Admire Taderera |   Admiring Taderera’s   Talents – New Broadcasters Please Take a Bow  

Admire Taderera

By Kamangeni Phiri  28/11/2022

Broadcasting with finesse is an art form that legendary broadcaster Admire Taderera used to bring into thousands of homes, cars and places of leisure in Zimbabwe each time he went behind the microphone.

Finesse, as an art or skill in radio and television broadcasting, used to be prevalent among the majority of post-independence Zimbabwe’s presenters, yet it keeps eluding most of today’s broadcasters.

Emerging radio and TV presenters seeking to improve can take a page from one of the best in the game – Taderera. The yesteryear broadcaster easily fits into the elite club of top producer/presenters of all time.

Taderera is a natural leader whose qualities came to the fore when he was appointed as the founding general manager of Zimbabwe’s first commercial radio station, Star FM in 2012. He started his reign as manager supported by largely a team of young and inexperienced DJs. Taderera turned the greenhorns into star presenters within a short time. Some of Taderera’s products include people’s favourite, KVG real name, Kudzai Violet Gwara and her former co-presenter Phathisani Sibanda who is now with Power FM, Ndumiso ‘The Skywalker’  Dube, a sungura enthusiast and man of the moment, DJ Ollah 7, real name Owen Madondo, who presents the most talked about radio talk-show in the country, On the Spot.

Taderera’s magic formula was anchored on an understanding of the importance of journalists constantly learning new skills in order to succeed in the fast-paced world of digital journalism today. Thus, he kept pushing his team to keep improving themselves.

“Broadcasting is for people with a quest for growth,” he said in his farewell speech in 2014 when he was retiring. “I appreciate all staff members who made Star FM what it is today. I was given an opportunity to have my time at the station which is a big brand in Zimbabwe.

“If you are a team player, wait for the ball and learn to pass it to other players. Teamwork is a vital cog in the development of any institution.”

Taderera was a man of many firsts. In 2004, he became the first man to head a national radio station outside Harare. He was redeployed as station manager to 3FM which had rebranded as Power FM and relocated to Gweru. Taderera groomed fresh talent like Hazvinei Sakarombe and Tafadzwa Sikwila aka DJ Squilla in Gweru after seasoned presenters opted to resign instead of relocating to the Midlands capital.

Prior to his promotion as Power FM boss, Taderera briefly left the then Radio 3, crossing over to the holding company’s television side in 2001 where he became head of ZBCtv’s Sportnet, a sports only section.

He earned the Sportnet promotion after years of doing a sterling job as a TV soccer commentator.

Admittedly, there might be debates as to whether he is indeed the best in the game since listeners have different tastes, but there’s no arguing that Admire is possibly the most iconic radio-cum-television presenter to hail from Zimbabwe. He is the first and only Zimbabwean to give soccer commentary at a grand stage like the world cup where he featured at the 1998 edition hosted by France.

Taderera has also covered the Africa Cup of Nations and Olympic games, among other sporting events.

Initially starting his career in the 80s as a radio disk jockey, Taderera was to later earn himself a reputation as an “airwave salesman’’ through consistently doing commercials for most big advertisers of the time across all ZBC’s four radio stations.

The man’s great voice was behind many commercials of the 80s and 90s and these include Farchis Panel Beaters, Surf Show Pick or Box , and Econet.

One commercial that he frequently did with perfection was the Jarzin Supermarket, which gained Taderera immortality and earned him the moniker, “Jarzin Man”. Early morning shoppers at the retail chain would be randomly picked and asked tricky questions which at times bordered on mischief. Those who got the quiz right would walk away with money prizes.

The jingle that introduced and concluded the show, “Jarzin, J-A-R-Z-I-N, Jarzin,” still rings in the heads of most kids of the 80s era. It helped kids prepare for school on time as it was presented daily during the week at exactly 7.45am. Wrist watches were very rare back then and Taderera’s voice in the Jarzin commercial became a time indicator.

Taderera’s radio shows were spiced with humour and news titbits that kept both youthful and old listeners glued to the radio. The man knew how to balance his playlist and presentation to cater for both sets of listeners although the then radio 3 largely targeted a youthful audience. In later years, however, he toned down significantly as he moved into the managerial side of broadcasting. Taderera introduced an interactive show with yesteryear celebrities dubbed, “Simbi Yamudhara”, a Saturday afternoon show which he presented on Star FM.

The show, which featured yesteryear musicians, sport personalities and business persons, became a must-listen as it proved to be very popular with most mature listeners.

Admire’s laid back and catchy voice did the trick. This rich voice helped him become one of the most sort-after Master-of-Ceremonies in the country.

“For me his biggest strength is that he has the highest level of confidence I know and his massive knowledge of three major languages, English, Shona and Ndebele. This is why Taderera was always chosen for Director of Ceremonies jobs, especially at corporate events,” said ZBC’s Director of Radio Services, Robson Mhandu, a former workmate and colleague at the national broadcaster.

One of the highlights of Taderera’s MC duties was at Thomas Mapfumo’s sell-out show held at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) in 1994. The show was broadcast live on ZBCtv.

Taderera showed his business acumen and innovativeness by unveiling flexible programming which gave listeners and advertisers more value.

In 2013 he partnered with East Coast Radio (ECR) of South Africa, with the aim of establishing fresh business opportunities down south for Star FM.

A number of Zimbabweans are based in South Africa while companies that operate there have developed business synergies with locals that Taderea sought to further develop through radio.

Taderera told local daily, The Herald, back in 2014 that:  “As we broadcast we generate revenue. There are businesses in South Africa targeting Zimbabweans and these are the ones that we try to capture together with our nationals that reside on the other side of the Limpopo.”

The arrangement allowed Star FM presenters to broadcast live their programmes on South African frequencies. ECR is a KwaZulu-Natal commercial radio station with an estimated audience of two million people.

Admire Taderera is a broadcasting legend born in a family of seven in Murewa on June 25, 1957.  His parents worked in Bulawayo and he did his high school at Mzilikazi High School. Taderera became a fluent Ndebele speaker during his time in the second capital. He also speaks fluent English and Shona. Taderera joined ZBC in 1983 as a radio producer/presenter for the then Radio 3 station, now Power FM.

He became the face of the station’s breakfast show, which he presented on alternating days with iconic radio presenter, Simon Parkinson. Taderera rose through the ranks to become Radio 3’s head of station in the mid 1990s.

In 2004, Taderera was redeployed as station manager to 3FM which rebranded as Power FM and relocated to Gweru.

Taderera resigned from ZBC’S Power FM in 2007 bringing to an end his more than two decades old marriage with the national broadcaster.  He was elected chairperson of the Sports Writers Association of Zimbabwe (SWAZ) in 2011.

He joined music distributing company, Spinalong, as its managing director. But in 2012, Admire was back to his first love, radio, after Zimpapers engaged him to be the founding general manager of their new radio station, Star FM.

He left Star FM in October 2014 on early retirement. At his farewell party organised by Zimpapers, Taderera was highly praised for his role in developing Star FM into one of the outstanding radio stations in Zimbabwe.

In December of the same year, he suffered a stroke which left him paralysed.

Taderera is a Christian who is married and has two kids, a son and a daughter.

His look-alike son, Tatenda, 37, says his father loves everything to do with sport with football and tennis topping the list.

Tatenda is following in his father’s footsteps as he is now a presenter/producer with Star FM. He goes by the moniker, DJ Tadz, The Total Package, when on air. But will he fit into his father’s giant shoes?

“Wow! That is a very high level and bar that was set but I hope to surpass it for it’s what he wanted for his kids to do better than he did. I mean, he was the first Zimbabwean football commentator at the prestigious world cup in 1998 in France, the Olympics, African Cup of Nations and three times after that to all events. He has also represented a lot of big brands in Zimbabwe even being nicknamed the Jarzin Man which people still remember today. He is a complete broadcaster kicking it in the studio and on the sporting scene as well. Very few can do that”.