We’re at an interesting juncture with regards to media and, in particular, radio in South Africa. Advertisers have been blowing a load of money on radio for years, hoping that the “shotgun approach” will get the message across to mainstream FM’s listeners. The listenership figures they are working with, are produced by way of the fundamentally flawed and dubious “radio diary” approach. You can read more about the radio diary system here and here (prepare to be astounded – deducing listenership and charging adverstisers on this basis is bordering on fraud), but in essence they go from door to door and ask people to fill in their radio listening habits. I know, how archaic? But, more importantly, who of you out there know anyone who knows anyone else who has ever, in their lives, even heard of someone knocking on their door to do this?

I thought not.

“Hi, I’m conducting a fundamentally flawed survey.”

Take then a radio station’s “TSL,” which stands for Time Spent Listening. SA stations like Highveld and KFM throw around figures of 20-30 minutes average listening time per listener. That means an advertiser would have to take out a bunch of advertising and have it repeated a number of times in order to have a chance of penetrating that station’s “listenership” (vague radio diary figures). This also explains why mainstream FM radio’s programming is so Goddamn repetitive. At a rate card price of around R10 000 for ONE 30 second ad, one wonders how media buyers have been able to sleep at night as they blow hundreds of thousands of Rands a month getting their client’s message out there.

And what does it mean anyway, if they (the FM station) do catch you in your car? You’re usually jumping to the only other option on the FM dial, the moment the promos start. You don’t care about the station anyway, so why hang around? And if you DID enjoy the station you were listening to, surely you would listen at home and at work? Oh, I forgot, you don’t have an FM radio at home or at work. So you tune in to them via the internet or streaming on your smartphone, right? Finally, some measurability. Finally, some truth.

So well done the opinion leaders out there who have given it a try, enjoyed what they’ve found, and stayed. And a special well done to those of you who have worked out how easy it is to listen in your car! Finally, you get to choose!

Click here for 2oceansvibe Radio on your computer.

Click here to download the mobile app (iPhone, Blackberry and Android).

Click here to find out how to listen in your car.

You know you can get high-end wi-fi radios for your home and office? It’s true, look here. Or try these guys if you want something high-end (Tivoli digital radio).

Plus, do you know that virtually every car manufacturer in the US is offering digital radio as optional? It’s true. My new MINI has built-in digital radio. I flip between 2oceansvibe Radio and a little station I usually listen to when I’m in France, called “Nostalgie.” There are 60 000 other stations available for me to listen to in the MINI, including KFM.

But I’m fine with just those two for now. After all, I chose them.