Start of new era for local media

TALK of the Town's partnership with community radio station Kowie FM has the potential to be the start of a new era on May 1.

Media is a competitive business, but there are also opportunities for mutual benefit when you get your message and product out on different platforms. Just as TotT has had a loyal readership over the past 15 years, Kowie FM has also had a loyal listenership since the station began broadcasting in September 2009.

But tough economic times have seen the station go through some changes. The Kowie FM board, which is made up of members of the community, admitted the station came close to shutting down early last year. The River Group bailed out the station and made some austerity cuts, one of which was to cut back on local programming and rather use programmes from Link FM, a community station in East London.

Kowie FM has not had a local morning show for nearly a year, and this has definitely been a disappointment to residents who enjoyed tuning in to hear local presenters speak to local people about matters of local interest.

Thanks to sponsorship by Talk of the Town's parent company Avusa, we have been able to resurrect the morning show and will work together with Kowie FM to grow the show into quality and enjoyable content.

Kowie FM has specially trained a presenter for the Talk of the Town morning show. Ongezwa Jack cut her teeth as a news presenter on the station and broadened her experience on a Monday night show dealing with marriage and family issues from a Christian perspective.

The River Group's majority stake in the station means Christian programming will make up 50% of the morning show's content, but there will also be secular content to appeal to a broader audience.

TotT will have a personal presence on the show to talk about the local news of the week every Thursday morning, and there are other items of interest in the pipeline.

We hope local businesses will join TotT and Kowie FM in our new partnership as they see the benefit of a bigger multi-media platform for advertising their products.

We also encourage our readers (and listeners) to give us input about what you would like to hear on the morning show.

- Jon Houzet