One FM is a community radio station that will be launched to service the needs of the community that it broadcasts to, namely Table View, Blouberg, Parklands, Milnerton and surrounding areas.
The Blouberg Development Foundation NPC, a non-profit company set up to manage the radio station, received a community broadcast license from ICASA in August 2014.
The frequency will be 94,0FM and will broadcast 24 hours a day.
The BDF is now raising funds to buy broadcast equipment, build studios and furnish the offices with office equipment.
“We’re excited to launch a crowd funding initiative, the first in South Africa, where a radio station will go live with the assistance from the public’s money”, says Ian Ward, commercial radio veteran of 17 years.
Ian goes on to say, “Crowd funding, while new in South Africa, has seen many projects come to light. Even Kahn Morbee from the Parlotones has raised over R220 000 for his new album through Thundafund.com, a crowd funding website.”
Crowd funding has taken the world by storm, and allows groups and organisations to raise funds in order to start their projects, but offers something of value in return to the donator. Internationally the movie Veronica Mars was completely funded by crowd funding, and raised over $2 000 000 in ten hours, making it the fastest crowd funding project to reach $1 000 000 in the shortest time. In Kahn’s case, he offered a CD once recorded to his funders.
One FM Thundafund Video from IanWardZA on Vimeo.
One FM has various rewards they’re offering, starting at R100. These include tickets to events that One FM will be hosting, membership to the radio station, a virtual wall that will be placed on the radio station’s wall with the funders name on it, to pre-sold advertising packages with a lot of value added to it.
The campaign ends mid June 2015, so funders would need to act soon.