Fred Arocho, the sports guru of Radio Jambo, is set to join the newly launched Radio 47, according to reports.
Arocho, who hosts his show on Saturdays alongside Toldo Kuria and Diamond Okusimba, also took to his Facebook page to hint at the development with a caption of “47, Hapo Ndipo.”
Radio 47 has already lured several presenters from Radio Maisha and Milele FM, including Ali Kauleni Hassan, who will head sports at Radio 47, and Evah Mwalili, popularly known as Mama Taifa. The gospel radio host is a celebrated journalist, having won three major awards.
Radio 47 frequencies will cover some of Kenya’s main towns, including Nairobi, Webuye, Kisumu, Kericho, Mumias, Mombasa, Lamu, and Garsen, among others.
However, the competition in the radio industry in Kenya is intense, and Radio 47 will have to create attractive programming to capture and retain listeners from established brands such as Radio Citizen, Milele FM, Radio Maisha, and KBC Radio Taifa.
Radio 47 looks set to focus on broadcasting in Kiswahili, the largest niche in radio. There are just a handful of Kiswahili radio stations with national coverage, notable ones being market leader Radio Citizen, Milele FM, and Radio Taifa (KBC), Radio Maisha, and a string of others with regional coverage.
The thinking is that Swahili still has some space for serious radio stations.
