Rhodes Music Radio (RMR), a south African campus-based community radio station located in the heart of Rhodes University is fully back on air.
The station resumed full broadcast after having a reduced programming schedule since December 2021. The newly appointed Station Manager, Unathi Koboka, officially relaunched the station with her new team last week.
A station with a proud broadcast history, RMR has been a pioneer within the campus radio industry in South Africa. It is a Youth Lifestyle Radio Station and provides programming that is fun, experimental, informative and challenges the status quo.
RMR has provided an educational and practical training ground for some of South Africa’s finest broadcasters, such as former Idols South Africa judge, Unathi Nkayi.
Koboka started on August 1, 2022, at the station and has been working around the clock to put together a team of students and local community members to relaunch the station.
The 36-year-old who hails from Gqeberha brings a wealth of broadcasting experience to the station. She studied Versatile Broadcasting at Walter Sisulu University and has a sound engineering certificate from Radio Active Productions Publishing. This is a multi-media and training company based in Gqeberha which is fully accredited with MICT Seta for training of vocational sound and radio qualifications.
“The relaunch of RMR is quite exciting for me because I don’t think anybody expected it to happen so quickly because there was so much to do. It’s almost like a miracle within itself that we are able to say we are relaunching a month into my starting here. So, for me it’s a personal achievement,” she said.
“Everything has been amazing; the presenters are keen, and the new station advert sound great. We basically relaunched the sound of the station and started from scratch with a new radio imaging. We are creating a buzz just letting people know that we are back and that they should come and join us and become part of the RMR family.”
RMR Head of News and third-year Bachelor of Journalism student Simphiwe Magolego, said she was excited about the relaunch. “I am excited to see faces around the studio again. The work towards the relaunch has been a real team effort, and it has just built a lot of unity among us. I am very excited about this relaunch. I hope that other people are also excited to have their campus station back,” she said.
The station manager is positive that she will be able to steer the station to greater heights. “I believe that my all-round experience will come in handy as I help drive the station forward,” she concluded.