Complaints investigated against 'Radio Today'

The shift is a shrewd one by Moneyweb. The provider already has an online business service and supplies content to etv, the Citizen, Highway Radio in Durban and Fine Music Radio in Cape Town. It gives the provider access to a small audience but also a foothold in Southern Africa as Radio Today is also broadcast on the DSTV bouquet. Moneyweb is allegedly also involved in the sale of advertising for the station.

Moneyweb's move to Radio Today has come at a time that as the community radio station attempts to reposition itself to become more commercially competitive. Moneyweb no longer provides business programming to Classic FM after the station's board took exception to plans that would have seen Moneyweb provide business content both to Classic FM and Radio Today. The stations have the same footprint, albeit that Classic's listenership is about 180 000 on an FM frequency and Radio Today's about 20 000 on an AM frequency.

However, the move has been viewed as violating the station's original license conditions and focusing on a new audience (High LSM 50+) to the detriment of its current listeners (60-70+). By changing its listener demographic and effectively targeting a new economically active listenership, Radio Today has changed the character and profile of community radio and may be dumping its traditional listeners to plumb lucrative markets.

While the move may make financial sense, the shift may transform Radio Today from being a community radio station to a commercial radio station without a license application or amendment of broadcasting conditions. If ICASA does not challenge this move by Radio Today, it could set a precedent with damaging implications for the community radio sector - as stations could arbitrarily change their target audience and programming to suit their pocket.