It won’t happen. Ipswich is not like Western Sydney where there is a much larger population, ethnic and younger demographic and a gap in the market for a CHR-rhythmic format.
Ipswich is a country town, whereas Western Sydney is probably the most multicultural area in Australia
Agree, but I’d much rather hear River 94.9 than The Edge… it’s the terrestrial commercial FM station I listen to the least at home, but acknowledge I’m WAAAAY outside of their target demos!
Technically the area of Western Sydney they serve (Penrith, Richmond) is less multicultural.
It actually serves most, if not all of Western Sydney. A population of 2 million +, even though it’s license is for Katoomba.
The signal reaches three-quarters of Greater Sydney, and there is a gap in the market for the format they broadcast, which is why it is successful. It wouldn’t work in Ipswich/Toowoomba.
Sorry but Ipswich is not a country town - I’m honestly surprised you would think that… It’s not 1970. I think you need to understand the south-western corridor of Brisbane a bit more. The city of Ipswich includes new suburbs like Springfield and Riply which are very, very multicultural and amongst the fastest growing suburbs in Australia. The River 94.9 broadcast area also covers Forrest Lake and parts of Logan city. Logan City is the most ethnically diverse and youngest part of SEQ, and reportedly also the most ethnically diverse LGA in Australia. 94.9 is local station strength across Logan City.
But River 94.9 is predominantly licensed to serve Ipswich and with all due respect, Logan or SW Brisbane and Toowoomba doesn’t have the same population as Western Sydney. The Edge would not work in Ipswich/Toowoomba/ SW Brisbane IMO.
I would argue that a CHR-Rhythmic station on FM wouldn’t get the ratings or the advertising to be sustainable, in Ipswich/SW Brisbane unlike The Edge which has a huge and loyal audience in Western Sydney and in Greater Sydney who can listen to it on DAB+. The market in Ipswich/ SW Brisbane is too small to sustain a CHR-Rhythmic station on FM. The population would be about half of that of Western Sydney and there wouldn’t be demand for a 3rd CHR station on FM if you include B105 and Nova.
And if you look at the DAB+ ratings for Brisbane, The Edge has a tiny audience, not even close to Nova 90s or MMM Classic Rock. In fact Dance Hits and Urban Hits also have tiny audiences in Brisbane on DAB+, so you would think that an FM station with The Edge’s format in Brisbane or SEQ would just not be viable.
Maybe ARN are looking at these demographics if they are going to make any changes to River 94.9. Did River 94.9 have a similar format to the Edge 96.1 at one stage?
I would not be surprised if ARN / Grant flip the format of River 94.9, but they would need to skew 97.3 older and move it to the Pure Gold Network.
Maybe in Melbourne for Krock ARN and Grant might come to a programming agreement. Grant continue to own the station but they can rebrand it to the Edge 95.5, use their logs and iHeart radio. This way ARN / Grant can get a fortuitous signal of the Edge into Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
I don’t mean to disparage Ipswich, I am just saying the population of Ipswich (less than 100,000?) is like a country town compared with a city the size of 5 million, and therefore a CHR-Rhythmic station on FM would not work there.
Even if you included the populations of Logan and SW Brisbane, you would be looking at around a million. There just wouldn’t be the listener or advertiser demand for it there.
Prior to Nova launching in Brisbane River 94.9 was a Top 40, hit music station with Wild Nights in the evenings. It was a great station - the best in SEQ but the only problem was you couldn’t receive it in the inner city or CBD indoors (in the car you could but not at home on a stereo even if you had a large antenna sticking out of your roof). When Nova started test transmissions in 2004, River changed their format to classic hits.
When Grants bought it in 2008 it went to a Rock format, taking Triple M head on, which is probably the best suited format for River 94.9 IMO.
I would say if this were to happen, they would lose most of their advertisers and listeners in Geelong too…
If Melbourne had a 7th FM-wide license, I think The Edge could work there but ARN or Nova couldn’t own it as they already have 2 stations, so it would have to be another operator. However there won’t be a 7th FM license for Melbourne, so DAB+ will have to do.
One time I was in Brisbane back around then I remember hearing Wild nights on River.
The hire car radio picked it up just only ok.
At the time of its launch (September 2001, the same month 97.3 FM started test transmissions in Brisbane), the signal beamed into the Gold Coast and it was fantastic to listen to, especially at nights - Wild Nights was a brilliant show. I was a volunteer at Radio Metro at the time and River 94.9 was seen as a threat !
They would then need to make changes to Bay to fill the gap, if Krock / Edge took on this niche format.
I think Wild Nights was only ever on The Edge 96.1 and River 94.9. It lasted on River for about 2 years, when in 2004 they dropped the hit music format.
If ARN were to flip River 94.9s format, it would be a perfect fit for the Pure Gold network - as a rock station with some classic hits, similar to 96FM or they could use the same log as 4KQ -(if 4KQ were to become Smooth) - as it had a successful classic hits format from 2004-2008, before moving to a rock format, then adult contemporary.
ARN won’t change 97.3 - it just went to Number #1 FM in the last survey and is a vital part of the national KIIS network.
speaking of fliping, i wonder what will happen to power FM and 3 ba here in Ballarat . since its/was the same format as Krock and bay FM Geelong come next year
Then they would lose Bay FM listeners and advertisers and profit margins would sink.
Anyway, the Cameron’s still own K Rock and Bay FM as this wasn’t part of the acquisition by ARN due to overlap with Melbourne.
Ipswich less than 100,000?? You’re kidding.
Ipswich LGA is 230,000 and Logan LGA is 340,000. Add in the parts of south and west Brisbane where River has local strength and you’re over 1 million.
It’s not just about that anyway. ARN use The Edge in Sydney as a blocker against Nova and previously 2Day so it’s not always about listener demands in that particular area of licence.
I maintain it’s a possibility that if they flip 97.3 to Pure Gold they may want to move River from its current format as it is a direct competitor to 97.3. Whether that’s KIIS or Edge or Hot or Star, if 97.3 goes older I think River will go younger.
If they move 97.3 younger then they’ll likely move River to Pure Gold.
The Edge changed to a hip-hop and R&B format at the start of 2006, not long after Vega launched, as there was demand for a CHR-Rhythmic station, it wasn’t so much a blocking move against Nova as it was a change in the Sydney market at the time. Prior to Vega launching, The Edge was a CHR-top 40 station, not a CHR-Rhythmic station.
Which is about half of Western Sydney.
This is the most plausible outcome. River 94.9 will most likely move to the Pure Gold network and move to either a rock/classic hits format similar to 96 FM or take 4KQs log if Smooth launched on 693.