- Talk with Ayabonga Cawe (Metro FM)
Metro FM has had a hard year. With both its drive shows having drastic changes being made over the year, the Metro FM landscape has had to pull out all their stops and budge literal miracles to keep its listenership solid. We’ve always had some really great evening talk shows on Metro FM hosting the likes of Penny Lebyane and Robert Marawa. And the time slot has gone through some flux. But landed upon the coveted position, is Ayabonga Cawe. A confident, well learned and definitely strong, relatable personality that hosts night talk on Metro FM weekdays.
- Afternoon Drive with Joanne Joseph (702)
Joanne Joseph is a household name in South Africa, having spent 20 years in the media industry, including a number of years hosting prominent TV news shows on eNCA and the SABC.
Joanne has presented several high-profile live broadcasts including the live coverage of Nelson Mandela’s passing broadcast internationally, Thabo Mbeki’s presidential inauguration, Walter Sisulu and Beyers Naudé funerals. She regularly MCs corporate functions in English and French and has produced documentaries for the United Nations Development Programme among others.
But bio’s aside, Joanne showcases a high level of quality and eloquence to the broadcast medium. Her guests are open books that are infatuated with giving Joseph what she wants. Her listeners love her. And the industry cherishes her.
- The 947 Breakfast Club with Anele (947)
Since I started this list 3 years ago, Anele Mdoda has never failed to feature in the top 5. She is bankable, if not the strongest money maker in South Africa. She also has a knack for creating hype. This year her KO against Black Twitter (including American Black Twitter) surrounding her remarks on Kelly Rowland was spectacular to watch, and also trended her globally. As abrasive as Anele is, she still managed to come out tops. The show has been to the Oscars, bombarded local Schools, and remained firmly in your Joburg backyard. The show has a great team dynamic with Frankie, Cyndi, Thembekile and Alex all adding their own personal thumbprint on every morning encounter of the “golden radio” kind.
- East Coast Radio Breakfast Show with Darren Maule (ECR)
This team has done, dare I say it, the undo-able. They were “thrown” together a couple of years back, and (from an external point of view) immediately rose up to the occasion and punted out a kick-ass show from the get go.
Darren Maule, Keri Miller and Sky Tshabalala – are well oiled, respectful of each other’s roles, and all add a fresh taste of breakfast flavour to the ECR morning edition. The listeners love them. They (almost) can do no wrong. And that comes from a very strategic and disciplined leadership. ECR has been climbing the radio SEO ladder more than competently with a number of 1st timer social media initiatives and digital strongholds, and has become a massive force to be reckoned with in the SA radio landscape.
- Kaya Breakfast with David O’ Sullivan, Thabiso Sikwane & Jason Goliath (Kaya FM)
You see, the thing with Kaya, is that they have this aggressively effective broadcasting content strategy that no one really come close to. They even have the time to solidify in house research teams, and dominate their digital platform presence to a huge staggering dedicated audience. The morning show, which was at first predominantly talk at face value, was quite a noble move from its predecessors – but has the perfect balance of infotainment and hard hitting journalism to service their afropolitan audience. Well done to David and the team. Radio at its best.
