhaul of Afrikaans broadcast media in the last decade represents a necessary cultural catharsis, writes Andy Davis. But are these radio and television brands adequately catering for the country’s 3,5-million black and coloured Afrikaners?

Q: What’s the difference between South African sports publishing and South African sports teams? A: One’s a winner. The fact that South African sports teams have performed like dogs being whipped by Australian cheerleaders for the last two years has meant very little to the bottom line of the sports publishing sector. Andy Davis looks at how, and why, sports print is raking in the readership and the revenue.

Patricia De Lille has long been an outspoken critic of mediocrity, corruption and incompetence in South African government and society. Andy Davis speaks to the firebrand politician and gets her to train her sights on South African media.

"Everywhere else in the world, where television is an entertainment and information medium, ratings and adspend work hand-in hand." The revolution will not be televised- locally. Andy Davis looks at youth television and finds that adpsend patterns are way behind emerging culture.

Analysis of election advertising campaigns often provides an objective litmus test of what political parties actually stand for, as opposed to what they communicate in order to secure your vote. In the build-up to the election it is interesting to look at the metamorphosis and development of how parties advertise themselves.

Mainstream newspapers don’t directly target the youth market, and it shows – most titles have less than a 20% penetration in the 16 to 24 age demographic. But there are still some products taking on youth boredom, argues Andy Davis.