Sentech switches 702 to FM band early
July 25, 2006
By Thabiso Mochiko
Johannesburg - Sentech would spend about R3 million on new equipment, including transmitters, to enable Talk Radio 702 to move quickly to the FM band across Gauteng, Vaughan Taylor, a senior account manager at the state-owned signal distributor, said yesterday.
The Primedia-owned radio station started broadcasting on FM to greater Johannesburg on Sunday. FM gives a clearer signal than AM, particularly on the Highveld.
In March the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) amended 702's commercial licence to allow it to migrate to the 92.7 megahertz and 106.0 MHz frequencies in Johannesburg and Pretoria, respectively.
Initially, the migration was expected to happen in September, six months after Icasa gave 702 the go-ahead, but a quick response from suppliers and manufacturers had enabled the station to switch two months before the targeted deadline, Taylor said.
He said Sentech had spent R400 000 on two transmitters, which were situated in Pretoria and Johannesburg.
The radio station expected the second phase of the project, moving to FM in Pretoria, which it described as a "bigger" challenge, to be finalised later this year. Taylor said Sentech would have to modify the transmitter in Pretoria and buy new equipment, including a standby generator.
"The infrastructure in Pretoria needs adjustment," said station manager Pheladi Gwangwa, without specifying what needed to be done.
Icasa also granted JSE-listed Primedia a 12-month window period to broadcast on both medium wave and FM frequencies, but it will retire its AM transmitters next year.
The move to FM is expected to increase listenership and help to reduce Primedia's financial reliance on flagship station 94.7 Highveld Stereo.
Gwangwa expected listeners to stay tuned for a longer period because the AM signal was often lost in built-up areas, when travelling under bridges or moving into underground car parks.
702 has more than 282 000 listeners and its sister station, 567 Cape Talk, has 96 000. Cape Talk would not be moving to FM because the AM signal was adequate in Cape Town, Gwangwa said.
Kevin van Deventer, a media strategist at Media Shop, which buys advertising space on behalf of clients, said: "In the long run, more people will tune in [to the station on FM] and that will bring in more advertisers."
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