Nthatuoa Koeshe
FORMER Ultimate FM presenter Dallas T, born Tello Leballo, is set to launch his online radio station named Sky Alpha HD next month.
The station will go on air on 1 May 2019 after the training of 12 presenters who emerged victorious ahead of 77 others at auditions that were held at Victoria Hotel in Maseru last weekend.
Dallas T told the Weekender that the training of the presenters is already ongoing and will last for a month.
He said Sky Alpha HD will focus on youth empowerment, networking and socio-economic issues as well as creating a platform for small businesses to expose their mandate while also providing vibrant entertainment.
“The station is the first of its kind in Lesotho and we are going to need all the support we can get from Basotho as this is not going to be an easy model to adapt to,” Dallas T said.
He said it was visible that most radio stations and other media platforms focus on politics at the expense of critical issues like “the alarming rate of poverty and unemployment”.
People who came for radio auditions
“Our country has more challenges than politics due to marginalisation of small businesses which makes it difficult to create a platform for slots and advertorials because of costly rate cards and Sky Alpha HD is here to address those challenges.”
Dallas T said they also realised that there were prolific projects and initiatives which are shaped to groom and mentor young people in businesses but not given enough exposure, hence the Sky Alpha HD inception.
“The idea is to encourage small to medium enterprises to come forth and share their visions, challenges, proposals and services with listeners locally and across the globe,” Dallas T said
He said since the station will be webcasting, their demographic focus for now is Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland.
“In this regard, we have initiated connections in these countries to sensitise the market about the radio station with a mission to have a strong and sustainable web in the sub-Saharan region, as a platform to create opportunities among each other to help substantiate the business sector in the country,” he said.
He said it was evident that digital technology is the future which necessitated the project.
“Yes, it is the first of its kind in the country but it is our hope that there shall be fair data rates to the subscribers (listeners) which will make it easy for everyone to tune in via an application.
“We have set up a Facebook page to ignite interest and curiosity so that by the time we debut on air, we will have a significant following to best achieve our vision,” Dallas T.
Dallas T started his media career in 2002 as a technical officer at Radio Lesotho but he later discovered his passion for radio presenting.
He then started producing some radio shows at Radio Lesotho but in 2006 while in Egypt for a broadcasting training, he was informed by Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, who at the time was a minister of communications, science and technology, about an upcoming radio project.
When he flew back into the country, he joined Lesaoana Lesupi and the late Pearl Ocansey as some of the first staffers at Ultimate FM that same year.
During his time at Ultimate Radio, Dallas T was best known as the anchor for the daily afternoon show called The Knock Off.
