Informed sources indicate that advertisers have already taken out their cheque books and are starting to write those big advertising cheques. There is the glimmer of a small, faint smile on the face of Cliff Hughes.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Jamaica’s most popular radio talk-show Ragashanti Live, hosted by Dr. Kingsley “Ragashanti” Stewart, attracts advertising support in the range of JA$40-50 million annually (it is estimated that Ragashanti earns an additional JA$10 -15M annually from his other activities including MC, product endorsements and appearances).

This figure if true would make Ragashanti Live one of if not the most profitable programme on Jamaican radio today. Importantly this one programme would be earning more money for the few hours it’s on air each day than most Jamaican radio stations are earning on an annual basis.

It’s no wonder Newstalk93fm found it so hard to let go and why when they finally did all the other Jamaican radio stations went after it.

Post-advertising sales response studies have shown that sexuality can be very effective for attracting immediate interest, holding that interest, and, in the context of that interest, introducing a product that somehow correlates with that interest.

It is a universally well established fact that sex and sexuality in advertising builds on the premise that people are curious about sexuality and that experience in marketing has been that sexuality sells products. Sex has been employed in advertising since the beginning of advertising and so Ragashanti’s flirtation with the forbidden should not be viewed as new or ground breaking.

And so when Executive Producer of Nationwide 90FM, Cliff Hughes proudly announced that Ragashanti Live, hosted by Dr. Kingsley ‘Ragashanti’ Stewart, will be aired on his radio station effective Wednesday, October 6, 2010, weekdays from 1pm to 5pm, the backlash was immediate.

The announcement as would be expected has drawn the wrath of a significant number of loyal and dedicated Nationwide 90fm listeners, who have threaten to pull their support for the station if Ragashanti comes with his “slackness”.

At the same time the announcement was met with cheers and excitements by thousands of loyal Ragashanti fans who were happy that he was back on air, and they would be throwing their support for and behind the station.

Dr. Kingsley "Ragashanti" Stewart

Mr. Hughes for his part said, “Nationwide 90FM has always been daring in the formatting of its programmes. Our talk format will remain, as we continue to expand our reach to Jamaicans from all walks of life, both here and abroad. Kingsley is a welcomed addition to the Nationwide 90FM family. His addition to Nationwide 90FM will diversify our suite of products and programmes to reach every demographic group and grow our market share.”

So what will Ragashanti Live do for Nationwide 90fm you might say?  Well here it is – Unconfirmed reports suggest that Jamaica’s most popular radio talk-show Ragashanti Live attracts advertising support in the range of JA$40-50 million annually. It’s as simple and as straight forward as that.

Cliff Hughes is an astute businessman and he knows and smells an opportunity to increase his audience and revenue when it comes around. But more importantly Cliff Hughes is also one of the Caribbean’s most respected and experienced Journalists, known and some would dare say feared for his high level of professionalism and adherence to the codes and ethic of his trade and profession.

As a direct result of this it is expected that Ragashanti Live on NNN will be a somewhat more toned down presentation, just enough to keep the regular NNN listeners on board and not offended, but edgy enough to bring the Ragashanti Live loyalist to NNN. And as night follows day, the advertisers will follow.

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Mass market advertisers like the Digicel, Lime, Claro and Grace, of this world did not find the Nationwide audience “mass enough” for them, and so their token advertising support reflected this for a long time. Ragashanti Live with its broad base mass appeal will have a dramatic effect on this.

The mid morning time slot was regarded as “bad timing” for the programme which, according to some commentators “would have been better scheduled late at night for an adult audience”. This however would have impacted on Ragashanti other earning opportunities.  The 1-5pm afternoon time slot will therefore be acceptable to a large number of listeners as this time is largely regarded as “entertainment time” on radio.

Mark Wignall

According to Mark Wignall in a recent column in the Jamaica Observer “…His show’s huge popularity is beyond doubt. If, however, one should tune in to his show because one is a proponent of the idea that the level of debate needs to be stepped up another notch, one would be sorely disappointed. The fact is, Ragashanti is pure entertainment and the people are lapping everything up. …….I hardly ever tune in to his show but I find that I cannot avoid it completely because people everywhere tune in.”

The strategic implication of Ragashanti Live on NNN should however not be overlooked.

Emilly Crooks co host of This Morning

NNN is regarded as very strong in the 6am – 9am morning drive time radio segment with its “This Morning” programme. It is equally and many would agree much stronger and dominant in the evening 5pm – 8pm drive time segment with Nationwide Wide @ 5. With the 1pm-5pm afternoon time slot filled with Ragashanti Live, NNN now has a commanding control of prime time day time radio. This should reflect handsomely in a much larger audience share in subsequent all media surveys. Importantly the financial implication of this stellar daytime lineup should move Nationwide radio close to if not beyond the estimated JA$100M a year revenue figure.

Informed sources indicate that advertisers have already taken out their cheque books and are starting to write those big advertising cheques. There is the glimmer of a small, faint smile on the face of Cliff Hughes.