STORY: Vanessa Levenstein
Let’s travel back to the 1940’s. A family is huddled together around the central object in their living room, a large polished wooden box with two knobs, the wireless. Tell them that in just over a decade there will be such a thing as a transistor radio and you may be met with both disbelief and excitement. Fast forward to the 50’s and inform the family that soon they will be able to listen to the radio in their car. The response may well be, “It doesn’t get better than this!” Well, for a long time it didn’t get better than that. A very, very long time in fact.
Cool Classics and Smooth Jazz
Fine Music Radio, a community radio station, has been a successful broadcaster over the last 21 years. They are the only radio station in the Western Cape that plays classical music and jazz. Specialists in their field, their greatest joy is bringing beautiful music to their listeners.
And therein lies the rub. Terrestrial radio is transmitted through FM radio waves. Mark Jennings, Station Manager at FMR explains, “The FM (frequency modulation) signal, whilst very clear and “Hi fidelity”, operates essentially as a line of sight medium. It does not travel around mountains or downhill. So some areas in Paarl, Stellenbosch, Hermanus and Somerset West for instance can’t receive FMR. There are no “gap filter” transmitters available. Fortunately we have a non-traditional, yet ingenious solution, live streaming via the Internet.”
When it all clicks together
You can listen to a radio station through the Internet via your phone, tablet, computer and even some high-end motor vehicles.
Jennings is optimistic, “Independent research has shown that FMR has a variable of over 50 000 listen live clicks a month, with nearly 3000 podcast downloads per month. Anyone, anywhere can listen and clearly they are”.
This is a big plus for advertisers. Research has proven that radio and cinema are the two mediums where consumers are the least advertising-avoidant. Radio streaming provides the advertiser with not only more listeners, but listeners who actually listen.
Jennings is passionate about the relationship that listeners have with the station. “When Rodney Trudgeon shares his experience of a piece of music it resonates with our audience. Our listeners have an intimate relationship with FMR, they are loyal and responsive. As a local radio station we also provide our listeners with an insight into cultural events that they may otherwise have missed. Our listeners have a sense of belonging, one that cannot be duplicated by the likes of iTunes.”
Shift in behaviour
Online listeners may feel apprehensive about how radio streaming eats up their bandwidth. FMR’s Operations Manager, Wesley Lewies reassures, “Data is becoming cheaper and faster all the time. The real challenge lies in converting listeners to consume a traditional medium in a non-traditional manner”.
The good news is that even for technophobes it’s simple.
- Visit FMR
- Click the red Listen Live button.
- If you want to amplify the sound, plug an auxiliary cable from your mobile phone into your sound system.
Back to the future
If you love nostalgia, FMR offers plenty of golden oldies. However for the rest, it’s time to wave goodbye to the 40’s and embrace the present.
Jennings is optimistic about the future of FMR’s live streaming. “The platform is stable. We know that once our listeners have clicked that red button, there is no looking, or in FMR’s case listening, back”.
Listen live: FMR
WS
