By Rivonia Naidu
Gagasi 99.5 FM is what listeners of former P4 radio station woke up to this morning.
It is the first commercial radio station to broadcast both in English and Zulu in a predominantly Zulu speaking province of KwaZulu-Natal.
This comes after the station was bought by Kagiso Media, which also owns East Coast radio.
Making the announcement on Monday, Pearl Sokhulu, who is the general manager of the new station, said the reason for the establishment of the new station was because there was a big gap in the KwaZulu-Natal radio market for urban black listeners aged between 18 to 34.
She said other stations had not catered for urban sounds or were too Eurocentric.
"It is not only the name that has changed but the whole feel of the station has changed to become the soundtrack of the youthful, upwardly mobile listener who is mainly bi-lingual residing in the urban areas of KZN. Our target market is LSM (living standard measure) 5 to 8 listener."
The exciting line up of Gagasi 99.5 FM is a result of an expensive research conducted last year on the core target market ahead of the revamp, said Sikhulu, adding that the listeners had played a vital role in choosing the name of the station, which means a wave in isiZulu.
Sikhulu said both the music and voice they had acquired reflected the attitude and special niche that appeal to both listeners and advertisers.
"The station's exciting line up features radio personalities such as former Radio Ukhozi Dj Alex Mthiyane and former Metro FM Dj Justice Ramohlola, Sexa Strydom, Matumo Manaka and Mandla Ngcobo. Our programme is a fusion of talent relevant news and familiar playlist which is what our target audience want to hear," she said.
DJ Ramohlola described his show as a homecoming and joked that the name of his afternoon drive home show would be "G-string" and warned other radio stations in the province that have every reason to panic.
The process of evolution of P4 is expected by the end of the year to garnered the station a listenership of one million.