Heart 104.9FM has announced that Lance Witten has joined the Cape Town radio station as its news editor. Witten brings with him a decade of news and actuality experience to the station, and says he is returning to his “first love” – radio.
“Lance’s past experience as an on-air presenter, together with his time in high-pressure newsrooms, will bring a sense of gravitas and a perspective which we believe will be highly attractive to people who are not yet familiar with Heart 104.9FM. There’s no doubt that once they tune in for top-quality news, they’ll also appreciate our genuine commitment to meaningful conversation, and our mix of music,” says MD Gary Petersen.
The focal point of Heart 104.9FM’s news content is ‘what Cape Town wants to hear,’ creating a strong bias toward local stories and local voices and Witten, says Petersen, is ideally positioned to lead this approach having started his career as a news anchor on UCT Radio before studying radio, and later journalism at CPUT. He has remained Cape Town-focused throughout his successful career, having served as a Breakfast Show producer and later as a presenter on e.tv news and eNCA – both broadcast from the Mother City.
As news editor for Heart 104.9FM, which currently dominates the city’s evening and weekend listenership, Lance will bring a highly professional ethic and passion for investigating and broadcasting news to the local community. Witten’s brief will include a weekly investigative program and the decision to appoint him to the Editor’s chair is calculated to introduce the station to a broader audience.