The EIB Network is carrying out a ballsy assault on the Ghanaian media landscape. It seems to be working, especially with their flagship Starr Fm.
A recent survey by Ipsos, a credible multi-national researcher, ranks Starr Fm as the most listened to English radio station in the capital. That’s a huge achievement for a station that’s barely one year old- and especially when considering the behemoths in the English demographic such as Joy and Citi Fm.
In the wake of this survey, people have made the argument that Starr Fm is successful only because of their star power. They made a point of grabbing some of the best talent around- and they were lucky enough to have Ghana’s Drive Time king on board as a CEO.
So whilst the point has to be conceded that Starr has a lot of firepower, that alone does not make a successful station. As a sports guy I’m always ready with the sports examples, and you can ask Real Madrid’s first iteration of Galacticos in 2002 to see what all that star power won them.
During those heady days, they gathered some of the best talent in the world of football. At a point they could call on Ronaldo (the original one, not his self-absorbed, latter day namesake), Raul, Zidane, David Beckham, Luis Figo, and Roberto Carlos. From the time they all gathered in 2002, to their disbandment in 2007, Real Madrid won nothing, zilch, nada.
This was because there wasn’t much teamwork between them. What people often overlook is that stacking the star names often brings about a conflagration of egos, that can be as destructive just as well as it can be productive. You cannot succeed just by that alone.