Veteran broadcaster Tommy Annan Forson, Pleasure FMGhana’s first personal radio station opened in 1995, revealing how a easy assembly over a glass of fufu in a front room laid the foundations for Ghana’s personal radio revolution.
Talking on the Profession Path Program Pleasure Studying TV and Pleasure Information; He talked in regards to the first time he heard whispers of plans to start out a industrial radio station in the course of the Jerry John Rawlings period. On the time, the concept appeared far-fetched.
“I heard by way of somebody that industrial radio was coming, and I assumed, hey, industrial radio, is that allowed on this nation?” he mentioned.
He says the turning level got here when Kwasi Tum, CEO of Multimedia Group Restricted, approached him with a proposal to affix the yet-to-be-established station.
“Kwasi Tum got here to me and mentioned, ‘We’ve permission to open a non-public radio station and we would like you to affix,'” he recalled.
Annan-Forson was working on the Ghana Broadcasting Company on the time, however admitted it was a tough resolution to go away authorities job safety to an unexplored personal enterprise.
“On the time, I used to be nonetheless at GBC and had a secure authorities job, so this was a giant resolution for me. However that is new. Will it work? What if it would not? However I am a risk-taker, so I mentioned this is likely to be the chance I have been ready for,” he mentioned.
Within the early planning phases, he Pleasure FM Remarkably modest, simply three individuals deliberate the station’s imaginative and prescient and programming.
“We met at dwelling and began the route, the main focus, what to do, what sort of exhibits, issues like that. And all of the exhibits that began on Pleasure FM have been finished by simply three individuals, together with myself and Kwasi Tum, in the lounge consuming a bowl of fufu,” he mentioned.
Tommy Annan Forson formally resigned from the Ghana Broadcasting Company on April thirtieth, and by 6am the following day, Might 1st, he was already showing on a check broadcast on Pleasure FM.
“Though it was thrilling, individuals have been confused at first. They did not know if it was a brand new GBC frequency or one thing else solely. As soon as we made it clear that this was the nation’s first industrial personal radio station, individuals began accepting Pleasure FM,” he defined.
Annan-Forson attributed the station’s fast development to the artistic freedom given to him by Kwasi Tum.
“Kwasi Tum gave me the inexperienced gentle to do no matter I assumed was finest for the station. Broadcast what I needed and run this system the way in which I needed. The station was successfully mine. That belief has allowed Pleasure FM to develop quickly,” he admitted.
He famous that this freedom and clear imaginative and prescient had created alternatives for a few of Ghana’s most well-known media personalities comparable to Mark Okraku Mantey, Gabby Ajeti, Kofi Kum Bilson, Doreen Andoh and the late Komla Dumor.
Nevertheless, leaving the Ghana Broadcasting Company was not with out some backlash.
“At one level I went to GBC to choose up an LP. Folks began calling me a traitor as a result of I stop on the peak of my broadcasting profession. However life goes on and you must transfer on,” Tommy Annan Forson revealed.
Regardless of the criticism and early operational challenges of organizing this system, managing the amenities, and perfecting the schedule, the workforce remained decided and pressed on.
The station then relocated to Kokomlemulu and Annan-Forson launched the enduring Tremendous Morning Present and several other different packages, cementing Pleasure FM’s place within the Ghanaian media panorama.
“It was an expertise price quitting my job for. As we speak, I’m very proud to say that I’m one in every of Pleasure FM’s success tales. It began with a bowl of fufu,” he mentioned.
