Stellenbosch’s campus radio station MFM 92.6 was able to broadcast throughout lockdown in 2020, due to it being an essential service. Despite this, it has faced difficulties generating income ever since the outbreak of Covid-19.
This was according to Martin de Abreu, programme manager of the Division for Strategic Initiatives at Stellenbosch University (SU). De Abreu was appointed line manager of MFM at the end of 2020.
At the end of 2020, MFM’s financial situation prompted SU’s Division for Strategic Initiatives to investigate a way forward for the radio station, according to De Abreu.
“Our mandate included an analysis of the status quo of MFM, a stabilisation of operations and an [exploration] of future opportunities. Part of this was the continued cutting of expenses, where possible,” stated De Abreu. In addition to this, “SU will be exploring opportunities to create a multi-dimensional multimedia platform”, De Abreu said via email correspondence with MatieMedia.
Presenters at MFM do their own production, which was useful during lockdown in 2020. Presenter Ute Hermanus interviewed Majozi in November 2020. PHOTO: Instagram/raysofute
The process of addressing the lasting financial impact of Covid-19 on MFM is ongoing, according to De Abreu. Management is using the pandemic as “an opportunity to look to the future and ‘re-imagine’ the station and its context in the larger communications sphere at SU”, he added.
Obstacles for broadcasting
Since its start in 1995, MFM has generated income through the sale of airtime and advertising space, according to De Abreu.
But during the initial hard lockdown, the station found that its regular advertisers were unable to continue to advertise due to their own financial pressures from March 2020, De Abreu explained.
“This was congruent with what happened in broadcasting on a national level,” he added.
At the same time, its regular listeners were not around. The station broadcasts in the region of a 20 kilometre radius, with their main target audience being the 16 to 25 year age group. This audience encompasses mostly students and school learners, according to De Abreu.
Presenters for MFM are given freedom over the topics they choose to cover. Presenter Ute Hermanus interviewed Nigerian artist Starah in March 2021. PHOTO: Instagram/raysofute
“The largest part of [MFM’s] listeners, university students, were out of reach due to the lockdown,” De Abreu said.
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During hard lockdown, presenters were given permits which allowed them to broadcast at the studio normally, according to Brendt Wayne de Wet, presenter for MFM. However, during the initial weeks of hard lockdown the station only played music, said De Abreu.
“We needed to broadcast government information, such as changes in lockdown levels. Of course, encouraging people to keep wearing their masks. I think radio was a very essential work,” said De Wet.
MFM broadcasts a diverse range of topics, such as education, news and entertainment, according to De Abreu.
“The topics that I covered didn’t really change because of lockdown. I still did my news segment, and then interviews with different artists or interesting people,” said De Wet.
For the duration of lockdown last year, MFM conducted their interviews via telephone correspondence, according to De Wet.
“We didn’t have guests coming in,” said De Wet. However, he said he still got a number of “really cool interviews”, including guests such as Tracey Lange and Cornal Hendricks.
MFM has been broadcasting since they received their first FM license in 1995. They initially started out as Radio Matie, a system of networked speakers throughout the Neelsie Student Centre. PHOTO: Kirsty Bucholz
All MFM guests have been allowed to come into the studio to broadcast since the beginning of 2021, said De Wet. Dane Hong, local business owner of Fool’s Gold Social Bar, was interviewed by Ute Hermanus, presenter at MFM, in April and found the experience interesting.
“I think the Covid-19 regulations were pretty standard. We sanitised when we got there and wore our masks until we had to speak on the microphones,” said Hong.