Can Adinkra survive Accra at Atinka FM?
Several times Kumasi’s sweetheart, one time the man many people in the Garden City loved to listen to before they do any other thing in the morning, the one they used to call (or rather called himself) the Apotitimati of Kumasi has finally switched camp and allegiance.
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Kwame Luther King Adinkra, the former host of the morning show on Kapital Radio, Fox FM and until recently, Angel FM has switched camp not to another station in Kumasi, but to the nation’s capital. Yes, finally Adinkra decided to traverse the long journey and Adinkra has finally berthed his ship in Accra.
On January 7 this year, Adinkra interviewed the president on Angel FM, an interview which was simulcast on other stations including Radio Gold. It appeared that was his swan song for the people of Kumasi as he was headed for Accra.
One month after that interview with the president, on February 9, the citizens of Accra will wake up to the mellifluous voice of Kwame Adinkra booming through their radio on the 104.7 frequency modulation dial, I am reliably informed. We shall come to this shortly.
Sena Radio was established a few years ago and operated from Ashaiman. It broadcast on the 104.7 dial of the FM frequency and operated in the mass segment of the radio market within the Greater Accra Region.
Sena Radio has been bought and rebranded. As I understand it from sources close to the new station, that station was taken over by Mr. Samuel Tobbin, the Executive Chairman of Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited and changed its name to Atinka FM.
The station seems to have been powered and given a new mandate to compete as aggressively as they can with the biggest names in the industry in Accra. The new mandate meant that they would need some strong hands and voices to compete against the stronger brands and people in the market.
That was why the inclusion of Adinkra on the team became an item on the agenda of the advisers of Mr. Tobbin for consideration. They probably looked across the market both in Accra and beyond and decided that if they have to be known, then they had to get the bald presenter from Aprebo Junction.
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I should congratulate whoever thought Adinkra would come over to Accra and to Atinka FM when others before them had tried and failed, sometimes at the very point of signing on the dotted lines to seal the deal. Both Peace FM and Adom FM have had the Adinkra treatment once.
There were two major rumours back when he was at Fox FM. The first rumour which was that his impending movement from that station to Peace FM was so rife it was believable. The deal would run cold and the Apotitimati of Kumasi would stay put for the citizens to wake up to his voice.
The second major rumour of his probable exit from Kumasi to Accra was linked to Adom FM. Everything was sealed and signed and left for delivery, only for it to fizzle at that point. Apparently, Adinkra developed cold feet at the 11th hour and the deal fell through.
Thus it was with a whole bag of salt that I received this piece of news. However, after I had spoken with him and gotten the assurance that indeed he was headed to Accra and Atinka FM for that matter, I knew the time had come.
There have been others before him who had come to Accra from Kumasi. There are some who made it and there are others who flopped. Among those who have excelled are Abeiku Santana, Adwoa Yeboah Agyei, Agya Abrefa, Kwabena Bobie Ansah, Adakabre Frimpong-Manso (from being a panellist in Kumasi to becoming a presenter in Accra), Okyeame Quophi (or Quophi Okyeame) to name a few.
Question to ask is whether Adinkra still has it in him to be able to affect the capital as his employers expect him to. Is it too late in the day for this movement? Should he have come to Accra earlier? Should he have stayed in Kumasi and solidified his massive presence on the Kumasi airwaves?
Let’s not pretend, the morning show in Accra is intense. Very intense. More intense than what pertains in Kumasi, in my arrogant opinion, and so for even an experienced and a greatly talented broadcaster like Kwame Adinkra, it is an uphill task taking on this job.
He is very much aware, I can vouch, that he would be coming up against some of the big name presenters and the titans of the morning show belt in Accra. With the likes of Kwami Sefa Kayi and his own predecessor at Fox FM, Captain Smart on Adom FM and the likes of Fiifi Boafo and Alhasan Suhuyini all on the mass market platforms as well as the likes of Bernard Avle and Kojo Yankson on the up market stations, Adinkra has layers of walls to compete with.
Let’s face it, Sena Radio wasn’t among the top stations in Accra. It was not among the top 15 or even 20 and so this adventure would seem like transferring to a whole new radio station. If he had chosen to go to any of the so-called “traditional” stations it probably won’t be an uphill task as going to Atinka FM, the former Sena Radio.
That said though, Adinkra is a master of what he does. He knows the things to say and when he has to say them. He also knows which song to sing and when he has to sing it as well as which question to ask and when he has to ask it. One is very certain that he will deploy all the skill and knowledge he has acquired over the years to try and win over the listeners in Accra as he so greatly did in Kumasi.
We shall wait to see, of course with what Dan Afari Yeboah would say “rapt attention”, to hear Kwame Adinkra on the radio in Accra to determine how and whether his presence would help propel Atinka FM to the top heights of the radio echelons.
Atinka FM station has since the middle of last month been test transmitting with music and the Africa Cup of Nations with Kofi Asare Brako, former sports morning show presenter on Asempa FM, running affairs as the one-man-commando until all other parts fall in place.
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