Massiv move for Faith Mangope

 

Faith Mangope, eTV Sunrise anchor, entrepreneur and radio personality, has taken on a new challenge – managing a one-of-a-kind hybrid radio station, Massiv Metro, which celebrates its first anniversary in May with version two of the Massiv Metro app, along with a vibrant new lineup.

Dynamic and driven, in 2014 Faith described herself as “a broadcaster, a businesswoman, and a world-changer” in her address to introduce President Barack Obama at a Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders programme event.

She joined Massiv Metro as Senior Producer in May 2017, was soon promoted to Head of Programming, and this year to Station Manager. She is an achiever and is well equipped for the task of managing the innovative Massiv Metro radio station that will be “the biggest radio station in South Africa” in the not too distant future, she says.

Massiv Metro is a hybrid online and terrestrial radio station that reaches 672 000 listeners per six-day week, streaming live in eight Johannesburg taxi ranks and 800 taxis and online at www.massivmetro.com. Massiv Metro is the brainchild of DJ Sbu and Massiv Media.

Mangope, 31, came to Massiv Metro from an already illustrious career in broadcasting – both radio and television. She joined 702 perchance, while studying International Relations and Industrial Psychology student at Wits University.

She had accompanied a friend to an audition – she then auditioned and got a job. She started call-screening and was soon involved in producing shows while continuing her studies at Wits, working day and night. Faith says, “My training at 702 had encouraged 40-something thinking, as had the life challenges I had dealt with. I needed to find the young me to identify with the target audience at YFM. I was given a mandate by Kanthan Pillay (then head of YFM) to go and party and get to understand the youth market. I did – it was excellent, and I thrived in the YFM environment.”

In 2014 she was chosen as one of 500 by the Young African Leaders Initiative (43 from South Africa) for the Mandela Washington Fellowship programme, spending six weeks at the University of Texas studying Entrepreneurship and gaining a strong pan-African perspective on global affairs. In Washington DC she was asked to give a brief speech and introduce President Obama when he addressed the summit. “It was a defining moment in my life. Here I was, a girl from rural Mpumalanga addressing the leader of the free world – and impressing him. I knew it was crucial to be a world-changer, to have an impact, to continue to focus on building lives.”

Mangope believes that Massiv Metro is doing just that, and is defining history. She was invited to join the team and immediately recognised the brilliance of the radio station and the entrepreneurial and creative spirit that had led to its conception. “I love this platform – it is innovation personified. When you are able to play in an online space, but as a terrestrial medium, you understand just how much innovation has gone into developing this initiative. We’re online, but we are in taxis, a captive audience at all times. This is where radio will be going – and we are in a position to set the benchmarks for it.”

Mangope contributes strong broadcasting experience and skills, leadership dynamism, a visionary entrepreneurial spirit and more to the Massiv Metro mix. She says the future for Massiv Metro is bright. “We have to be limitless in our thinking. By the end of the year, our commuter listenership will have grown to 1.5 million – and at this stage we are only in Gauteng. We plan to expand into all nine provinces, with local content and local offering. We’re going to be the biggest radio station in South Africa. Once we have the South African market, there is nothing to stop us partnering with radio stations across the continent to be streamed into commuter transportation.”

Listeners can tune in to Massiv Metro at www.massivmetro.com or download the app from the Google Play store (Android) and on the App Store (iOS). For more information about Massiv Metro go to massivmetro.com or contact Tony Mallam on tony@massivmetro.com.