Skyz Metro FM is a commercial radio station based in the metropolitan province of

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

Description

The station began broadcasting in September 2016 in Bulawayo on FM 100.3 MHz and further at a 60 km - 80 km radius around the city, making it the first radio station for and broadcasting from Zimbabwe's second largest city since the country gained independence in 1980. In 2020, Skyz Metro FM was reported to be on a mission to expand its coverage to the greater parts of Matabeleland region and is now accessible in areas including

Gwanda Gwanda is a town in Zimbabwe. It is the capital of the province of Matabeleland South, one of the ten administrative provinces in the country. It is also the district capital of Gwanda District, one of the seven administrative districts in th ...

Filabusi Filabusi is a town in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe. The town is the administrative capital of Insiza District and a service centre for the surrounding mining and farming areas. Location Filabusi lies off the A9 road (Zimbabwe), ...

Fort Rixon Fort Rixon is a village and farming centre in Matabeleland region of southwestern Zimbabwe. It is located some north-east of Bulawayo. It was founded as a military outpost in 1896 during the rebellion of the Matabele against British colonial rul ...

, Avoca,

Khami Khami (also written as ''Khame'', ''Kame'', or ''Kami'') is a ruined city located west of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Butua of the Torwa dynasty. It is now a national monument and became a UNESCO World Heri ...

, Esibomvu, Shangani, Matopo, Lochard, Mulungwane, Nyamandlovu, Redbank, Greystone, Collen Bawn and Ntabazinduna to mention a few. This move was applauded by communities of Matabeleland, especially the artists that expressed marginalisation by the national radio stations. Most of its radio shows are mainly broadcast in iSiNdebele and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. Musically, the station gives greater air play to the Matabeleland artists, but also adds a mixture of other genres mostly the

Nguni Nguni may refer to: *Nguni languages *Nguni cattle *Nguni people *Nguni sheep, which divide into the Tsonga sheep, Tsonga, Ngoni (sheep), Ngoni, and Swazi sheep, Swazi types *Nguni stick-fighting * Nguni shield * Nguni homestead *Nguni (surname: Hl ...

music from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

as well as some international hits from

the US The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and

the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

among other countries. It has played a huge role since its establishment by providing an alternative voice for the people in the area through its interactive

talk shows A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (20 ...

engaging the city council, the police, government organisations, churches and many other organisations and institutions on issues affecting the community and the region. It also provides news from the region, documentaries and

radio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

. It broadcasts to the estimated audience of more than 1 million. The establishment of Khulumani FM in March 2018 by the

state broadcaster State media are typically understood as media outlets that are owned, operated, or significantly influenced by the government. They are distinguished from public service media, which are designed to serve the public interest, operate independent ...

gave Bulawayo people an additional flavour to complement Skyz Metro FM, though others felt that Khulumani FM was launched to compete with and/or to destruct Skyz Metro FM. Some media critics from other regions accused the two Bulawayo radio stations for sounding more like South African radio stations due to the use of Matabeleland languages that include iSiNdebele,

iSiXhosa Xhosa ( , ), formerly spelled ''Xosa'' and also known by its local name ''isiXhosa'', is a Bantu language, indigenous to Southern Africa and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language ...

SeTswana Tswana, also known by its native name Setswana, is a Bantu language indigenous to Southern Africa and spoken by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalaga ...

and

SeSotho Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language. Like all Ba ...

among others, and also by heavily playing music by the

Nguni people The Nguni people are an ethnolinguistic group of Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic groups native to Southern Africa where they form the single largest ethnolinguistic community. Predecessors of Nguni people migrated from Central Africa into Southern A ...

References

External links

Radio stations in Zimbabwe 2016 establishments in Zimbabwe Radio stations established in 2016 {{Zimbabwe-radio-station-stub