Rave FM is surviving against all odds – CEO
Mr Femi Adefila is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rave FM radio station, Osogbo, Ogun State. After experiences at the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation and the Nigeria Television Authority, he served as Media Adviser to the former Deputy Governor of
How have you managed Rave FM in the last two years?
Media management is like any other business but it comes with some peculiarities. What sells a media is the quality of its content. With the proliferation of radio stations, there is stiff competition and it has become survival of the fittest. Our listeners have become sophisticated. They know a pedestrian media channel that engages in mere superfluous public relations and compromise objectivity. And they know those media houses that stand out of the pack and adhere strictly to the ethics of the profession. So, once you measure up to standard and stand out of the pack, listenership is guaranteed. And with good listenership, your stream of income is guaranteed because advertising agencies will only patronize stations with good content and a considerable traffic of listeners. We have studied our listeners well and we are giving them the broadcast menu they love.
What would you consider as your major challenge?
I have always believed that the journey of life is not a super highway. It comes with ups and downs, turns and twists. Our major challenge has been commercial patronage. Rave FM is at Osogbo with the prevailing attendant, socio-economic dislocations. We are in the middle of it all. It is unfortunate that most advertising agencies do not look beyond cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano. So those of us outside of these premium cities in the hierarchy of advertising agencies are eating the crumbs on the table. We have to rely on local patronage, which has been the sustenance and occasional campaigns from advertising agencies who appreciate our content quality.
Within two years, people say Rave FM is the leader in Osun, what is the magic?
I think our major selling point is our content quality. I came into the business with a definite vision to rebrand the broadcast landscape in this environment. I see Rave FM as a brand and we have been doing everything to push the brand in the right directions. We have a brand that has no political affiliation in an environment like Osun. We try as much as possible to present the two sides of the coin and give everybody, regardless of their political affiliation, an opportunity to ventilate their views. How could you rate the National
Broadcasting Commission as a regulator?
I sincerely think NBC is very professional. Though we have some overzealous officials of the NBC that want to breathe down your neck unnecessarily but on the average, if you take Nigerian factors into consideration, I think NBC is a great organization. They have very good and commendable work ethics and they play their mentorship role quite well. I just want to advise them to take the prevailing financial situation in the country in to consideration while dealing with their licensees. Most radio stations are barely managing to survive. Some are not even surviving at all. They are groaning under the yoke of salary arrears, power issue, diesel and general environmental issues coupled with the fact that advertising agencies are chronic debtors except for very few.
Would you say the Nigerian media has lived up to expectation?
Without mincing words, I can say that the Nigerian media has lived up to expectation. We have played our role as the fourth estate of the realm very well. Our watchdog responsibility within the polity is being carried out with so much candor and dignity. Though it is the wish of government and politicians to cow the media and to reduce them to mere propagandist machinery that parrot their views and regurgitate their ideas no matter how bad, the media must not always forget its role in the society. Our duty is to critically sieve government policies and measure it against what constitutes public interest because most often politicians feather their nest more than they care for the people. I must confess that media practitioners are not angels and they are not expected to be.