That flexibility would suit ARN’s side of things - but if say Marty Sheargold is contracted to ‘Triple M Breakfast’ by SCA, that’s much harder to keep to.
I suppose it will really come down to the football coverage, lots of the shifts on Triple M are just parking their call teams, which results in some really poor choices, Marty would suit national drive, but that’s filled with “Rush Hour” shows, and while you wouldn’t want to cut all those local shifts, JB/Billy isn’t sending your best.
That said, the Melbourne Rush Hour has posted decent numbers (and gives their breakfast numbers a run for their money) - you dont do 13 years with minimal change on the back of poor performances
They could go to a similar arrangement to that was used with Kennedy Molloy - have an early and a ‘late’ drive shift
I would be surprised if ARN didn’t move toward a national networked log for their KIIS and Triple M brands, if they are successful in the transaction.
This would align them with Nova who use the same log across all 5 Nova FM and Smooth stations.
You would think both Perth formats would have changes made to them, and the current Triple M format will not be around for long, if the transaction is successful. Whether ARN keeps a rock format or makes Triple M a Pure Gold format is all speculation , but it’s highly likely that they will align 96FM as a CHR format with Sydney, Melbourn Brisbane. Possibly Adelaide will follow not long after.
There will be a few other ‘heritage’ brands that may get blown up and aligned with the KIIS or Triple M networks in the regional centres too.
However it will be interesting to see what ACP does with WSFM, Gold and Cruise. This would depend on what format the new Triple M becomes- rock or classic hits.
That’s stupid and cheap. The stations should be localised that extends beyond the presenters. Music should be tailored to the market as well. At least be flexible enough to change the format to account for local nuances.
The music on SmoothFM in Brisbane on DAB was very different when I last listened regularly to the point I turned off SmoothFM in Brisbane as the music was terrible and put Smooth Sydney on. Yes Smooth FM Sydney and Melbourne share the same log and presentation accept for breakfast but it should be localised at least 6am to 6pm weekdays. But the DAB only stations did not well didn’t a year ago. Things may have changed since then.
Please no.
Having networked logs is one of the results of consolidation and it happens in radio markets all over the world over the last 2 decades, especially in UK, NZ and the USA.
All the DAB stations share the same log and they are hugely popular with listeners. Nova and Smooth have done it in recent years too. Even the Capital Radio Network have the same log for Snow / Eagle and XLFM / GNFM. SCA also have national logs for their regional Hit and Triple M stations. I’m sure this will extend to the metro stations if ACP take control of the Hit and Pure Gold networks.
Whether it’s good or bad is beside the point. It’s commercial radio, not community radio. It’s part of the business.
Anyway, if the music and content is good, it doesn’t really matter.
I would go with 96FM as part of the Triple M Network (yet again) and share the same logs. That would leave KIIS92.9 to have all KIIS programming … uninterrupted.
They could even bring back, “96FM Rocks” bumper stickers.
I think this is the case, regional KIIS stations will be …. Best Music with the existing 80 to now format and regional Triple M will have the 2ST 60’s- to early 00’s playlist.
I also think they will eventually do a rebrand, with Power fm, Chilli, Hit’s and other brands becoming KIIS, I think Wave fm will stay the same.
Also possibly they may modernise the playlist a bit with it being 90’s to now closer to KIIS Sydney and Melbourne.
But being ARN it will probably be oneplaylists for KIIS regionals Triple M’s
I’d like to agree, but I think 60s-00s playlists are dead in 2024.
It’ll likely be CHR for KIIS Network and “Better Music & More Of It” Adult Contemporary for the Triple M Network.
On a 2 hour delay at least for networked programs (3 during EDST months)… yay.
That is the current playlist for 2ST.
This.
I’d prefer a great, well researched and well resourced log, over a separate log thrown together in a hurry.
The problem with the “well researched” logs is that it’s the same stuff over and over day in day out.
Of course they will, it makes sense to have 2 strong national brands as opposed to half a dozen. I think they will all become KIIS or Triple M.
It would be much easier and cost effective for them to have the same log across the entire KIIS network. It makes programming more consistent and reflects the national branding, after consolidation has taken place.
What I find hilarious in this entire deal is how ARN have completely lost passion for “fixing” their Pure Gold Network.
Really, apart from some metro markets, they already do have a national Pure Gold Network, but they’d prefer to just “buy” a ready-made brand in Triple M.
Surely they can just tweak their current stations and go from there?
That depends. If you are on the road all day and are listening to the same station for more than 4 hours, of course there will be repetition.
But research states the majority of listeners only listen to the radio for short periods at a time (30mins), so repetition isn’t really a turn off in my view.
Take MMM 2000s for example. They have a relatively small selection of songs, but overall it sounds great, as they play a good mix of music. The same with Dance Hits or Nova Nation (and Nova Noughties / Nova 10s before they were dropped).
I’ve seen very little evidence of this in terms of well researched or in any way appealing music logs in this country in recent years.
The repetition isn’t as bad on DAB stations, but even so, the SCA DAB stations still only have a playlist of about 300 songs or so, compared to ARN stations like WSFM 80s which have a wider playlist of about 700 songs.
That’s about right and they still sound good regardless.
They want the NRL and AFL and believe they can monetise it even more.