Alfie Jay, managing director at Algoa FM
This is evident from the annual results to March 2023, as published by holding company AME Ltd on 2 June.
“Algoa FM produced excellent results for the year ended 31 March 2023,” said AME Ltd. Group CEO Dave Tiltmann, in a statement on the results. “Collectively, national and direct sales contributed to Net Radio Revenue ending 12% above budget, which together with tight financial controls, resulted in EBITDA last experienced pre-Covid.
“This performance was achieved despite a magnitude of conditions such as the severe water crisis, failing municipal infrastructure, disruptive power outages, and rising inflation, which was further exacerbated by the State of Disaster, which was only lifted during April of 2022.
“During the period under review, audiences have grown, online engagement is on an upward trajectory, and cash flow remains positive,” he wrote.
Algoa FM managing director Alfie Jay, says: “The Broadcasting Research Council of South Africa (BRC), reports that our audience grew by close-on 10% in the year under review, from 397,000 to 436,000 past seven-day listeners.
“BRC data also reveals that Algoa FM is in a class of its own in the country, enjoying the highest percentage of loyal listeners compared with the five other regional, commercial radio stations which target listeners living an adult contemporary lifestyle.”
Correspondingly, Algoa FM is helping advertisers reach their target market across multiple platforms.
“We have evolved into much more than a radio station as we now connect with loyal followers on air, online, via DStv’s Channel 837, and on the ground.
“Google analytics reports that algoafm.co.za averages a million unique users while our stream @algoafm.co.za is attracting 1,6 million listening hours per quarter. We’ve also yielded encouraging growth in the podcast space with Journey to Justice having garnered more than 71 thousand listens since launch.
“Algoa FM is also the most visible and interactive media house in the Eastern Cape, through activations with clients almost every weekend and often during the week,” says Jay.
The trend is growing as different advertisers continue to experience a positive return on investment across the station’s various platforms.
“Encouraging for us are the type of bookings coming from our national advertisers via United Stations, our sales house in the national market. These clients clearly value the market we have crafted in our broadcast footprint, which extends from the Garden Route to the Wild Coast and inland through the Karoo.
“Much of the success our advertisers are experiencing is due to us not selling advertising, but rather, developing affordable marketing solutions which achieve goals. My team understands the market intimately and aside from offering creative packages that really work, they’re highly skilled at crafting multi-media campaigns that deliver bang for buck,” says Jay.
