Last Friday, representatives of Makhado FM, a local community radio station, and Zoutnet Publishers signed a unique partnership agreement that may forever change the way local media function. This agreement will mean that the traditional newspaper company starts broadcasting live in the mornings from the 9th of November.

Makhado FM started broadcasting on the FM frequency just over a year ago. During this time, the team had to endure many hardships in trying to build a brand and to expand their listenership. The station broadcasts mainly in Tshivenda, with other languages such as Xitsonga and English mixed in. The signal range is roughly an 80-kilometre radius from Louis Trichardt, mainly towards the south and east.

Zoutnet, on the other hand, has two core products, namely the Limpopo Mirror and Zoutpansberger newspapers. The Mirror has been the top-selling community newspaper in the province for a number of years and boasts copy sales in the region of 10 000 per week. The Zoutpansberger is more focused on the town’s residents, but throughout the years this paper has won many accolades for quality journalism and layout.

According to Anton van Zyl, manager of the Zoutnet group, the partnership with a local radio station was almost inevitable. “We have to grow and also explore other media. Newspapers, even though they are very popular throughout the world, are changing. None of us really knows where the medium is evolving to, but we are very excited about the new possibilities. We regard ourselves as content providers and the only change will be in the medium through which we provide the content to the market,” he said.

“For many years, we have been active in media such as the Internet, but we felt that we needed a presence on air,” says Anton. According to him, the partnership agreement with Makhado FM will be a huge boost for both parties, especially as far as the provision of quality content is concerned.

According to the agreement, Zoutnet buys out the slot between 07:00 and 11:00 on weekdays on Makhado FM. This will be uniquely branded under the Makoya name, which is also the name of the youth publication that appears every fortnight in the Limpopo Mirror. “The Makoya 7-11 show will, however, not be focussed on the youth. It will focus on quality content and entertainment,” says Anton. The presenters will primarily produce shows in English to make it accessible to as large an audience as possible. It will, however, not lose focus of its core listeners and questions during talk shows will be answered, as far as possible, in all the local languages. Even an Afrikaans-speaking presenter will be available in certain slots to cater for Afrikaans-speaking lis-teners.

The partnership agreement also goes beyond just the buying out of a four-hour daily slot. Zoutnet will make its news available for the remainder of the day to the radio station, to make sure that the news bulletins are up to date and relevant to the local listeners. Zoutnet will also procure advertising for the radio station out-side the morning slot. This effectively means that advertisers can book airtime slots at the publishing company’s office. “We hope that by doing this we can boost the advertising revenue of the radio station and help to grow the station,” says Anton.

The station manager of Makhado FM, Mr Moses Muneri, was extremely excited about the partnership agreement and described it as a new era that has dawned for the radio station. “We believe this partnership will strengthen our position in the market and we will benefit tremendously,” he said.

The Makoya 7-11 show will be broadcast from the offices of Zoutnet at 16B Joubert Street. From here, the signal will be relayed to the Makhado FM offices in Burger Street and again to the transmitter. All the content will thus be compiled at the offices of Zoutnet.

A young and very vibrant team have been appointed to run this morning slot. The team will be headed by Thato Ledwaba. The two core presenters will be Vhahangwele (Ngerezah the black diamond) Netshifhefhe and Khathutshelo (K Smooth) Nedombeloni. Both the presenters and the programme manager are very experienced and are well-known to listeners of stations such as Univen FM and East Wave Radio. The technical assistant will be Ambrose Ranwashe.

According to Thato, the show will be rich in content and music. “It is targeted at individuals who need to make informed decisions about their daily lives, accompanied by good music, of course,” she says.