JA105FM is however entering a media advertising market that is stagnant with the major players listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange reporting reduced revenues and profits for the first six months of this year.

Oliver Clarke of the Gleaner Company and Power 106 is reported to have made the comment that a lot a Jamaican radio stations are operating as hobbies for the respective owners as presumably the stations are not viable.

The viability of Jamaican radio as a profitable business is a debate that has been raging for decades now and notwithstanding the negative forecast, businessmen and entrepreneurs continue to invest and start up new stations. Oliver Clarke of the Gleaner Company and Power 106 is reported to have made the comment that a lot a Jamaican radio stations are operating as hobbies for the respective owners as presumably the stations are not viable. We now know that Butch Stewart’s Jamaica Observer is set to launch JA105FM before yearend! Will this be another hobby?

JA105FM will debut as Jamaica’s 27^th radio station according to the Broadcasting Commission’s website which lists the companies licensed to broadcast in Jamaica. These 27 radio stations and brands include the following, a mix of national and regional broadcast coverage.

1. Aeronautical Telecommunications Limited          Kool 97 FM
2. Alliance Francaise De La Jamaique                          RFI Radio(96.5)
3. British Broadcasting Corporation                            BBC World Service Radio ( 104.1; 104.3; 104.5; 104.7; 104.9)
4. Cornwall Broadcasting Services Limited               Mello FM Radio( 96.1)
5. Grove Broadcasting Company Limited                   ZIP 103 FM Radio(103.1; 103.3; 103.5; 103.7; 103.9)
6. Grove Broadcasting Company Limited                   IRIEFM Radio(107.1; 107.3; 107.5; 107.7; 107.9)
7. Independent Radio Company Limited                    Music 99 Radio(99.1; 99.3; 99.5; 99.7; 99.9)
8. Independent Radio Company Limited                    POWER 106  Radio(106.1; 106.3; 106.5; 106.7; 106.9)
9. Island Broadcasting Corporation                              KLAS FM Radio(89.1; 89.3; 89.5; 89.9)
10. KC Gospel Broadcasting Ltd.                                      Gospel JA Radio (Limited Area)91.7, 91.9
11. Kommercial Suites Ltd.                                                 MegaJamz 98FM Radio(98.1; 98.3; 98.5; 98.7; 98.9)
12. Mother In Crisis Sun City                                            Radio (Limited Area)104.9
13. Mustard Seed Communities                                        ROOTS FM Radio(96.1)
14. National Religious Media Commission                 LOVE FM (101.1; 101.3; 101.5; 101.7; 101.9)
15. Nationwide News Network                                         NNN Radio (90.3, 90.5, 90.7)
16. Native Broadcasting Company Ltd.                         Stylz FM Radio (Limited Area) 96.3, 96.7
17. Northern Caribbean University                                                NCU FM Radio (91.1, 91.3, 91.5)
18. Radio Jamaica Ltd. –                                                       RJR 94FM (94.1; 94.3; 94.5; 94.7; 94.9)
19. Radio Jamaica Ltd.-                                                        Fame 95 FM Radio(95.1; 95.3; 95.5; 95.7; 95.9)
20. Radio Jamaica Ltd.-                                                        Hitz 92FMRadio(92.1 – 92.9)
21. S & B Communications                                                                 JA 105 Radio (105.3,105.5, 105.7)
22. St. Bess Radio FM Co. Ltd.                                           Bess FM Radio(100.1; 100.3; 100.5)
23. Tarrant Baptist Church                                                                TBC Radio ( 88.5)
24. Universal Media Company Limited /                      News Talk 93FM (93.1; 93.3; 93.5; 93.7; 93.9)
25. Western Broadcasting Ltd.                                          HOT 102 ( 102.1; 102.3; 102.5; 102.7; 102.9)
26. Westmoreland Broadcasting Service Limited      VYBZ FM Radio( 96.3)
27. Yard Broadcasting Limited                                          Linkz FM Radio( 96.5, 96.9)

A key question yet to be answered is what will be the programming format. Will JA105FM follow the traditional path of talk radio interspersed with music or will it seek to chart a new path and establish a new format. There is no doubt that content and the right content that is marketable is king and without this JA105FM may have a hard time getting of the ground.

Leahcim Semaj

Noted psychologist Leahcim Semaj, who also monitors and tracks radio audience trends and developments commented and supported the view that radio stations have been heading in the direction of niche marketing, i.e. targeting a specialized but profitable area of the market.

“It should be about market share and advertising, since the question now is about what size of the market can sustain a station,” he said at the time.

The psychologist pointed out that in his latest survey, conducted in March of that year, “no one station had the majority of listeners during drive time, since most persons had their radio off and were playing CDs or cassettes.” However, he pointed out that the music stations’ listenership was trending up. He said that talk, which was the popular choice of listeners during drive time, was trending down since people were tuning out the negativity that talk shows currently offer.”

But what is the state of Jamaica radio? Marcia Forbes as far back as April 2010, posed the following question in an article in the print media “What fate for radio?” In that article she made the following comment.

“The challenges facing radio were evident from way back in 1997, well over a decade ago, when the declining trend in radio’s potential audience began to be evident, falling from 1,763,000 in 1996 to 1,719,000 in 2000. By 2008 the potential audience for radio had declined even further to 1,204,000, almost a 30 per cent fall-off over approximately 10 years. Despite this, radio stations proliferated. Today there are 20 radio stations across the island of Jamaica. Except for the islandwide BBC and RFI, a limited area station operated by the Alliance Française, the are all commercially driven-for-profit stations. What then, one may ask, is the fate of commercial radio in Jamaica?”

Marcia Forbes

“Of note is that it is radio that engages Jamaicans during daytime, not TV. This is not new. Examining MRSL’s (2009) average audiences from midnight to 6 pm, radio consistently trumps TV, whether broadcast or cable TV. Broadcast TV rules from evening into nighttime, 6 pm to midnight. Average audiences for local cable TV are pathetically poor while international cable TV fares better, but not when compared to broadcast TV. Anyway, radio rules the daytime media.”

With the 2012 all media survey due out in a few weeks, a better picture will be had as to how the incumbents are faring and early reports are not favorable for theses incumbents.BM

See also

https://businessuiteonline.com/2012/09/03/marketable-content-going-to-be-the-key-to-ja105fm-success/