Tune in your radio to Algoa FM and the important information you're looking for won't be in the air, but on the face of your radio.
"I saw it on the radio." Is what the station is all about.
Tune in your radio to Algoa FM and the important information you're looking for won't be in the air, but on the face of your radio.
"I saw it on the radio." Is what the station is all about.
Algoa FM is the first South African radio station outside of Gauteng and the Free State to introduce the Radio Data System (RDS), which displays text messages on the radio's LCD screen.
Listeners using radios with RDS capability will have noticed that their screens carry information on the song being played, the artist, and the show.
“There are also notifications of when we are doing traffic, weather and news updates, to alert listeners who may have the radio playing in the background,” said Algoa FM technical manager Chris Wright.
Digital radios in homes and offices which have the RDS capability will also display the messages.
Wright says, “The test RDS broadcast on Thursday worked so well that the station decided to go live immediately, and because we have invested in leading-edge technology, we were able to be the fourth radio station in the country to introduce the service.”
The system was piloted by Algoa’s sister station, OFM, which had been testing it for a number of months. OFM went live with its Dynamic RDS service earlier this year, as did two other radio stations in Gauteng.
In addition to showing programme and playlist information, the Dynamic RDS service will be used for community announcements.
“For example, if we are running a blood drive or collecting food and blankets for flood victims, we will be able to promote this through the on-screen announcements,” Wright said.
