Cape Town – Mitchells Plain online community radio station Yoh Radio is gearing up to reapply for a frequency to get back on air after its temporary licence expired earlier this year.
The moratorium on community radio licences was finally lifted in July and communities will soon be able to apply for frequencies, once the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) opens the invitations for applications that are expected to start next month.
Yoh Radio station manager
Gavin Arends said the station did its final broadcast on the 90.7fm
frequency as its temporary events broadcasting licence expired after
45 days. The station has since had to build an online following to keep its hopes alive.
“Community media is a great way to encourage social participation and also raise awareness of the social issues faced, through content that's created
by people from within the community,” said Arends.
“Thankfully, the increase in the use of smartphones means that more people are able and willing to live-stream the content they want. This has been our saving grace.
“And, with nearly 30 000 streamers on average per month, it is clear that people really do want our content,” said Arends.
“As a front-runner in the online radio space - specifically targeting Cape Flats communities and their interests - we are propelling community radio into the future.
“Fortunately, the trend to streaming radio-type content is on the rise and we are getting a great response from our audiences, which is evident from our high online and social media engagement.
“While the moratorium has been an obstacle to developing the station into an asset that the entire community can benefit from, the upsurge of
internet users also made it obvious that we had to focus on developing our online offerings if we had any hope to continue making a positive impact in our community,” said Arends.
Yoh Radio has 16 volunteer
presenters from around the Cape Flats and Arends says his goal is to raise
the funds to ensure at least some remuneration for the staff and on-air personalities.
Icasa spokesperson Paseka Maleka confirmed the moratorium was lifted “in respect of applications for Class Community Sound Broadcasting Service Licences and applications for Radio Frequency Spectrum for purposes of providing a community broadcasting service”.
“Icasa will consider applications for class community sound broadcasting service licences and radio frequency spectrum for purposes of providing a community broadcasting service in line with the new Community Broadcasting Services Regulations,” said Maleka.
Icasa will publish an invitation for prospective applicants to submit a pre-registration notice and a list of available frequencies in each district and local municipality as per the Terrestrial Broadcasting Frequency Plan 2013.
“Prospective applicants are therefore encouraged to familiarise themselves with the new Community Broadcasting Services Regulations, Process and Procedure Regulations as well as the Standard Terms and Conditions for Class Licences as they provide a guide for the application process,” said Maleka.