New kid on the block Power FM is not even three-months-old yet, but it has already earned itself some serious bragging rights. TheMediaOnline analysed research company Media Tenor SA’s latest findings on the most influential media in South Africa.
Businessman Given Mkhari’s Power FM launched in Johannesburg mid-June to take on the talk radio station market in Gauteng, which is currently dominated by Talk Radio 702. Two weeks later, it had already made a name for itself in the business media, according to a Media Tenor SA analysis of agenda setting media for the first half of 2013.
“Power FM managed to make the list as being one of the most influential media in the business section at the moment. This is remarkable given that Power FM only started broadcasting towards the end of June, the latter part of our analysis,” said Media Tenor SA senior researcher Stephano Radaelli.
The results of the study are based on 4 340 quotes from 42 opinion-leading media between January and June 2013.
In the business section, the Mail & Guardian was the most quoted local media, followed by Power FM. Overall in the business section, the Mail & Guardian was in fourth place and Power FM in fifth place. The first three places were dominated by Bloomberg News, Financial Times and Reuters.
“Power FM received more quotes in the business section than Business Day, South Africa’s leading daily,” said the Media Tenor SA study.
Last year, the top five for the business section were the Sunday Times, City Press, Business Day, Mail & Guardian and Financial Mail.
Overall, the Sunday Times is slightly in the lead in terms of being the most influential media in South Africa.
“Sunday Times gained a significant boost from Dina Pule’s dispute between her and the newspaper.
“However, City Press and Mail & Guardian are hot on the heels of the Sunday Times and the battle to claim the honours as the most influential media for 2013 is still wide open,” said Radaelli.
In 2012, the top honour for most influential media went to the City Press, followed by the Sunday Times, Beeld and then Reuters and Bloomberg-News.
Another interesting trend in the first half of 2013 is the media’s increasing reliance on social networking site Twitter for quotes.
“SA media have generated over two thirds more quotes from Twitter for half on 2013 than in comparison to the full 12 months of 2012. This indicates that local media are finding Twitter a key source to leverage prominent figures’ own words in a quick and accessible way.”
