The Sandton Times Hour marks its 100th show

Reaching a significant milestone, The Sandton Times Hour, a radio show and podcast that brings the webpages of The Sandton Times to life, marked its 100th show this week. To celebrate this major achievement, the show was presented from a cruise ship off the coast of South Africa, bringing together local and international travel media voices in an hour-long release with a difference.

Having started as a podcast during the first week of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, the weekly show quickly garnered an audience from both greater Sandton and from around the world, speaking to an impressive list of celebrity guests every week, both locally and internationally including Boity, DJ Zinhle, DJ Cuppy, Kim Engelbrecht, Michaella Russell and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse to name a few, as well as newsmakers, CEO’s, analysts and authors.

In a world where almost every radio show has a podcast, it’s almost unheard of to have a podcast become a radio show. Yet, in a unique cross-over from digital to traditional media, The Sandton Times partnered with Mix 93.8 in May 2022 on an exciting new slot that brings greater Sandton to life across mediums, with local content and interviews that reach beyond the borders of Africa’s richest square mile. The Sandton Times Hour goes out every Monday night from 7pm to 8pm on Mix 93.8, with a blend of topical content, wide-raging interviews, local news, and music.

Mix 93.8 is a community radio station which aims to entertain, inspire, and inform through programming that reflects the diversity of the community. Mix 93.8 not only plays great music through their talented DJ’s and music specialists, but provides a host of informative shows to inspire, educate, and inform. Mix 93.8 is all about music, positive momentum and the matchless feeling that hearing a great song gives you. The Midrand based radio station boasts a listenership of 328 000 on FM and an LSM rating of 8-10.

With a media career spanning over 20-years, The Sandton Times Hour is hosted and produced by seasoned media personality Alexander Leibner, who apart from being a sought-after keynote speaker and MC, is also the founder and managing editor of The Sandton Times.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be home to such a savvy broadcaster on Mix 93.8. The show is right up our audience’s alley, and we’re excited to have merged the existing audiences of The Sandton Times and grow Mix 93.8’s reach. For 100 weeks, Alexander has entertained audiences with his charming personality, wit and we look forward to growing further in 2023,” comments Mix 93.8 Programme Manager, Sanny Mlotana.

“The Sandton Times has been chronicling life in Africa’s richest square mile and beyond for over a decade, having started from very nontraditional beginnings. This next step beyond 100 broadcasts is truly an exciting milestone, not just for The Sandton Times but also for digital boutique regional media and its audiences,” comments Leibner.

According to 2022 Spotify Wrapped data, The Sandton Times Hour, as a podcast release, saw a 200% increase in followers with over 1200 minutes of audio released last year, producing more digital-audio content than 86% of other creators in the News category.

The Sandton Times Hour also featured in the top 30% most shared podcasts globally with 52% sharing the digital audio via WhatsApp and 41% via a direct link. The show also enjoys an international audience with the UK, UAE, Netherlands and Brazil featuring in the top four countries streaming the content and giving it a 4.9 rating on Spotify.

The Sandton Times Hour is available on Mix 93.8 in Johannesburg, Pretoria and through the station’s website, as well as DStv Channel 823, whilst delivering to its podcast audience on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.