I am a white male marketer, aged 27 and believe that my CD collection has more value than the current flood of tedious SA radio (the collection stands at about 2000 CD'S).
I believe there is a huge gap in this market for a station that is focussed toward hit rock/pop music. Now I am not suggesting another "Atomic Kitten casino sponsored station", but more along the lines of where 5fm used to be. This excludes the over the top metal. Are the current radio broadcasters are excluding a wealthy market?
A quick opinion of the Gauteng based stations of "power":
5FM - A station with no real identity. When you try be everything to everyone you will find your market starts dwindling (RAMS). They are trying to gain the "black youth" audience and in turn loose the audience that made them great. The dismissal of Alex, Mark P, et al. have resulted in the voice of reason joining the competition. If only 5fm management would decide on where they want to be and aggressively attack the specified segment. Oh, and if I wanted to be screamed at in the morning, I would still be living at home...
94.7 Highveld Stereo - Relying on one man who seems to not give a hoot and in turn relies on his team to create magic is not very wise. Claiming it's all about the music and playing the pop trash that is plain annoying is rather boring... Mansfield has lost that edge he had when he started, excluding the smutty toilet humour he had. It is as if it is no longer the Rude Awakening, but the Darren "Whackhead" Simpson show (Who should be banned from the airwaves). As for the other shows... the only real entertainment is a muted Alex in the afternoon.
94.2 Jacaranda - It's amazing how they managed to over compress all the voices so they all sound the same, both male and female... The morning show sounds like a first rehearsal for a production that could be great. A stunted conversation. As for the playlist... an extremely high rotation which would condone a repeat of the same compilation for a period of a week, over a 7 hour listening period per day.
Others - Well if some people tune to Tuks FM in Pretoria, you will find some really "nice" music with a jock who has mis-informed ideas and no basic knowledge of a subject, and then commits the ultimate radio sin and talks about the topic for 15 minutes... shame....
Idea - If you monitor stations, you find they play 13 songs per hour on average, depending on ad sales. Here is my idea of a playlist for one hour and a line-up that could (in my humble opinion) create a great station:
Playlist
1. Maroon 5 - This Love
2. U2 - Sweetest Thing
3. Anastacia - Left Outside Alone
4. Counting Crows - Accidentally in Love
5. Wonderboom - Charlie
6. Matchbox 20 - Push
7. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication
8. Queen - Innuendo
9. Kimberly Locke - 8the World Wonder
10. Watershed - Love It
11. Five For Fighting - 100 Years
12. Guns 'n Roses - November Rain
13. Karen Zoid - Southern Sky
Line-up: (Some are well-known, others not, but each have their own charisma)
6-9: Alex Jay (94.7)
9-12: Mark Pilgrim (94.7)
12-3: Victor Kay (Ofm)
3-6: Ian F (5FM)
6-9: Lusi Tan (Metro)
9-12: Richard Perry (94.7)
12-3: Daré Art Alade (Project Fame - What a voice!)
3-6: Phindi Gule (East Coast)
Just a thought... am I alone in this opinion?
