Cape FM, Connecting Community in a Refreshing Tun

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By Rebecca Yu (Global volunteer project)

Capr FM Studio

-->In Ghana, radio is the most popular form of media, therefore is it also a very wide market and plays very important role in community.

The 93.3 Cape FM have been broadcasting since November in 2012, it is a popular radio station with refreshing programs that are suitable for youngsters and working age population.

The station aims to connect the community through a diverse range of programs such as sport, talk shows, also health and medical issues continuously. The programs are mostly broadcasted in English.

I was lucky enough to interview the manager (Thomas Robin Davis) of the station. He told us that the station holds a commercial license with the widest area range of broadcast, covering Cape Coast, Accra and Western Region.



He believes that the station speaks freely and is under little restrictions, by understanding the limit and not causing national security problem, which he described as “each and everyone’s’ right.”

Miss Nana Ama (Radio presenter of Cape FM)

The station often has debates around sensitive issues such as governmental policies, however it respects constitutions and privacies while making suggestions and issues on what had been achieved so far. For example the morning show holds by Miss Nana Ama goes through news headlines with discussion and comments. She also plays music from all over the world in the station. Miss Ama had been in the industry for four years and had tried lots of different forms of radio programs. Her current morning program at the station lasts two hours long and is on every weekday.

 Mr Davis is very experienced in the media industry. He embarked his career in University of Cape Coast as he found a few friends that share the same interest in broadcasting as him in 1997, which were all from the same hall, where they started broadcasting as the hall’s radio station.

 They gained sponsorship later on, however as Mr Davis graduated from the University, he left the station two years later in 1999. He went back to the station in 2001, but decided to join East FM in 2004 and resigned three months later.

 After that Eagle FM from Polytechnic recruited him to help establish the station.  Few years later he had left the station in order to join the Coastal TV. Where then Mr Davis resigned to join he own media consult team, and at last came to Cape FM radio station.

Mr Davis (manager of Cape FM)

 Being the sixth FM station in the Metropolis, the industry is highly competitive. Comparing with state-owned radio stations, which are highly subsidized, Cape FM holding a commercial license has to finance through advertisement and investment.  There are also other community radio stations, diluting the market share further.

With commercial radio station license, the station is paying the highest annual license fee among all types of license, in addition the large area coverage also induce large sum of charges.

 The station owned by Mr. Johnny Walker, is located at Abura in Cape Coast. 11 long-term staffs are currently working for the station.