What levels of reduction are we looking at for Sea and the community Fm stations in Erp?
Weâre going to try for minimal reduction, & itâll depend on the personal RF monitors on the guys on the tower, but probably in the area of 50-75% full power?
Amount of reduction will depend on how long theyâll be in an area on the tower close to the antennas.
Short term radiation levels can be higher than longer duration radiation levels.
50-75% of full power for the commercials would be between 8-12 kw, so given the community stations are only 2kw, why do they need to reduce?
Or does the set up at Somersby mean thatâs not possible?
Trouble is the RF is all additive, weâre hoping we (community stations) wonât need to reduce power at all.
Our antenna is directly below the SeaFM antenna, so when the guys are up around there, theyâll be copping RF full on.
When we replaced our antenna 18 months ago, we weâre all off, but SeaFM still had to reduce power to about 7kW, because the personal RF meters were bringing up an alarm if they were any higher, for medium-long term exposure.
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Is the tower inspection still happening today? Will Sea and the communities go on reduced power from 12pm today?
Tower inspection was called off about an hour ago.
No power reductions today, weâre organising another day, possibly 2 weeks time, will let everyone know date & time when itâs decided.
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Thanks
Short notice I know, but itâs confirmed that the 101.3 SeaFM tower inspectionâs going ahead tomorrow Tuesday 25th Sept 2017, (unless thereâs another last hour cancellation).
SeaFM & possibly the 4 central coast community stations may be on reduced power between 12 - 2pm.
The CC ABC services are unlikely to be affected.
So as per last time, there may be some opportunities for seeing what else is available on the CC frequencies in adjoining market areas.
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Sarah & Paddy are leaving 2GO breakfast.
26 years on 2GO breakfast for Sarah, huge change in Central Coast radio.
Donât know who the replacements are yet, but will 2GO ever be the same?
Thereâs already a few gone, & I know of a few more behind the scenes people who will probably be leaving SCA Central Coast in the near future.
I wonder whatâs happening there, granted a few are retirement (or early retirements) but still.
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The Express Advocate reports that they were dumped:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-coast/sarah-king-and-paddy-gerrard-dumped-from-2go/news-story/dc8ee7741777285dd67fdaaf2ed474aa?nk=53029f0065a4bc20a7736768f84b0a11-1510024494
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Does anyone think thereâs a chance that Star 104.5 could pick Sarah & Paddy (who if Iâm not mistaken, are both popular breakfast radio presenters on the Central Coast) or do we think theyâll simply retire from radio?
As for the comments about âchanging direction for the breakfast showâ and Paddy expressing concerns to management about the programming content/music at the station, possibly a sign that SCA is trying to turn 2GO into Triple M 107.7 (well maybe not by name)?
Maybe most likely for the drive program, as according to Radioinfo yesterday, Rabbit & Julie Goodwin will return to Star 104.5 breakfast in the new year.
The Triple M network will have a new drive program to be fronted by Mick Molloy & Jane Kennedy (which is currently already on-air in Melbourne), so itâs most likely that 2GO will carry the program in parallel with 2MMM & KOFM, leaving Star 104.5 to, once again, be the only local commercial station on the Central Coast to have a âlive & localâ drive program.
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NBN News Central Coast just reported that also - saying that Sarah and Paddy didnât have their contracts renewed as the station has âchosen a different directionâ.
I wonder whoâll take their spot, locals? Or a team bought in from elsewhere.
Doubt it, but I think thereâs a fair to good chance Star will pick up their listenersâŚ
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If you read the comments on the 2GO facebook page most of those who commented blamed Triple M and said they would stop listening to 2GO, whether they follow through remains to be seen. Of those who have switched said they had moved to Star 104.5, ABC Central Coast, Smooth Fm, WS Fm, and even Coast Fm.
The first 2018 Central Coast Radio survey will be very interesting. Star 104.5 could very well win the survey. 2GO could do very badly.
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Paddy is right, him and Sarah have been buried by the template music format.
Now SCA have removed them from bâfast, theyâve created another 2DAY, their inflexibility to program for a specific station rather than a network will knobble it for 2GO.
Sarah and Paddy provided the reason to tune in at bfast, the music during and after 9 is what brings the audience back to bâfast. SCA dropped the ball, the audience has gone elsewhere, those who remain would be frustrated and client results would be less from when 2GO was #1 or close to it.
Mark and Mike and the other SCA staff are silent on it, itâs indefensible.
When RG Capital acquired the Gosford duo Sea FM Ltd, the stations were run properly, 2GO was a local version of 2WS to fit the market from the Wesgo days.
What weâve seen since is constant slicing and dicing of staff and budgets over the last 20+ yrs.
You donât grow by shrinking.
No wonder staff are taking the golden goodbyes, SCA wonât raise general salaries but happy to pay people off to leave (as are ARN and Lachieâs network).
They get the results they deserve.
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You mean in the early/mid 90s� Or in the early '00s when they were sold to Macquarie�
People love to talk about how things used to be done âbetterâ âback in the dayâ.
In the mid-90s, the Internet was barely a thing. If you think you could bring the same attitude of RG Cap in the 90s to 2017 where youâre directly competing with Facebook, Google, Spotify, et al. - and even a third FM station that didnât exist back then - youâd be sorely mistaken.
At the end of the day, commercial radio is a business. Youâre right in that cookie cutter programming tends not to work, especially in regional areas. But to suggest that a mid-90s way of thinking or managing a radio station would directly to translate to 2017 is short sighted.
Honestly, I donât know what a radio station being ârun properlyâ in 2017 looks like. I donât know that itâs the way stations are being run right now. But I also donât think that the way stations were run in the 90s is the right way either.
If Iâm being totally honest, I think running local versions of 2GB scattered with âclassicâ songs would probably rate the best across the country, but then Iâm of the firm belief that radio is currently, and is rapidly becoming even moreso, a medium for âolderâ peopleâŚ
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At the turn of either ownership change, the stations were in fairly good condition.
Sure, 2GO lost its local programming outside daytime hours soon after RG Capital took over and brought in the Gold FM program, but the nights audience doesnât impact greatly on the overall station.
Once SCA got into full swing making changes with the regional stations, Brice retired, new staff in, new ideas of music logs and news content, these recent years have been the major descent for 2GO.
So not âback in the dayâ, itâs the most recent changes that have caused the damage to the station.
Remember that the Central Coast doesnât have a proper local newspaper. Fairfax and News slugged it out for a short period before both reduced staff and coverage. Itâs been left to 2GO and Star to lead the news cycle. Both have let the Central Coast down, 2GO moreso as thereâs been an expectation and reliance on their local news bulletins which simply doesnât exist.
When the well resourced 2HD news with Crouchie leading it had finished 07/08?, 2GOâs news was still of an acceptable standard. A few more years of SCA and aforementioned changes and down it went.
So no, not mid 90âs, only the recent years, current era of outside interference.
The lack of a locally produced music log is laughable. Same for Newcastle and Canberra. Sunshine Coast, despite being divested still suffers from this on weekends and other times. It is the lack of thought of the consequences shoe horning the music programming into 2GO that has lost their workday and drive and undermined breakfast.
Youâre right, versions of 2GB with more enterainment and less raving with selected songs would work well. Radioâs best asset is immediacy, you canât get more immediate than local people talking on air, be it local content or content discussing other matters. Such formats can work for younger audience, only requires care to be done right. Well beyond the lack of care resulting what 2GO has suffered,
Long serving 2GO GM, Paul Wrigley saw the writing on the wall, retired. Heâs endured all the changes up the line and watched the duties of his job shrink and rapidly so the last decade.
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I think the reality is that these days you either have to invest greatly into regional, or pull investment. I think the major networks seem to be opting for the latter, to focus their efforts on their metro counterparts.
The biggest problem with the coast is that through much of it you can pick up both Sydney and Newcastle radio. So 2GO suddenly has no pony of difference. Neither does Sea tbh. Star is the only station that provides something different, but it too will suffer the same fate Iâm sure as Nova âstreamlinesâ their operations.
IMO, if you wanna play on the coast, you need to sound as good as Sydney, be entertaining as Sydney, but still be local as anything. That takes a lot of investment. Regional radio across the board hasnât seen much investment for a long time and doesnât really see it much at all. Regional can survive if itâs invested in, at least in the medium term⌠the fact that no central coast radio station has a proper newsroom anymore simply shows how much is cared about such things - or maybe, how much is known⌠not many people programming or making network-wide management decisions on regionals anymore who really understand what regional is and means, and how to be successful at it.
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