Frequency Magazine_Talk Radio Issue Talk Radio Issue | Page 27

“I had been part of 1 Nation FM
journey from its inception phase
where we did the ground work in
acquiring the appropriate licenc-
ing from ICASA to establish Polok-
wane’s only talk radio station,”
says Mongoai. “The mission of 1
Nation FM is to afford local SMME’s
the platform to engage with our
listeners, and essentially grow the
GDP of Polokwane; the vision is
to keep the people of Polokwane
informed about news stories hap-
pening around them, enabling
them to take well informed deci-
sions.”
1 Nation FM targets a wide range
of listeners from the age groups of
18 to 70 which is usually unheard
of. According to Mongoai, they
believe that young people need
to begin exercising their critical
thinking from an early age,
therefore developing into active
and engaged citizens as they’re
the future of the country. “We also
target young entrepreneurs who
would benefit from getting to know
more about what is happening
around the city in which they op-
erate; the average working-class
resident of Polokwane and imme-
diate surroundings is a crucial tar-
get for the station as we deal with
content that is tailored for them,”
explains Mongoai.
Mongoai didn’t just emerge from
nowhere to be 1 Nation FM’s
station manager but paid his dues
and is very well equipped to steer
the ship into the right direction.
“I studied advanced sound
engineering at Damelin College, I
then worked at CII, a satellite radio
station as a technical producer
for 8 years, getting to learn the
ins and outs of radio. In 2008, I
joined ENCA as a floor manager
giving me a knack for current
affairs and driving a story which
became part of my daily life,”
he shares.
“Throughout my working years
at ENCA I freelanced with a
number of radio stations
namely, Chai FM, Radio 2000
and Salaam-Media doing
various tasks such as technical
producing, content producing
and studio controller.”
It’s been a year since its incep-
tion and 1 Nation FM already
gathered a listenership of 1000.
Mongoai says he would like to
see the station as the most lis-
tened to radio station in Polok-
wane. 1 Nation FM has a 25km
broadcast radius around Polok-
wane.
88.9 FM is the frequency.
Stay tuned.
Ta l k R a d i o I s s u e
27