Southern Cross Austereo (Regional)

Townsville

whoops, beaten! Cheers man.

Cheers for that Info!

Whats bought the change back to classic hits playlists instead of a Jack FM/Variety playlist? Is it because the Hit streams aren’t solely focused on charting music now?

That’s what I was thinking - the 2 formats should complement each other 60s-80s and 90s-now.

there’s 3 formats on the adult side - with more possibilities to come in the future:

Townsville - “Greatest Hits from the 70s to Now”
Gold Coast - “Greatest Hits from the 80s to Now”
Toowoomba - “Classic Hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s”

Depending on the demographics the station can pick which format it runs. All are a really looking to minimise the spillage to the Hit stations, but there are some adults who still like Rihanna alongside of Springsteen, so you have to also think of them.

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Just listening yesterday to adjacent markets to Brisbane. Wide Bay has gone with MIX FM with 60-80 and Sea FM 90 - Now. With the Downs also it seems that 4GR is 60-80 with Hot FM 90-Now.

I wonder if what any local community station is doing has any influence on the format selected. AFAIK neither of their markets has a community station that targets older listeners (with music) like a number of regions have.

I think the SCA stations that have the “Greatest Hits from the 80s to Now” format tend to be in markets where they have local commercial competition within the FM band (eg. Gold Coast with Hot Tomato, Newcastle with New FM & Central Coast with Star 104.5), as well as the local community stations having a consistent music format that targets older listeners throughout the weekday such as 4CRB & 94.1FM in the Gold Coast, 2NUR in Newcastle and Coast FM in the Central Coast. In the case of the Central Coast, most parts of the region can also get the Sydney stations quite well, in which older listeners can also have the choice of tuning to Smooth, WS or 2CH. As for the Gold Coast, they can also get Breeze FM (100.6) almost like a local station.

Also, it’s very interesting to discover from MarkHD’s above post that there’s now two versions of the “Greatest Hits” format. I think the “Greatest Hits from the 80s to Now” format is a rename of its “Real Music Variety” format, which up until late November, was heard only through Gold FM in the Gold Coast & KO in Newcastle, whilst the rest of the LocalWorks stations, including 2GO, had the “Greatest Hits” format.

There really isn’t that much of a difference in the Music between the Greatest Hit Stations that use the ident “Greatest Hits from the 70s to Now” & “Greatest Hits from the 80s to Now”, especially when the stations are networked from the Gold Coast it’s the same playlist, there might be a difference when the stations take local programming.

I have noticed the SCA Stations that are still using the Greatest Hits format tend to be in areas where there is already a Classic Hits station. For example in QLD Cairns has 4CA 846AM, Mackay 4MK 1026AM, Rockhampton 4RO 990, in VIC Bendigo GOLD 1071AM, In NSW Orange 2EL 1089AM, all stations with a Classic hits format, so it makes little sense in SCA changing their stations in these areas from Greatest to Classic hits as well.

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Actually, 2EL is basically a talk station, or in other words, an almost full-on relay station of 2SM (apart from 12-3pm, when they air its own local afternoon program), as it’s owned by the Super Radio Network. Port Macquarie/Kempsey also has a Super Radio Network commercial AM station 2PM, which has a similar format to that of 2EL, but yet 2MC has a “Classic Hits” format.

Grant-owned 4CA, 4MK & 4RO/CC are mostly talk stations too, but they do play a bit of music in the afternoon.

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On this: from what I saw of the RDS today, 3BO is now positioning itself as “The Greatest Hits from the '70s to Now” - that’d be the Townsville log.

Looking at the Gippsland radio market changes - I wonder how viable it would be to move Star FM to the Gold Coast Local Works format?

It’s their only station in the area, in the overlap around Traralgon the Hit music format competes directly with TRFM and 1242 just dumped even more music and while 3GG has an 80s lunch, it’s largely not going to reach a similar audience, and even if it did, is on AM.

Sure, you’d be losing the Hit music in parts where TRFM doesn’t reach - but on balance I think it might serve the market better.

Was it always CHR formatted even as Sea FM? Or did that come in with the Star rebrand?

And another question - any other markets where SCA only have one station?

Yep, Dubbo - in which Star FM has the anomaly of carrying NRL.

Also HOT FM Mareeba, Emerald, Mt Isa, Roma.

[quote=“Moe, post:87, topic:56”]
Looking at the Gippsland radio market changes - I wonder how viable it would be to move Star FM to the Gold Coast Local Works format?

It’s their only station in the area, in the overlap around Traralgon the Hit music format competes directly with TRFM and 1242 just dumped even more music and while 3GG has an 80s lunch, it’s largely not going to reach a similar audience, and even if it did, is on AM.

Sure, you’d be losing the Hit music in parts where TRFM doesn’t reach - but on balance I think it might serve the market better.[/quote]

That sounds like an interesting proposition for Star FM Warragul going with a “Greatest Hits” format. As for losing the Hit music in parts where TRFM doesn’t reach, at least the western & southern half of the Warragul licence area can get the Melbourne stations very well.

I think it has always been CHR from when Sea FM Warragul first went to air in 2002.

It’s worth noting that up until 2007-08, 3GG & Sea/Star were owned by the same company, which was RG Capital & then later Macquarie Regional Radioworks (MRR). When MRR merged with SCB to form Macquarie Southern Cross Media (MSCM), they sold off 3GG to meet ACMA’s Media Diversity (aka “number of voices”) rules, by which 3GG was then bought by Resonate, in which they have since sold it to Capital Radio Network last year.

3GG had a “real music variety” format under Resonate. With the change in ownership to Capital, the format went “forever classic” and dropped all the newer rock that it used to play. I suspect that the old 3GG format wasn’t that far removed from the Local Works format - especially given Resonate was closely aligned with SCA. Albeit 3GG is on AM, I suspect the old 3GG format didn’t move mountains.

SeaFM converted to StarFM in 2005 when RG Capital was acquired (and I think around the same time as the Latrobe Valley frequency of 97.9FM commenced). As far as I can recall it has always been CHR from since SeaFM commmenced. In comparison to the “solus station” time when 3UL/3GG had a lot more local content, StarFM really only has local brekky and lunch and 3GG sounds likes it run on an even tighter leash. (I loved the comment on 3GG at the start of Jan when the brekky announcer apologised for their being no local news as their journalist was on annual holidays - she’ll be back in the second half of Jan).

StarFm really struggles to hold its brekky show together, which working backwards has had the following combos in the last 10 years (as far as I can remember): Brad & Mandy, Huw & Stacey, Jake & Huw, Stampsy & Jake, Orion & Stampsy, Dan & Stampsy, Dan & Kymba, Dan & Pinky, Che & Pinky, Robbie & Pinky, Robbie & Sarah, Wilko & Sarah, Ant & Becks, Kristy & Brownie… …

Both 3GG and StarFM have aussie rules, using CrocMedia and 3MMM coverage respectively. The West Gippsland area (inc Philip Island) can all easily pick up the Melbourne FM stations - and as soon as I can get their reception driving back to Melbourne, I flick stations. Bottom line, whilst a local works format could potentially grab listeners (and advertising dollars) for StarFM from ACE and Capital, its probably a marginal proposition and potentially would just force more West Gippsland listeners to the Melbourne stations.

In my opinion, if StarFM really want to make inroads, they need to get more local content, continuity in announcers and probably treat Melbourne as a true competitor and do a different format, such as what K-Rock used to do in the 90s/early noughties in competing from the other side of Melbourne. .That requires dollars and taking a risk - can’t see SCA taking that approach. Far easier to leave it networked as is.

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I suspect Star FMs coverage in the Gippsland region doesn’t really travel much further east than about Traralgon (so 3TR/1242 has Sale, Bairnsdale etc all to itself pretty much ?) and even Traralgon would be a probably be a bit of a 3TR stronghold?

Having said that, a switch to “Greatest Hits” just might lure listeners away from 3GG, and a few from 3TR and maybe some disgruntled 1242 listeners, but of course they’d lose most of its current listeners, and leaving Warragul without a local ‘hit’ station, given that the 3TR signal into Warragul isn’t very good.

Wow Star FM Warragul really have had a lot of Breakfast show changes over the years, is it because presenters don’t like living in Warragul or is there something else to it?

Classic Hit Stations are still taking the Saturday Night Greatest Hits Party Shuffle.