Johannesburg-based commercial radio station HOT 102.7FM is the fastest-growing station in South Africa, having nearly doubled its audience in the past 12 months, according to independent research house WhyFive.
That was the key take-out when WhyFive’s Director of Storytelling, Brandon de Kock, presented the findings of its annual BrandMapp survey at an industry presentation in Johannesburg on 13 February.
According to the survey, HOT 102.7FM’s current audience is in the region of 613 000 – significantly up on the 316 000 it reported in the previous year’s BrandMapp report.
“It’s certainly the biggest growth I‘ve seen in BrandMapp, to date,” said De Kock. “It’s roughly a 96% increase in audience and I haven’t yet found any station in South Africa that is growing bigger or faster than that in a year. So, with that in mind, it’s the fastest-growing station that we measure in BrandMapp.”
BrandMapp is a “unique, independent, landscape study of middle class and top-end South African adults and a definitive study of the top 30% of South Africans by income. This group of 12.8 million adults make up more than 80% of all personal income and consumer spend in the country,” according to WhyFive.
South African radio audiences are traditionally measured by the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa, with its role being to “commission and oversee the delivery of radio and television audience measurement research for broadcasters, as well as the advertising and marketing industry.”
But, as De Kock, points out, the BRC adopts a different methodology.
“While BRC RAMS does the best job it possibly can, it’s trying to track audiences from the very bottom of society all the way to the top,” he said. “Our only job is middle class and up. So, we find that if you’re a station like HOT 102.7FM, which appeals to a middle class and up, or an ‘affluent’ audience, it’s very, very difficult for the establishment surveys to track those audiences.”
That being said, where BrandMapp and the BRC find common ground is the HOT 102.7FM growth journey.
According to the BRC, its latest data reflects a HOT 102.7FM audience of approximately 201 000, but significantly, that number is 148% up on the previous number of 81 000 it reported in January 2023.
“With both BrandMapp and BRC RAMS showing significant growth for HOT 102.7FM over the past 12 months, there can be absolutely no doubt that the station is on the right path and on track to set out what we planned to achieve, when we launched in 2021,” said Lloyd Madurai, Managing Director of HOT 102.7FM. “That is, to play the best ‘Old Skool’ and R&B music, with the best presenters, and to service an upper SEM market that previously wasn’t being serviced in a focused manner.”
All of this follows a 12 months to remember for HOT 102.7FM, which started with the station being honoured in four categories at the New York Festivals Radio Awards and went on to see the launch of new breakfast and drive-time shows, a first-ever HOT 102.7FM golf day, an incredible R19.4 million raised in the annual Teddython fundraiser, a second consecutive ‘Best Local Radio Station’ award at the Best of Joburg Readers’ Choice Awards, three honours at the National Small Business Chamber Awards, and another successful Hot Cares Christmas charity initiative.
