Audience boost for SABC radio stations, but letting go of its talent is no wise move

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

The public broadcaster, the SABC has in the recent past faced huge problems, that include governance issues, the massive retrenchments of staff, its constant struggles to be a profitable going concern and the loss of some of its most prominent talent, such as Robert Marawa, Tbo Touch, DJ Fresh and the list goes on and on.

However, its radio portfolio, although it certainly would do much better than it is currently doing, especially if the big bosses at Dithering Heights would understand the fact that its biggest asset are the people that make radio attract audiences and therefore profitable. The SABC for some unclear reasons has this tendency of not taking its most valued asset seriously, the talent that they push out or let go as If they do not matter. Yes, some of them may have mistakenly regarded their popularity as something that is bigger than the brand they work for, in a way letting the fame that comes with being good at what you do and becoming famous in the process, get into their heads. But honestly speaking, having a manageable ego in the media space is part of the game, and sometimes that ego, well managed can be the difference between profit and loss in a  highly competitive media space.

In fact talent is everything in radio, including some egos that are necessarily part of what makes good radio. For example, who in their right mind would let such talent as Fresh, Tbo Touch and Marawa go.

In the case of Marawa, there is no doubt in sporting circles that the man has no rival when it comes to sport in general and soccer broadcasting in particular. However in their wisdom the bosses at Dithering Heights let him go, and as a result, Metro FM is poorer without him. But the fact is whatever differences they had with him, wisdom dictates that they should have handled it properly and kept the guy as audiences loved him and so did advertisers, the mainstay of any type media platform. But instead, they let him go, and so did the public broadcaster let Fresh and Tbo Touch go, among others .

Now these three are independent and word everywhere is that the trio and others are starting a new initiative in the broadcasting space using new technology that can be easily innovatively employed to create media enterprises these days.

Conventional wisdom is simple and straight forward on a clear matter like this, and that is that that such a collective talent pool is likely to attract huge audiences to their initiative, and that means a loss to existing channels such as SABC and the other independent radio channels. The truth is they will attract existing audiences from these channels, and perhaps even attract new audiences as well.

While that is not bad at all, it however means a loss to the public broadcaster, which in the first place, is the one that groomed this talent to be where they are at right now, and easily letting such talent go because of ego issues or whatever reason, does not seem to be a good business move, particularly for a public broadcaster that frequently, cap in hand, go to Treasury for bailouts or guarantees that enables it to raise money from the commercial money market to cover some of the losses it incurs.

Having said that, there is good news coming from the public broadcaster this time around, and this is a good sign of the public broadcaster clawing back into economic health. Possibly.

Its radio portfolio is not only showing resilience when it comes to maintaining listeners, but that the public still loves its channels, irrespective of its current challenges. A media statement released by the broadcaster states that not only is the radio portfolio doing well with regards to audience numbers, but the radio channels are in a dominant position on the broadcasting landscape in the country.

“The South African Broadcasting Corporation(SABC) is pleased following the release of the Broadcast Research Council (BRC) of South Africa AMPLIFY™ latest RAMS data and radio currency.  The data released specifies significant success indicators for SABC radio in terms of listenership.

According to the new data released, 14 of the country’s 20 most listened to radio stations are part of the SABC radio portfolio, with Ukhozi FM leading the pack with eight (8) million listeners. Closely behind Ukhozi FM is the country’s most listened to commercial station, Metro FM at five (5) million listeners per week.  In addition, the survey’s new methodology has also confirmed that 5FM leads the youth radio market at one (1) million listeners, while SAfm leads the talk and news radio market with just under a million listeners per week.

The survey puts Radio 2000’s position within the top 10 radio stations within country.

The Group Executive for SABC Radio, Ms. Nada Wotshela stated that “The data presented by BRC reiterates the incredible power and influence of our radio stations. We are pleased to see that despite the consumer behavioural changes brought about by technological advancements which enable new media platforms, and offer audiences alternative sources of consuming content, radio remains a primary and trusted media platform. We have also steadily made inroads in the online space which allows our audiences to always stay in touch with their favourite radio stations via digital, internet and social media platforms. This proves that our efforts are not in vain as the new RAMS track both linear and non-linear listening”.

Wotshela further stated that “For us the data provided by BRC is also a  clear indication that the millions of South African households still rely on our programming for credible information and news, as well as entertainment. We take our role as the public broadcaster as a very important one, and thus we continued to deliver on our public mandate during the most testing period in the history of our nation, demystifying the COVID-19 pandemic, and providing comfort and companionship to the millions of South African who suffered deeply during the lockdown, which evidently disrupted the normal way of broadcasting. During this period our staff members who are entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that there is content on air, remained resilient and ensured that our delivery is not compromised”.

SABC radio remains the most powerful media platform as the leading hub of entertainment, news, and information to the millions of South Africans,” the statement added.

This is good news indeed, especially when it comes to audience retention in the face of competition from independent radio stations whose mandate is mainly commercial, whereas that of the SABC’s is mainly public service broadcasting alongside pushing commercial interests.

But the SABC would do much better if it also focused on talent retention, by managing its talent appropriately. Unfortunately this also means managing sometimes bloated egos  in the ranks of the talent. It comes with the territory and it is good for business.

It is perhaps time for SABC to reconsider the decision to let go of some of its talent, especially during a period when competition is not only from independent radio stations, but other digital channels, such as podcast channels, thanks to new technologies that allow talented people to set up channels with very little resources but talent, vision, drive and business acumen.