The media house has leveraged its position as the top radio station in 2018 to achieve its vision to become “the most admired media brand” in the country, says managing director Dave Tiltmann, who in November last year was appointed chief executive officer of African Media Entertainment Limited (AME), the holding company of Algoa FM.
Tiltmann, who was part of the team which privatised the radio station more than 20 years ago, was inducted inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
AME is supporting Algoa FM’s transformation into a media business with the construction of a purpose-built “future-proofed” headquarters in the trendy Baakens River Valley precinct of Port Elizabeth.
In addition to studios and other production facilities it will house a dedicated digital division, which is already operational.
During 2018 Algoa FM introduced integrated cross-platform packages for its advertisers.
This includes targeted social media posts related to the advertising campaign being run on the radio station as well as banner ads and other initiatives on the website.
“Our online strategy is clearly starting to pay dividends for both our advertisers and online consumers,” says Algoa FM operations director Alfie Jay.
“Compared to the same period in the previous year, our website reflected growth of 140% in unique visitors and page views at the end of December 2018.”
There were 1,398,779 page views of which 1,134,560 were from unique visitors to the site.
Algoa FM is, however, not losing its passion for radio.
“There continues to be a strong focus on the station as our main business driver,” says programme manager Baydu Adams.
“We’re at a stage where radio is evolving because of influences such as social media, but at the same time we’re going back to basics. Ultimately, radio is still the number one companion in a world where theatre of the mind remains king!”
Adams and his broadcast team are looking forward to this year’s Liberty Radio Awards, where the station expects to add to its long list of awards for presenters, shows and station campaigns.
“This year, the standard of entries is of a higher calibre than last year, as the team has been hard at work, living up to the title: ‘Station of the year,’” he says.
