Struggling Classic FM gives way to light music station
Hot 1027 is not so much a revamping of the Classic 102.7 brand as a demolition, writes Yvonne Fontyn
Tuning in to my usual 102.7 FM frequency this week and hearing the Faithless song Insomnia (“Insomnia, please release me and let me dream / Of makin’ mad love to my girl on the heath / Tearin’ off tights with my teeth”) it struck me that the new Hot 1027 won’t be taking many of the old Classic FM listeners with it. Not when the new station, which spans the greater Joburg and surrounding areas, plays disco and R&B, and posts chats with drag queens on its Facebook page.
It’s all in good fun, but this must rank among the more startling “format changes” ever in SA radio. Classic 102.7 listeners were told some weeks ago a new, “more commercially viable” format was coming, which would include contemporary music and R&B, but they could not have been prepared for a radio station that doesn’t even pretend to nod in their direction...
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