By
Jonathan Atsu Tachie
For a very long
period of time the people of the Volta Region in general, and Ho in particular
did not have the luxury of choice as far as radio was concerned. In fact, for
more than a decade after the advent of private radio in Ghana, the people of Ho
were left with no choice but to move their FM radio dials between GBC’S Volta
Star Radio and Volta Premier FM (popularly known as VP FM ) owned by the SRC of
Ho Polytechnic. For the records, VP FM is a few months older than Volta Star Radio
and has always given Volta Star Radio a good run for their money, especially in
Ho and its environs.
It is worth
mentioning here that the youthfulness of the presenters of VP FM at the time
naturally made the station the darling dial of most young minds in Ho. Indeed,
radio in those days was fun with budding talents like Emmanuel Reagan Tetteh,
Joseph Kwame Amevor (Aseco, arguably, the best borborbor DJ ever known in this
region), Princella Eyram Adu, Hitman Freezer, Patrick Selassie Kudiabor, D.D. Atobli,
Divine Norvieto (the Hon. Minister for Love and Romantic Affairs), etc made
radio worth listening to and made VP FM a very popular FM dial in Ho and its
environs.
For Volta Star
Radio, its strengths in those days and l dare say even now, lie in their
ability to attract ‘the oldies’ in Ho with rich cultural content on their
network. Suffice, to say though, they also had a few youthful hands on the
turntables who won them some listeners among the budding youth in the region,
mostly outside the catchment area of VP FM. Names like Derrick Johnson
Kamassah, Kafui Kumagah, GQ, etc easily come to mind when talking about the
folks who held the fort for Volta Star Radio in the youth segment of the radio
market in the region.
In recent years,
however, the radio industry in the Volta Region has changed tremendously with
the establishment of many radio stations across the region. Ho, the regional
capital, is now home to five additional radio stations namely Hope FM, US FM,
Kekeli FM, Tosh FM, Kuul FM and if the information available to me is anything
to go by, more stations are on their way to the H.O. City, as Ho has been
branded of late. The end of the VP FM-Volta Star Radio duopoly in Ho due to the
arrival of these new stations has brought in its way many talented presenters
who gladden the hearts of many radio lovers, including yours truly, with their
unique presentation skills.
To make this
series meaningful I intend to express my honest opinions (not binding on
anybody, though) on various segments of radio broadcasting vis-a-vis the Ho
market. In that case, the morning shows, the mid- morning shows, the late
afternoon shows (or what most uninitiated radio fanatics refer to as drive time
shows), the sports shows and entertainment review shows will be looked at in
parts. If I live long enough after finishing this series l may look at the late
night shows and probably, do a piece on the very ‘noisy’ dawn broadcasts from
the so-called prophets and men of God.
The
Premier Morning Show on VP FM
Being the longest
running morning show on radio in the Ho municipality, the show which airs from
6:00am to 10:00am on weekdays has been the ‘flower bed’ for many budding radio
talents most of who, l must say, have moved on to pursue other interests both
in the media and outside the industry. The likes of Divine Norvieto, Richard
Adjei, Israel Pentem (DJ Scott), Edem Torsah, etc all cut their teeth as
dominant morning show personalities on this noble platform. The show, like my
height, has seen many modifications over the years from the days of being the
only English language morning show in Ho to the current situation that it faces
stiff competition from the morning shows on stations like Tosh FM, Hope FM,
Kuul FM, etc.
The current host
of the show, Juliet Nugble, who doubles as the Station Manager, has brought a
breeze of freshness to the show since she took over from Edem Torsah (or is it
Togbe Ahorgo?) when he left to join US FM to host their morning show. Content
on the show has also improved greatly but the appearance of Paul Senyo Dome on
the show to review the newspapers in both English and Ewe has outlived its
usefulness, especially in the face of stiff competition from Kekeli FM which
seems to have targeted the Ewe-language audience in the market as well. The man
is great at hosting his own programmes i.e. afe ne nyo, toli time, etc and l
think he should be restricted to those programmes (my unsolicited opinion,
anyway).
The morning show
on Kekeli FM is aired mostly in Ewe, and from where l sit, they seem to have
gotten that portion of the Ho market firmly in their bosom. So, to my folks at
VP FM, just concentrate on the English-speaking audience and also introduce
more youth-oriented segments into the Premier Morning Show and we the young
minds will be cool with that. After all, the station’s target market, am told,
is the students in and around Ho, a cosmopolitan audience for that matter.
The
Morning Show on Volta Star Radio
Perhaps,
constrained by their mandate to satisfy the diverse ethnic interests in the
Volta Region, Volta Star Radio’s morning show, which airs usually (that is if
the station is not off air) after the 7am news from their mother network, GBC,
on weekdays, is ‘shared’ among the Ewe-speaking audience, English-speaking
audience and the Akan-speaking audience using an interesting quota system. To
this end, the show airs in English on Mondays and Thursdays, in Ewe on Tuesdays
and Fridays and in Akan on Wednesdays. This strategy, in my humble opinion,
could easily backfire (that is if it has not done so already) in this day and
age that radio stations are specializing along language lines. But once again,
Volta Star Radio, being the state broadcaster has the responsibility to satisfy
the needs of these diverse groups in the region and no matter how bitter this
pill is someone has to swallow it in the interest of national unity.
One segment of
the English version of the show which has kept the show going is the ‘Nsenpii
Parliament’ hosted by Jack Toronto. A platform which he uses to tackle the many
developmental challenges facing the region. Due to the design of the programme,
this popular satiric segment is not a daily feature on the show and yours truly
is not comfortable with that, especially, when the road to my holy village,
Takla, is still in a deplorable state. We need the guy (sorry, the man) on air
every morning. Simple and short! In any case, the bloke speaks Takoradi-spiced
Twi, GBC-standard English and an Aveme-brewed Ewe, all of which l enjoy so much
hence the need to give him slots on the Ewe and Akan versions of the show.
Someone needs to keep some of these lazy (and l dare say incompetent) public
office holders in the region on their toes and in my opinion, he is the chosen
one.
Efo Kwame Senyo,
Little Ben Vidzreku, and Tordia Anani Gbadago need to add a lot more spice to
the Ewe version of the show to keep it going in the face of competition from
the private stations. One thing that has impressed me over the years, though,
is the in-depth knowledge of these men in Ewe language and culture. Folks, keep
it up and one day, just one day, the youth will also appreciate your efforts
and pay more attention to your show.
Hope
Alive Show on Hope 93.1 FM
Hope FM, in my
opinion, is the Ho version of Atlantis Radio in Accra. It seems Mr. Edwin Lotsu
Tukpeyi and his boys have taken a deliberate decision to keep things cool on
their network, devoid of any ‘noise’ which is gradually becoming the stock in
trade of some radio stations in Ho. As such, their morning show, Hope Alive, is
where one runs to when you want to avoid the political cacophony from the
mostly ignorant NDC and NPP communicators who sit in the studios of Tosh FM and
Kekeli FM on daily basis.
The Hope Alive
Show is the only source of sentimental music in the morning and their choice of
topics for discussion on the show is always developmental in nature. The show,
however, has not seen much modification since its inception with Jerry Komla
Addo as host, through the eras of Kelvin Lambert Hudson and Blessings Sogah, to
whoever is in charge now. To hold on to their youthful listeners, mostly cab
drivers in Ho, the guys on the Galenkui Hills need to introduce more segments
on the show targeted at them. I have also taken note of the partnership between
them and VP FM to broadcast ‘Perspective’, a news analysis programme on Friday
mornings but really, what is the point in that partnership? Is it because the
CEO of Hope FM is a regular panellist on the show? Maybe not. Thumps up guys!
Keep rocking us from the hill-top studios with good music.
The
Super Morning Show on Kekeli FM
This is one show
which has captured the imagination of most radio lovers (those who want a show
in their native Ewe language) in the Ho municipality since the station started
operating in the city a few years ago. The decision by managers of the station
to air the morning show mostly in Ewe seemed to have worked for them judged by
the huge patronage the show enjoys, especially among the Anlo-speaking
community in and around Ho. In fact, before the inception of this programme, l
wondered why no radio manager in Ho thought it wise to present a morning show
aired entirely in Ewe since Ho is a predominantly Ewe-speaking community. Kekeli
FM’s morning show is great when it comes to their takes on developmental issues
in Ho and beyond but am not too sure l can say the same for the political discussion
segment of the show.
I have been
wondering what the point is in assembling those loudmouthed NDC and NPP ‘foot
soldiers’ in their studios on daily basis to repeat their parties’ stands on
almost every issue of national concern. In any case, the game plan of the
so-called party communicators from these two parties is not too difficult for any
keen observer of Ghana’s political space to understand. Defend your own good
deeds and misdeeds and attack your opponents no matter what the circumstance
is. I find this game plan disgusting, to say the least. If the guys at the Post
Office square-based station insist on maintaining the political discussion
segment on the show (which l know they will) l will advise them (and it is only
an advice) to always invite the best among the lot from both sides of the
political divide to discuss issues because am not convinced their current
‘analysts’ are the best we (I mean the people of the Volta Region) got to offer
as far as political party commentators are concerned. The views and opinions
expressed by the ‘foot soldiers’ they invite currently to the show are so
childish that, sometimes, I feel like throwing my radio set into the stinking
drains in front of the YMCA office in Ho.
The Super Morning
Show on Kekeli 102.9 FM is great currently without the ‘nonsense’ from the
party ‘foot soldiers’ they invite on to the show and it has the potential of
becoming even bigger if they pay attention to the sports and entertainment
segments to make it more vibrant. Efo Israel and his crew deserve a pat on the
back, not on the buttocks, for good work done so far.
The
AM Show on Tosh 103.9 FM
I am always
delighted when talking about this show because it is the show that brought back
one of the dons of morning radio in the Volta Region, Israel Pentem (DJ Scott),
from his self-imposed exile in the southern part of the region, Aflao to be
precise. This young man is simply good at finding a fine balance between wit
and seriousness on morning shows, a trait that endeared him to many radio
listeners and l guess many radio managers, hence his frequent moves from one
station to another. Once again, as l predicted, his stint at Tosh FM as the
founding host of the morning show was short lived because the Leklebi-born dude
seemed to have moved on to only God knows where.
The exit of DJ
Scott, as he is popularly known, left the managers of the station with no
choice but to place the mantle of hosting a morning show on the shoulders of a
relatively inexperienced lad, Randy Edudzi, with all the pressures that come
with that job. Just like any newcomer to a demanding job, he struggled initially
to find his footing on the show as he was forced by the situation to move from
the comfort zone of being a sports presenter to a new role on radio which
demands of you a thorough understanding of sports (which he obviously have),
finance, economics, politics, love and any other subject worth talking about on
a radio morning show.
He has grown into
his new role quickly, much to my admiration, and has become the el capitano of
all topics judging by the depth of some interviews he conducted on air with
some of the big shots in society. The introduction of the largely-experienced
Pastor Kojo Quarshie (the former Station Manger at VP FM and recently, the
Corporate Communications Director for US Group of Companies) on the show in my
opinion helped the young Tsito Sectech product (Randy Edudzi) greatly in
assuming this all important role on morning radio until he went off air
recently, for reasons am not too sure of.
The producers of
the Am Show understand the market in which they are operating, which is the Ho Township,
even though they seem to have extended their transmission to cover places like
Amedzofe and Kpedze all in the Ho West district, of late. The regular insights
into developmental challenges facing the Ho municipality from their ‘rovering’
reporters always make the show a delight to listen to.
Perhaps what Tony
D and his hence men need to grow the show is to take a second look at the crop
of party commentators (or are they foot soldiers?) they parade in their studios
every morning to review newspapers. Who in this world wants to listen to the
often-opinionated views of a political bootlicker who assumes his very survival
on earth depends on his party being in government. These guys, like their
cohorts who go the studios of Kekeli FM, sometimes insult the intelligence of
the good people of Ho with some of the ‘analysis’ (or, empty talks) they do on
air. We are just tired of listening to the tainted views of these
attention-seeking political novices. Let’s empanel men and women of substance,
who understand the issues and are in the position to address them from a
professional point of view. This is all that the Am Show on Tosh FM needs to
become a bigger player in morning show circles in Ho.
But come to think
of it, they don’t play much of Tony D’s own songs on the show as l would have
wished. Hahahahaha!!!!!! Guys, you are doing well in the face of all the
challenges l think you are going through. Brighter days ahead.
The
Breakfast Drive On Kuul 103.5 FM
This is the
latest addition to the morning show stock in Ho and the show which started with
a co-hosting arrangement between the Black President and Etse Atiedeku has made
modest gains within this short period of its existence. But watching (or should
l say listening?) from afar, l am getting the impression that the managers of
the station have not found the right host and format for the show yet, judged
by the number of people who have hosted the show so far.
The Black
President and Etse Atiedeku combination was great but the Etse and Mr. Avorgah
(the big cloth) pairing was even better. The two guys – sorry, l mean men –
seem to have developed an on-air telepathy between them and that made their
takes on various issues always a delight to listen to. Suffice, to say though,
l always envy Etse’s penchant for greeting fufu vendors in both Ho and Hohoe
for very obvious reasons. Just kidding oooooo. Also, Mr Avorgah’s ability to
interact with callers from various parts of the Volta Region in their own
versions (dialects) of the Ewe language is a strength that a station with such
a huge regional presence needs.
Etse’s presence
on the show is also crucial because of the large following the show enjoys from
the Afram Plains enclave. Hope the top brass at Kuul FM gets my drift. That is,
a huge chunk of the show’s audience needs to be communicated to in Ewe. As
such, it still baffles me why the Rastaman (Etse) only comes to present the
news at 8am in Ewe these days, and off he goes to mind his own business at only
God knows where.
One young (and
innocent sounding) man who has also taken a bite at the big pie on Kuul FM is
Walter Kofi Gamor, and l must say he has not fared badly at all. The sports
segment on the show has been fantastic so far with another young chap, Caleb
Deladem Avexo, fully in charge.
With all these
success stories l find the recent introduction of Blessings Sogah from Hope Fm
on the Kuul Morning Drive a bit surprising. Maybe, l am the only one who has
been surprised by this move. The managers of the station know better so who am
l to complain, l can only listen and enjoy him for as long as he lasts on the
show but if the laid-back style at Hope FM is what the managers at Kuul FM want
then l expect him to deliver that without much stress. Hope he will stay on the
show long enough to justify a review of his performance.
PS: To those who
thought at the beginning of this article that l was going to stick out my fat
neck and state the position of these shows in the pecking order; l say to you
‘you lied bad’(whatever that means). I don’t want to be the reason why someone
loses his/her job. There are millions of other listeners across the region and
it is absolutely the responsibility of the Programme Managers and CEOs of these
stations to find out where their morning shows lie in the pecking order of
morning shows in Ho. Part ll of this series will look at the mid-morning shows
of these stations vis-à-vis the radio market in Ho.
NB:
The writer is a Senior High School teacher and an avid listener of radio within
the Ho municipality. You can connect with him on Facebook.
Writer’s
email: kofimarketing@gmail.com
Mobile
contact: 020 7398103
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