Here’s to a Powerful first year for POWER 98.7!

Given Mkhari.

Gauteng’s newest commercial talk radio station made its grand entrance with the promise of shaking up the South African radio scene. A year later, POWER 98.7 is still making waves, having created a powerful platform for authentic dialogue.

POWER 98.7 is proud to be celebrating its birthday with the knowledge that the fanfare with which it launched was well deserved. The station has succeeded in its aim of creating a truly South-African talk radio station with content that speaks to the South African majority.

Barely three months into existence, POWER 98.7 was named the second-most influential media institution in business according to an analysis of the agenda setting media (ASM) for the second half of 2013, commissioned by Media Tenor SA.

And in December, the station made Google’s top 10 trending search list of 2013 by South Africans and no 1 in media, according to Zeitgeist.com.

The nature and level of debate and engagement on POWER 98.7 already attests to the station’s success and the numbers back it up. By December 2013 the station had attracted more than 90,000 radio listeners in the upper echelons of society with most of our listeners in the Living Standard Measurement (LSM) range of 8 – 10. POWER 98.7 enjoys one of the highest online streaming audiences in South Africa with a minimum of 52 000 monthly streaming audience and a twitter following of around 45 000.

POWER 98.7’s popularity and influence as a newcomer in the radio industry is also evidenced by the quality of advertisers – from banks, cellular networks to major retailers - who have chosen the station as a vehicle to reach their audience. By the end of its first financial year, POWER 98.7 had exceeded their revenue targets by 120%. On the staff front the station managed to retain over 90% of the original personnel, a remarkable achievement by start-up standards. The station’s well-known names have continued to entrench their authoritative positioning with key personalities such as Tim Modise, Azania Mosaka, Eusebuis McKaiser, Pabi Moloi and others gracing South Africa’s front pages and commenting on matters of national significance in other national media.

These powerful talented radio presenters – who are playing a growing role in shaping opinion in this country - have had the great opportunity to host many influential personalities.  These include former South African president Thabo Mbeki, former South African deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, firebrand politician Julius Malema, comedian Trevor Noah to name just a few.  Each personality that has graced our station has ensured that our voice remains universal, dynamic and inclusive.

Said Given Mkhari, Chairman of POWER 98.7 “We are grateful for the support we have received from the nation and look forward to continuing to connect with people who are keen to develop their community and their idea of nationhood. Our aim was not to create a traditional news-driven talk show station. We wanted to revolutionise talk radio. We have succeeded in raising the bar on talk and lifestyle radio, we have helped create truly impassioned debates and engagements about South Africa.”

Mkhari added “As we celebrate this significant milestone, our birthday wish is to continue being the powerful, thought-provoking voice we envisaged for South Africa and to keep the conversation going. While in the first year we focussed on refining the on air product, our new focus will be on more direct interactions with our listeners and advertisers by conducting external campaigns and other outreach programmes.”

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