media update’s Nicole van Wyk attended the
Liberty Radio Awards ceremony on Saturday, 13 April at The Sandton Convention Centre.
The two young
RX Radio presenters of the
Books and Breakfast with Yusrah show — 11-year-old Yusrah Du Toit and 10-year-old Naseerah Du Toit — were nominated in the
Internet Radio Show category.
The category serves as proof that the radio industry is only evolving as time progresses. Radio practitioners have proven to be innovative time and time again, and this category recognises the need for a shift from the traditional view of radio and listener interaction.
About the station: RX
Radio operates from the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. The station is run for children, by children and it is the first radio station in the world to have children broadcasting live from a hospital. The station broadcasts throughout the day and anyone can listen to the live stream online.
RX Radio aims to promote a feel-good agenda for patients and their support systems. Everyone in the hospital community is encouraged to make a contribution to the radio show’s content. Engagement with the radio station extends beyond talking and listening. There is a strong sense of action involved to support the patients and causes they value.
Programming includes live broadcasts, podcasts, pre-recorded shows (like
Books and Breakfast with Yusrah) as well as several podcast series. The child reporters at RX Radio select their own music, invite their guests, are involved in the design component of the show and draft their own interview questions.
Conversations are centred around the importance of the patients rights, the quality of healthcare provided, chronic illness treatment and, above all else, encouraging and uplifting content.
“
Books and Breakfast with Yusrah is about books and literature for the children situated at the Red Cross Hospital. [Its aim is to allow] the patients to listen to the show and get excited about literature, reading and book reviews,” says Yusrah Du Toit.
Initially, the show was established as a platform for Yusrah to review her favourite books, read
Takalani Sesame stories for the children at the Red Cross Hospital and interview authors and readers alike. As time progressed, her sister Naseerah Du Toit joined her on the show as a co-host.
Naseerah attends the Red Cross Children’s Hospital as an outpatient. Yusrah explains: “[Naseerah] has a muscle defect called CMD (Congenital Muscular Dystrophy), so she attends physio at the Red Cross Children’s hospital and the head of the radio station asked if she would be interested.”
Naseerah also takes the lead on the comedic front on the show, ready to share a riddle on cue:
“What cup can’t hold water? A cupcake!” This is just one example of a joke that children in the hospital can laugh at while listening to the show.
“Well, I don’t like reading,” said Naseerah, expressing her relationship with literature.
“She’s the total opposite of me, and that’s why she does riddles and jokes on the show,” Yusrah explained.
The RX Radio reporters are between the ages of four to 18 years old. The radio training participants consists of 67% of the patients admitted at Red Cross Hospital and the remaining 33% are siblings or friends of the patients.
There is a five-member team behind-the-scenes devoted to radio coordination, supporting the presenters and training upcoming anchors.
You can tune into the live RX Radio stream
here.
Do you think commercial radio stations should hire younger presenters to attract a younger demographic? Let us know in the comments section below.
Appealing to the youth will build and maintain customer loyalty with this demographic. Our article, Dear marketers — it’s time to youth-proof your brand, shows you how
For more information, visit
www.rxradio.co.za. You can also follow
RX Radio on
Facebook or on
Twitter.