At 8am tomorrow Singapore will get it's first business and personal finance commercial talk radio station.
Singapore Press Holdings, parent company of SPH Radio, was the successful bidder for two new licences last year and planned to launch two new stations to fill market gaps.
The first identified gap was for an older formatted Chinese language music and personality station, which launched earlier this month as 96.3 好 Hao FM, and the other market gap was for a commercial talk station for those interested in business, finance and anything that money can buy. SPH engaged AMT Pty Ltd for programming consultancy and training in the set up of the stations.
SPH Radio's General Manager Sim Hong Huat (pictured) has told AsiaRadioToday that the station will have a heavy emphasis on business, but it will also cater for lifestyle interests of its listeners.
“Anyone who wants to get ahead and stay ahead needs to have a good understanding of how to make and spend their money wisely. We will be talking about how they can make money, invest it, and about all the things they want to spend it on too,” said Hong Huat. “Every shift will have features, stories, interviews, money updates and the opportunity for listeners to interact with us.”
Money FM launched with only a small team of experienced presenters and producers, but will also be able to call on the skills of the hundreds of reporters who work for Singapore Press Holdings newspapers such as the Business Times, Straits Times and a range of specialist magazines, who have been undertaking radio presentation training in preparation for the launch. The station is also partnering with international broadcasters such as BBC and DW to bring listeners an international perspective to its programming.
The station launches tomorrow, and AsiaRadioToday will bring you more about it after launch day.
Meanwhile, we were able to get a sneak peek behind the scenes last week as Hong Huat and the team did their final preparations for the big launch.
Money FM’s website is now live and streaming at www.moneyfm893.sg.