Sizwe Dhlomo, Siyabonga Ngwekazi and Bonang Matheba will be joining the stations 2009 line-up, which kicks off from Monday 30 March 2009. Sizwe, Bonang and Siyabonga have all built very credible profiles for themselves in their respective fields and in the entertainment industry in general. Representing and understanding urban youth culture, the three new additions to the station are the perfect brand fit to the Y Family. Sizwe instantly became one of South Africa's most loved “hot boys” when he beat out thousands of competitors to host a show on a music TV channel. He is joined by Siya - who will co-host a new Saturday morning show with Sizwe. The talented Bonang is one of the entertainment industry's most lethal weapons and is certainly one of South Africa's brightest and fastest rising stars. Her very popular VJ role has secured her exciting opportunities, such as a clothing line and prominent brand ambassadorships. She will be setting the weekday nights on fire with a brand new live based Hip hop show.
This year's new additions are the second phase of the reformatting strategy that YFM embarked on a year ago, where programming changes saw the return of DJ Sbu as a breakfast DJ. The move resulted in a surge in listenership claimed to number to 1.3 million listeners by November 2008.
The station says the numbers have continued to climb, with figures now comfortably at 1.45 million listeners - all due to the programming setup that spoke to the target audience, and saw them returning to the station in droves.
Another significant change to the station is the introduction of Tumelo Diaho-Monaheng, who was appointed programming manager of the station in March this year.
Tumelo comes into the position from a research background; in his capacity as YFM's senior research executive, he has played a critical role in tapping into and assisting the station with its incorporation of key brand and target audience insights.
