Imagine getting up at 4.15am every weekday morning and having to be side-splittingly funny from the get-go. It’s enough to cause a sense of humour failure in most of us.
Not so for Anele Mdoda, fours years in to being the host of 947’s morning drive time show. Newly rebranded as Anele and the Club on 947, it is tagged as ‘Joburg’s Most Fun Breakfast Show’. It’s her “non-stop energy and razor-sharp wit” that keeps listeners tuning in, the station’s management says.
Anele and her team are tasked with waking up Joburgers, and seeing them off to work (either from home or at the office) with big smiles on their faces – as well as the vital information they need to face the day.
By the time they’re stirring, Anele is at work. “I wake up at 4:15am and go through all my messages and social media. I mentally access how tired I am, then do all the convincing to access where my energy is needed for most that day. I shower, grab a banana and a bottle of cold water and go to radio,” she tells The Media Online.
On the weekends, it’s not much different. “If I am working it does not change. If I am not, then it’s TV and my son all the way.”
Primedia Broadcasting revealed the 947 breakfast show’s new look, refined positioning and pay-off line on Monday.
“Joburgers love Anele. To live and thrive in this city you need a healthy sense of humour and a positive attitude. Listeners love sharing their lives with her – and she has a knack of tuning into the stories that speak to all of us,” says station manager, Thando Makhunga. “Together with ‘The Club’ members Frankie Du Toit, Thembekile Mrototo, Cindy Poluta and Alex Caige, her show encapsulates the absolute can-do spirit of Joburg even during tough times.”
The refreshed show’s promise, says Anele, is to, along with its name change, give listeners “a host of exciting new show features centred around giving our audience the funniest start to their day”.
Living up to the pay-off line isn’t solely Anele’s responsibility. “The main part of the club is, yes, my co-hosts but really it’s to include the listeners more. Take them on every high, every low and every smile,” she says.
As everyone can attest to, 2020 has not been a particularly funny year. And being humorous through its challenges can’t be easy, but Anele bats the question away, saying, “I am very funny when I’m sad”. This year, she adds, was a “A cacophony and an awakening”.
Radio played an enormous role in listeners’ lives during lockdown, especially in the first few, terrifying months. Anele says radio helped listeners by being consistent. “… we were there EVERYDAY. We were the comfort, the reassurance. It’s funny because when I reflect, I realise I too needed that.”
And her big take-out from 2020? “Being a saviour lives in the same house as being a controller.”
