Femi Sowoolu is a big name in Radio broadcasting. He is a veteran broadcaster, but he does not like been called one because of the negative connotation it brings. But over the last 40 years, he has dominated the radio space along with his contemporaries. If you hear his voice you will know. It is tailor-made for his job. After having worked with several radio stations and helped other people and organizations to kick-start their stations, he over a year ago floated his own Radio Station, JAMZ FM in Ibadan and the station is doing so well.
He has been in Radio since 1977. He was one of the early presenters in OGBC and he has gone along to work with practically all the topnotch radio stations. He is one of the very best in the business. He is the guy behind a new radio station rocking Ibadan airwaves called Jamz 100.1 FM.
As you read this, the new radio station is about to celebrate its 1st anniversary. A few months back, City People Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE spent some time with this great broadcaster whose baritone voice always captivates his listeners. Below are excerpts of his interview.
Let’s talk about when you started Jamz FM?
We started test transmission last October. We are doing pretty well and pretty good. There is a lot of appreciation. We get phone calls everyday. We would be a year next month. People call into our programmes and they are totally appreciative. Personally, individually and as a station. The general feeling is that something new has come to Ibadan. Some people thank us for bringing Lagos to Ibadan. Its very good so far. It will get better.
You have a slogan, Real Radio, Real People; what does this connote?
Yes. Real Radio, Real People. The message is just what it says. We believe Radio has been bastardized. A whole lot of fake people have entered broadcasting. People who should not be near radio stations are in prominent positions in radio stations. The whole OAP syndrome has taken over. People want to become stars
The whole OAP syndrome has taken over. People want to become stars over night. People who can’t even coin together simple English language are frontline presenters. And they are being celebrated all over the place. Most of them are half intelligent. So, I thought lets bring Radio back to what it should be, lets go back the basics of radio, which are the important things, which is to Educate, Entertain, Inform and be exciting at the same time. Lets make the listeners the star and not the presenters.
That is why we said we are real, we are original, we are real radio, and the people we employed here are made to have my kind of thinking too. So they are real people too. Jamz Fm was set up more for the environment than for the people who operate the station. We don’t have OAPS here. We have radio presenters. That is part of the process of getting real.
Why did you choose the name JAMZ FM? Is it all about music and entertainment as it connotes?
Yes, Jamz. It is Entertainment. It is music but it carries all the important things about information and stuff like that. The name? In coming up with the name I wanted something no one else had used. So I searched round. And I wanted a name that will just encompass all that we have. We are young. And we appeal to those who are young at heart too.
Everybody plays music but we play JAMZ. That’s just it.
What’s the difference?
We try to be a little more exciting and to be relevant to today’s society. Every song is a jam, depending on how you look at it.
What are your programmes like?
We’ve got some great programmes. We have the normal programmes like our Morning Show. We call it Rise & Jamz, a Good Morning Show. It is a pun on Rise and Shine. We have a great afternoon programmes that is quickly becoming our flagship programme. It’s called Abula Junction. Abula means a lot to those who live in Ibadan. It has become extremely popular.
The phone line buzzes from the beginning to the end. We just created a Lunchtime programme.
The lunch hours are the least listened to, in the broadcast profession, apart from the midnight shift. We’ve decided to give our lunchtime audience a real programme they could participate and call in. We treat social issues, general issues, whatever is in the news at the time, in a fun format.
Abula junction is just like a junction where some characters out there, speak different kinds of languages. We have the Igbo language, pidgin, Hausa and everybody participates. It is extremely popular. In the evenings, we have our Jamz zone which is just the evening drive show. We also have programmes for the up and coming musicians. We call it Naijamz (Nigerian Jamz).
It is so difficult for Nigerian artistes to get a break these days. I have always believed that we need to help Nigerian artistes. I have never believed in artists to pay their way to get aired. I have always fought against it. So, we say to artists, give us your music, if it’s good enough we would play it. Don’t give us any money. It’s a 1-hour programme we have all sorts of programmes.
We have the Fela Anikulapo Kuti tapes. It is a programme where we play all of Fela’s music, everything he has done from the Kulalobito days to his Jazz era up to his last recorded songs, using audio dips of his voice and people who are close to him. Like his family. That’s pretty good too. We have shows on Sunday evenings that are extremely popular, old school music, all the way from 6 pm to 12. All our programmes are uniquely designed and targeted to our audience.
The first thing a new station should do is to be relevant to its community. And that’s what we’ve done. We are relevant to our community, Ibadan, and its environs first and foremost before anything else. It is working for us.
What are the challenges?
I haven’t seen any real challenges so far because, with my experience, I always knew what to expect. The normal challenges are there, like the power supply. I have experience about these things, I know how to go about it. One unique thing about this station is that when we started, we started 24 hours. We are the only 24-hour station, up till now, not just in Ibadan, but in the entire Western region. That’s amazing for us. Ever since we started, 24 hours we have noticed that a few other stations have started to stretch their broadcast beyond the 12 midnight or 2 am that they usually do. None yet has gone to 24 hours. That was the whole idea.
Why did you throw in the 24-hour stretch?
Because this is modern radio. In radio, you can’t afford to close. You can’t afford to close shop. Once you close the listener who is awake will move to another station that is on. And he gets glued to it. When he eventually sleeps and wakes up it is that new station that he is on. So you can’t just afford to close shop in the midst of competition. All my years I have always worked in a 24-hour station. Why should I close down at 12 midnight.
