FM stations in big fight

THERE was vocal firing between some radio presenters in Kumasi last week when local based radio station Fox FM went on air to read the report of a survey which was said to have named the station as the most listened-to in the Ashanti Region.

Showbiz sources say that, on Friday July 26 Fox FM carried a news item which said that the Ghana Advertisers Board had carried out a survey on radio stations operating in the Ashanti Region and had come out with the report that 46 per cent of listeners tune in to Fox FM.

The news item went on to give the position of each of the other stations operating in the region and the percentage point each of them had from the survey.

If this news item got the other stations angry none of them made a comment over the week-end. On Monday Fox FM Morning Show host Kwme Adinkra went on air to praise the success of his station and, according to sources, cast aspersions at the other stations, the “firing” began.

On Tuesday, the morning show host of Kapital Radio, William de Bordes a.k.a. Loving Cee, went on air to respond to what he referred to as “Adinkra’s unprofessional utterances.” A source revealed that he virtually insulted some of the radio presenters at Fox FM, calling them names.

When this reporter called Loving Cee on Wednesday he confirmed the controversy by saying that “some people here are killing the radio industry with unprofessional comments and they had to be put to check”.

Loving Cee said Fox FM was supposed to have received a report on a survey conducted by the Ghana Advertisers Board which named them as first with 46 per cent. “Would you believe that? Forty-six per cent!

“We are also operating a radio station but we were not aware of any such report so we contacted the GAB and they told us that they were in the process of coming out with a report but that it was not yet out. We therefore wanted to let the public know the lie Fox FM was peddling and so we put what the GAB people said on air”, he said.

He however conceded that in his desire to set the facts right his emotional reaction may have been a little bit on the rough side. “But I still think there is too much unprofessianlism on our airwaves that ought to be gotten rid of”, he maintained.

Asked whether he had any prior personal problem with Adinkra, who transferred to Fox FM from Kapital Radio, he answered in the negative. “I was the Programmes Manager when he was here and we have been friends all this while. There is nothing personal between the two of us”.

“People have now realised who is unprofessional. He claims to be the most professional presenter but look at what he went on air to do, he went on air to insult me”, exclaimed Kwame Adinkra.

Adinkra was emphatic that they had received the Ghana All Media Survey (GAMS) report and he went on air to praise his station after the news had mentioned the results as the stations appeared according to percentages. He said it was after this that Loving Cee went on air to call him names and was asking, among other things, what qualified him to be selected as a judge at the recently held “Rothmans DJ Challenge” in Kumasi.

“We believe that our facts were right but we have decided not to react for we have left it to the public to decide who is professional and who is not. My only worry is that a lot of people are calling to enquire about what is going on”. Adinkra insisted that they had their facts right except that when they read the news bulletin they thought it was 46 per cent that they had but now they know it was 52 per cent.

Some presenters on other radio stations based in Kumasi like Invicible FM, Mercury Radio and Otec FM have all criticised Fox FM and Kwame Adinkra for what they thought was a sham meant to deceive the public.

The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Advertisers Board Mr. Kwabena Agyekum said they were surprised that Fox FM had access to a report that was yet to be outdoored. He said they were still investigating to know who leaked the information to the station.

Mr. Agyekum said he was surprised that percentage points were awarded to stations because the report (which has since been outdoored) was made in a diary form indicating the time of listnership and how many people listen at any particular time but there were no points awarded.

“We did not create a league table indicating who was first and who was second”, he said, “this is because of what happened previously where people tried to rubbish the report”. He pleaded with the stations to look at the dynamics of the report which is based on the quarter of April, May and June rather than the hullabaloo they are creating,” he said.