According to Terry Volkwyn, Primedia Broadcasting CEO, the group decided to launch the new company in an effort to better meet the off-air needs of presenters and ensure that their talents are fully realised.
“At Primedia Broadcasting, we regard our people, their talents and their strengths as our greatest asset. We place a premium on our employees because in today's knowledge- and service-based economy, the true value of employees lies in their creativity and innovation. We believe this is an asset that needs to be nurtured, celebrated and protected.
“To this end, we thought it would be best to establish a formal structure within the company to manage our incredible talent and their off-air activities, and so PrimeTalent was born,” explained Volkwyn.
PrimeTalent is essentially a talent management company, focused on maximising the inherent, star qualities of Talk Radio 702 and 94.7 Highveld Stereo's presenters, as well as providing leveraging opportunities to advertising clients of these two stations.
“Our personalities provoke debate, they encourage vision, they dream and make dreams come true, they inspire and most of all they provide topics for discussion and are topics of discussion,” said Natasha Wadvalla, PrimeTalent general manager.
“Besides their experience on the country's prime radio stations, Primedia Broadcasting's on air personalities are well-respected and sought-after for their expertise in a vast array of areas. They are product spokespeople, Masters of Ceremonies, comedians, voice over artists, television presenters, club DJs, motivational speakers, columnists, conference facilitators, corporate event hosts, authors, lecturers – if you or somebody you know needs talent, chances are we have someone who has it,” said Wadvalla.
To this end, the likes of John Robbie, Jenny Crwys-Williams, David O'Sullivan, Redi Direko, Bruce Whitfield, Leigh Bennie, Barry Ronge and Udo Carelse from Talk Radio 702 and Jeremy Mansfield, Sam Cowen, Darren Simpson, Kenny Maistry, Buli G, Mark Pilgrim and Alex Jay from 94.7 Highveld Stereo have been signed to the company.
But PrimeTalent is more than just a booking agent. It aims to provide a full turn-key service that includes career path programmes as well as goal development and monitoring - placing the presenters' needs first.
PrimeTalent will be rolled out to the group's Cape Town stations, 567 CapeTalk and 94.5Kfm later in the year.
For more information on PrimeTalent, go to www.primetalent.co.za. The site provides details on bookings and video clips of all of the on-air personalities available to clients.
