Trying to work out where HD would go in Newcastle. Bit cramped there. Move RPH off 100.5 maybe?
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If that happens, somewhat ironic given that 100.5 was proposed as a frequency for a 2HD conversion back in the early 90s… Whilst both 2NX and 2KO opted to move to FM, 2HD decided to stay put.
Perhaps 2RPH could move to 1143 and perhaps get the Port Stephens and Belmont North repeaters as well.
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Will be interesting if Caralis then decides to move these stations the FM Super Network feed.
That same statement could also apply to Radio 97, considering it’s the only commercial station licenced to serve Murwillumbah RA1.
Come to think of it, there is also the possibility that if stations like 2AY, 2CA, 3GG & Gold CV convert to FM, they could reformat them to a more CHR/Hot AC skewed format to compete more effectively with the likes of Hit. In the case of 3GG, it could provide a geographical gap between Fox/Nova/KIIS & TRFM for the CHR market space by converting it to an Eagle/Snow-type station.
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I agree there’s likely to be quite a few format changes when some of these regional AM stations convert to FM. Personally I can’t see 2CC retaining a talk format if it goes to FM. It ratings are pretty poor now and won’t get any better on FM I would think. I’d say they would covert 2CA as a classic hits/AC station and 2CC might align with the Snow FM playlist for example. I see one of them branded as Capital FM too. It’s interesting that none of the eligible QLD stations are listed - and there are a lot of them. 4CA, 4MK, 4RO, 4CC, 4BU, 4FC, 4GY, 4SB, 4GR, 4AK, 4WK, 4LM, etc.
You would think that BOG would be champing at the bit to convert 4AK/4WK and 4GY.
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It would be quite challenging to find suitable high power frequencies for those stations on FM.
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This has really surprised me why no Queensland stations are in that list. 4CA, 4MK, 4RO, 4CC and 4AK could really benefit if they converted to FM. Wonder what the reason for this is?
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Agree, 2CC used to be Top 40/AC until commercial FM started in Canberra in 1987.
And a Forever Classic CA FM with the same GN/XL log would sound good in Canberra.
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I reckon it’s the change of ownership possibly. When the expressions of interest were done they were probably still owned by Grant or were in the process of sale. ARN will probably get onto it now though I would think.
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Possibly. But that’s the ACMA’s job. They need to do a re-plan for SEQ - it was on their forward plan of work but then mysteriously dropped off. Time to get back to it.
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The only ARN I see in that list is Gold Central Victoria.
I see no SCA stations are in that list either. I would of thought 2WG and 2RG would of benefit for the FM conversation also.
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SCA own Triple M Gippsland, while 3GG is on AM and part of the Capital Radio Network. There’s a similar situation in Canberra - the commercial FM stations are owned by SCA while the commercial stations are owned by Capital Radio Network and Grant Broadcasters.
What would happen if SCA were to ask for stations in their solus markets to convert to FM, while opposing FM conversion in other markets where they have existing FM stations?
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Yeah curious as to why they wouldn’t jump on converting 4GR too. Big market Toowoomba, surely a no brainer to put Triple M on FM. In the ratings there’s always a massive “other station” reading, mostly River 949 probably.
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I don’t think that’s it. It’s a very well established argument that AM conversions in competitive markets gives the AM station a massive advantage at the expense of the incumbent FMs. The argument is that the FM stations (especially if ownership has changed since it started) have paid a premium to have the advantage of being on FM, so that same advantage can’t be given to a competitor for free.
That same argument doesn’t exist in the solus markets because the same party receives the advantage and disadvantage so they cancel out.
I wonder if the hesitancy from the larger broadcasters is more around the strategy the ACMA are employing of giving out different specs on sometimes sub-optimal frequencies. It’s going to be near impossible to change those specs later on, but AM conversions are going to be on the table and potentially become easier as things play out.
For example, SCA don’t gain much in terms of their bottom line by getting a few more listeners in Wagga Wagga, so they can easily hold out. But for a small broadcaster like Capital, or as we saw in Bathurst, that’s a huge kick to their bottom line and makes them much more valuable if they sell out in the future.
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But also the “premium” shouldn’t give them protection from direct competition forever.
I think the 20+ years that these stations have had the advantage for is long enough.
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The funny thing is, everyone will complain that the big broadcasters should let the smaller AM station convert, but if the sides were flipped there would be uproar that the big player was coming to take down the “little guy”.
That said, I think in reality the competition posed by the “smaller” broadcasters moving to FM is minimal.
Their first hurdle is that they’re known in the market to be the “lame AM station”, so it would take a lot to get word out of the change to those not already listening. Not to mention these regional areas have fairly rusted on listeners by virtue of their not being much choice. Those that want choice have mostly already left radio.
They’re also owned by companies who aren’t exactly setting the world on fire. Capital and SRN are total snooze fests. Something like Snow might have a good range and be good at covering all options in a limited market, but it’s too broad for most competitive markets.
Just look at the ratings of 3YB FM (as far as I know the only station to have converted and have ratings since) and it barely moved. A slight increase, but it was already a reasonably popular station and the second survey since conversion saw them lose most of their previous gains.
Mandurah is another market that had ratings where an AM station converted to FM.
In 2017, when 6MM was still on AM, it only had a 5.5% share, outrated by Perth FM stations Mix 94.5 & 96fm in the process. On its first survey since FM conversion as The Wave that was held in 2019, the station rose to 21%, only 0.5 behind sister station Coast FM, but by the following survey in 2022, it fell to 17.6% whilst Coast FM rose.
Admittedly, Mandurah is quite a different market to that of Warrnambool, considering that the former is at the doorstep of a major metro market.
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I may be misremembering, but last time I checked 4WK was the last AM stereo station standing in Australia, and lot of that has to do with either the station manager or the tech (I forget which) who is apparently a massive C-QUAM fanboy. So if anyone involved with 4WK would be champing at the bit to convert to FM, it’d probably be Bill Caralis (though that would involve spending money…so maybe not!).
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I’d have thought for someone like SCA the potential savings in operating costs would have been somewhat of an attractor to converting
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Oh yes, I’d forgotten about Mandurah. That’s quite an unusual situation. They moved the Coast breakfast show to Wave, so basically all of the gain that Wave got came at the expense of Coast. Both stations combined were rating around 40% in both surveys. So Mandurah’s not an example of what could happen in a competitive market.