By PURITY WANJOHI

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The first time James Onen stepped at the door of Sanyu FM Studios; he was going to give a new offering to the audience. For many nights, the radio playing in the background of his living quarters made him feel less alone. But, with time the company it offered became banal.

“Not to sound insensitive, but I felt that the deejay on the show was terrible. I used to wonder to myself, how is it that that guy has a job? Surely I can do it,” recalls the man popularly known as Fatboy.

At the time, he was struggling financially, as the business he was managing wasn’t doing well. His Bachelor of Commerce degree acquired in India wasn’t getting him a stable paycheque either.

In 1999, working as a radio presenter was not as glamorous as it seems today, and radio stations were struggling to find interested, interesting people.

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So, he made his pitch simple: “I want to be on radio”.

There was an empty seat behind the mic, but there was a competitor for it -- a young woman called Angela Newman, currently a popular voice on Uganda’s airwaves. All he had to do was beat her to it over a two-week probation period that they were given. Luckily, another slot became available and it saved him ever knowing whether he would have been beaten Angela. They worked together and became friends and later business partners.

His slot was in the afternoon show. At first, it was awkward and scary, he says. But he shed his fear by writing down everything he wanted to say and reading it verbatim. He’s sure he sounded robotic. After a while, he resorted to using bullet points, until he eventually internalised his scripts. With these tips and tricks, he came across as confident. This, and the knowledge he shared about music artistes, producers and album releases made him a bit popular.

“I didn’t know that it was the beginning of a career that would span decades. I just saw it as something that I was doing for that moment,” says the 48-year-old presenter. In years to come, the name 'Fatboy' became synonymous with radio.

Along the way, he forged an identity as a social commentator in issues close to his heart, especially the boy-child and relationships, attracting a legion of followers and fans. He also grew to host the station's morning show.

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But, as he was enjoying the shine, he was caught up in a storm. A misunderstanding turned scandalous, and he found himself jobless for the first time in 21 years.

Was he devastated? No. Maybe shocked, because it happened suddenly.

Nonetheless, his phone didn’t go quiet. Job and partnership offers were coming through but he turned them down. Where he was in his career, he felt it was best to do something of his own. This was an opportunity to venture into something he had been working on -- internet radio. In August 2020, two months after losing his job, RX Radio, a brand under his new company Creative Radio Solutions Ltd, became the dynamic new addition to the Ugandan airwaves.

“I’d always been interested in the online media space and could see media moving in that direction. During my free time, I would explore the technology surrounding internet radio as well as research the software and protocols required, and had acquired most of it. In the evening after work, I would amuse myself by listening to my own radio station. In fact, transitioning to the online media space was my retirement plan. Once I lost my job, I decided to take what I had and build it into a business.”

He manages the station with Angela “Crystal” Newman — the young woman he had to beat during the probation period at Sanyu — and Henry Onen.

The advantage of internet radio is its convenience and accessibility. One can tune into a radio station from anywhere in the world. Some online radio stations even have mobile apps making them even more accessible. Additionally, they offer a more personalised experience.
Having all the equipment — a studio booth, microphones, mixers and the necessary software — RX started as a music station before introducing talk shows in November 2020.

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How has the journey been?

“I’ve really enjoyed it, and I continue to do so. It has been full of victories and challenges, with moments of excitement and great difficulty,” he says.

He wears several hats at RX Radio — creative, administrative and marketing. This, he says, has seen him exert himself in ways he had not before.

However, there is a lot of pressure on the radio stations to be competitive today. Radio is also evolving in a way that the success of a radio personality is judged on their social media footprint.

“This is one of the things I don’t particularly appreciate. Before, a radio personality could be sensible, entertaining and develop their audience this way. People are doing bizarre things to go viral. This has lowered the bar for conversation,” he says.

“Our identity as RX is to be thoughtful, empowering and impactful. This is what will make us relevant now and in the future. This doesn’t mean that we won’t have fun. We want to be respectful, even as we observe a slide towards sensationalism that has characterised the media space.”

Three years later, he is an award-winning host. In 2020, he scooped the Afrimma award for the Radio/TV Person of the Year.

“Media is ceding ground to social media platforms, so we needed to (and continue to) think hard on how to keep the audience engaged so as to remain relevant as well as take advantage of all the existing platforms to keep the audience entertained.”

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One of the ways he has done this has been by organically building a social media following. Currently, he has 25,000 followers on Facebook and 38,000 on X.

“I’ve had to work on my radio programme, and on my social media platforms, which has doubled the work. It’s no longer enough to put on a good show. One must also work to be a formidable and culturally relevant personality with a strong social media personality. It’s unfair but it’s the reality.”

The station's audience comprises middle and upper class people, aged between 18-50, leaning towards the more educated and the diaspora, Fatboy says. Seventy-five percent of their listenership is based in Uganda and 25 percent overseas.

The station is also the most commercially viable online radio in Uganda with several employees. It also has a mobile app.

“We have been successful in engaging with the business community in partnerships, advertising and sponsorship. We literally operate at the level of an FM station dealing with the same calibre of clients.”

But he didn’t get there easily. It required a long period of establishing proof of concept and educating the business community on the viability of online radio as a media platform especially because it’s a new trend in Uganda.

“Fortunately, many of our earlier partners could already see and appreciate the changing trends and where media consumption was heading. For this, I’m very grateful.”

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Their success has paved the way for many others.

Another challenge he faced starting off was capital. To get it off the ground, he used savings and loans from his family.

Then there's competition in a saturated market.

“I had to be very creative and aggressive in how we engaged the market. Traditional radio stations are also streaming online. Soon, we’ll all be playing on the same field because the future of radio is online,” he says.

“To be relevant, one must be about something. Decide what you want to talk about and do it. Of course, this could make you a polarising figure. However, you'll have a niche and an identity around which you can build an audience.”