Hot 102.7 FM (HOT) is currently running a campaign calling for listeners to fill in an online survey/petition to get the station’s format changed so that the station can drop the 50% classical music component imposed on it by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in 2021.
The condition is akin to allowing a restaurant a licence to offer fast food but stipulating that they also serve fine dining cuisine on an equal basis. Classical music aficionados will be upset should HOT’s petition succeed, however the onus should be on ICASA to find a space and a frequency for a Classical Music station, should someone want to invest in it.
I have always believed that the regulator should refrain from dictating formats if it is to significantly increase competition in the commercial radio sector. This sector has been suppressed by over-regulation and a degree of ‘nannying’ by ICASA.
And while it serves the interests of some licensees (particularly former SABC stations, Primedia, and those who were granted ‘greenfield’ licences in the late 1990s) to have ICASA continue along the path it is taking, it robs the listeners of choice between – and diversity of – competitor stations.
It also feeds certain large stations and groups with substantial revenue and sets huge barriers to entry for newcomers to the market.
Unpalatable mix
Whoever at ICASA came up with the idea to stipulate that HOT play 50% classical music has no idea of how people listen to- and consume- radio, and how people align themselves with a radio brand. To schedule classical music into the ‘Old Skool and R&B’ format would make an unpalatable mix for the typical target listener.
To fulfil the regulatory requirement, HOT’s management made the only logical decision possible, which was to separate the genres, playing classical music on their FM transmitters from 19:00 to 05:00, thus freeing the station up to focus on the more popular music during the day (when more listeners are available).
A substantial problem with this is that at 19:00, as the station switched to classical music, listeners would tune their radios to other stations offering more contemporary music – with the concomitant danger for HOT that the listener would then possibly forget to tune back in the morning.
Alternatively, the listener may like the music being played on the substitute station and thus not tune back to HOT until the substitute station give them a reason to, and that is unfair to HOT.
Commercial radio should be more competitive
In 1995, I wrote an article that was published in the Saturday Star entitled ‘Time for the IBA to apply its own RDP to the airwaves’. (The IBA was the Independent Broadcasting Authority, which later became ICASA) Some 30 years later, the core of this article is still applicable to the radio industry in South Africa, particularly with the implications the article had for the commercial radio sector.
Commercial radio should be more competitive. In the US, commercial radio is a competitive field with listeners having the benefit of a choice of stations within a format band. Broadcasters must be more relevant to the lives of their listeners, and they have to provide better programming and more exciting marketing than their competitors if they want to secure an audience, which they can then take to market and attract advertising revenue.
This does not prevent a station from becoming a dominant force within its market (city or region), but most certainly ensures that there are options for the listener (consumer) to choose from.
Free market system
In a free market system, when one offering becomes successful and starts to attract a market, competitive forces will enter that sector (format) to gain a share of the lucrative market. At a certain point, the market can get too fragmented and the format would become unprofitable, forcing a re-think of strategy.
My question to ICASA is: “What’s wrong with that?” In the South African context, such an approach will give advertisers more options, and will give audiences the opportunity to vote with their dials. It will ensure that stations must be more creative in their programming (and marketing). And it will encourage some investors/entrepreneurs to look at smaller markets in which to set up radio stations.
ICASA would argue that there is limited space available on the frequency spectrum. I’m unconvinced. In a city like New York, in the early 1990s, there were over 100 FM stations within a 30km radius. If ICASA examined frequency spectrum management plans as implemented in several markets elsewhere in the world, they could easily manage the spectrum more efficiently and effectively allow for more commercial radio broadcasters.
The spectrum
When the IBA started to allocate licenses to new broadcasters (in 1995) they initially focused on licensing community stations. Some community stations managed to get licenses, even though they were in essence commercial stations dressed in community clothing.
While there are several arguments for community stations, ICASA should never have allocated these the licenses and frequencies which they did, on the area of FM spectrum, which they allocated.
My 1995 article examined the British model of dividing the FM Frequency Spectrum and recommended that the South African FM frequency spectrum be allocated in a similar manner.
The British FM frequency allocation plan
| 87.5 to 88.0 MHz | Short-term and restricted services |
| 88.0 to 94.6 MHz | BBC national and regional radio |
| 94.6 to 96.1 MHz | BBC local radio (and Radio 4 in places) |
| 96.1 to 97.6 MHz | Independent Local Radio |
| 97.6 to 99.8 MHz | BBC Radio 1 |
| 99.8 to 102.0 MHz | Independent national and local radio (mainly still to come) |
| 102.0 to 103.5 MHz | Independent local radio |
| 103.5 to 105.0 MHz | BBC local radio |
| 105.0 to 108.0 MHz | Independent local radio (national or local to be decided) |
If we were to apply this model to the allocation of the FM frequencies in South Africa, we could utilise the following model:
Proposed South African FM frequency allocation plan:
| 87.5 to 88.0 MHz | Short-term, restricted services (sports events, limited period coverage, special events, etc.) |
| 88.0 to 94.6 MHz | SABC national Public Service Broadcasting and SABC regional radio |
| 94.6 to 96.1 MHz | Localised Community Radio |
| 96.1 to 97.6 MHz | Independent Local Commercial Radio |
| 97.6 to 99.8 MHz | SABC national Commercial radio (5FM and Metro) |
| 99.8 to 102.0 MHz | Independent national and local radio |
| 102.0 to 103.5 MHz | Independent local radio |
| 103.5 to 105.0 MHz | Additional local radio (high-density demand areas) |
| 105.0 to 108.0 MHz | Independent radio (high-density demand areas) |
Even more efficient frequency allocations could be made by enforcing transmission power output limitations and signal polarisation specifications. This would prevent stations transmissions ‘bleeding’ over onto other stations, and ensure clean separation of stations and has been effectively used in the US and in Europe for many years.
What about classical music?
So, what about classic music aficionados? Where are they to listen to classical music? As a radio format, classical music is very niche and attracts a small audience. Classic FM (later Classic 1027) went into business rescue in 2019, as it was failing to attract sufficient listeners as well as advertising revenue to sustain the business model.
As a commercial radio format, classical music attracts a very small and niche audience – who are very committed to the genre, but unfortunately don’t attract the advertising and the revenue to compete with the more contemporary formats. Notwithstanding this, there are several online channels that broadcast classical music, and this may be the best option rather than allocating a frequency on the limited FM spectrum.
HOT’s campaign is quite aggressive featuring promo spots, live reads and news footers and is supported by a substantial social media campaign. I can only hope that sanity prevails at the regulator and that HOT 102.7 has this onerous condition removed.
Lance Rothschild is a radio and media consultant.
