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'Heart of the South' on Your Station

What is Heart of The South?

‘Heart of the South’ is a weekly two-hour Southern Gospel music program. While it is syndicated (airing on 45 stations currently), it also has a local focus, highlighting concerts coming to and artists coming from the listening area of the stations.

We make it easy on program directors and station traffic logging personnel - each program of 'Heart of the South' is exactly 108 minutes (1 hour and 48 minutes) long so you have 6 minutes each hour for ads, news, weather, sports, etc. 
If you prefer, there's also the option of filler music to the end of the second hour, and we provide quality instrumentals (which tie into that week's program) for those who prefer that option.

‘Heart of the South’ is recorded and produced in Canada and meets Canadian Content requirements for religious radio programming.

Who Hosts Heart of The South?

Since its beginnings in June 2001, ‘Heart of the South’ has been hosted by Harold Giesbrecht.  Harold was born and raised in Canada and has had a fascination with radio since his college days, when someone pointed out that he had a face voice for radio. It was also during these years that Harold discovered Southern Gospel music, and has been a fan of it ever since.

How Did Heart of The South Begin?

This question is one of those that could be answered by saying, “Depends on who you ask.”  In the mind of the host, it began in the spring of 1999 while, on a leave of absence from Golden West Radio to do some volunteer service in Arkansas and Florida, he discovered Southern Gospel radio stations.  He sent back a note to the Program Director, suggesting that a weekly program of Southern Gospel music would be a huge hit in Manitoba.  It would fit nicely, he thought, in the Saturday evening programming on the trio of radio stations.

It wasn’t till 2001 that the program became reality.  As Radio Southern Manitoba set up the program and acquired music, contact was made with Harold, who had since left full-time employment with Golden West Radio.  Harold offered to host the program, and in June of 2001, the program began to air as a weekly one-hour show.  In its beginnings, ‘Heart of the South’ was completely produced by Golden West Radio with Harold simply providing the voicing, but in 2005, to facilitate expansion beyond Radio Southern Manitoba, Harold began to produce the program in its entirety.

The move has allowed the program to expand from three stations in Manitoba to forty-five stations now airing the program across Canada as well as in the USA and Belize, and around the world on the World Wide Web.

What are the Perks of Airing 'Heart of the South' on Your Station?

Consider the benefits of airing 'Heart of the South' on your station...

  • A strong two-way familiarity with Southern Gospel groups/musicians, both nationally and regionally

  • Weekly 30 second promos specific to your station and to the guest group/musician being featured

  • Weekly one-minute concert feature that highlights concerts coming to your listening area

  • Our website keeps listeners current on concerts coming to your listening area: http://www.heartofthesouth.ca

  • A weekly feature group, often highlighting groups/musicians that are either from your listening area, or coming in concert to your listening area in the near future

  • Our ten year track record of hosting 'Heart of the South', a weekly 'staple' in many homes

  • Our previous experience in a wide variety of Christian musical styles - contemporary, praise and worship, rock, and inspirational

  • A predictable end time for the program (always 1 hour, 48 minutes long) so you know exactly what is needed to fill the two-hour slot.

  • Optional 'filler music' that is high quality and relates to the theme of that week's program

  • Our radio experience in both the USA and Canada, in for-profit radio and not-for-profit (i.e. missionary) radio

To find out more about getting 'Heart of the South' on your station, please contact us!

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