HAITI Media and Telecoms Landscape Guide - Infoasaid

57Its morning magazine show and its 12.00, 1600 and 18.00 news programmes arerelayed by radio stations in the following six towns in the interior:Les Cayes (Macaya 102.5 FM)Jacmel (Jacmel Inter 94.9 FM)MirebalaisSt-Marc (Gemeni 101.3 FM)Gonaïves (Radio Independance 103.3 FM)Port-de-PaixThe target audience of Radio Métropole consists of educated decision makers in the24 to 59 age bracket.This upmarket audience helps the station to pull in advertising revenue.Radio Métropole is more successful in attracting advertising than some otherstations that have larger audiences with lower purchasing power.The management says research from focus groups shows that many young peopletune into Radio Métropole for its news programmes and then move on to othermedia. Typically they switch to music broadcast by other radio stations andrecordings on their digital music players.Radio Métropole employs 10 journalists and presenters in Port-au-Prince. It also hasa network of 15 correspeondents in other parts of Haiti.It lacks the capacity to produce radio dramas or sophisticated entertainment shows.The station is owned by Richard Widmaier. He and his wife Sabine have a hands-onrule in managing its day-to-day programming.Radio Métropole was founded by the Widmaier family in 1970.It follows an independent editorial policy.This caused the radio station to run into problems with the government of PresidentJean-Claude Duvalier (“Baby Doc”) in the 1980s.The radio station was attacked by Duvalier thugs in 1980 and several of itsjournalists went into exile shortly afterwards.The attacks persuaded Radio Métropole to stop broadcasting domestic political newsuntil the Duvalier regime was overthrown in 1986.57