Hope probably wasn’t aware of that. In fact considering i wasn’t and i follow CCM closely.
Outback Radio 2WEB to hold first Radiothon Auction in 20 years
This weekend (Saturday 19th July), Outback Radio 2WEB will hold its first Radiothon Auction in twenty years, with the lofty goal of raising $100,000 for Macquarie Home Stay in Dubbo, which provides affordable accommodation for regional patients and their families needing medical treatment far from home.
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Yeah they were promoting it on air heavily as well. They are really the last bastion of old fashioned local radio. I know they aren’t a commercial station but the sound is very similar to old worlde Aussie commercial radio, eg 2AY from the 1980s. I don’t even mind the country music they play as it fits the demo out that way.
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2MCR Sounds of Macarthur have been playing station jingles that sound a lot like AI-generated music to me:
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Yep that was definitely made with AI.
Probably from this website…
2NSB (Northside) seem to now use the positioner ‘The Best Songs Of All Time’ and listening briefly this week, they sound a bit like WS FM from 20 years ago.
I think many community stations are struggling so are trying to move toward popular formats. Hopefully they still have specialty shows at night.
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Definitely AI and sounds a lot like Owl City.
Much like SWR, 2NSB can be heard across much of Sydney, thanks to its highly-elevated TX at Chatswood.
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Yes.
For a long while they were known as a Jazz/Smooth Jazz community station.
I think that genre of content has been slowly been giving way to other content.
Interestingly as I type this they are playing a 2 hour block program of Smooth Jazz.
But re their RDS RT; I haven’t seen their former RT message of:
‘Smooth Jazz for the Community’ for a while now.
I stayed right underneath it once… (at Meriton) … I thought reception might be problematic, but it was fine, somewhat surprisingly.
2CCR (Alive 90.5) also used to focus on Smooth Jazz; this was back in the 90s and early 2000s. Their positioner was ‘The Sound Of Style’.
2RES/Eastside still largely stick to their highbrow mix of jazz/soul/funk, in keeping with the moneyed demographics of their licence area.
The ultra tightening of the 2NSB format has only happened fairly recently. They were more mainstream before that but also adventurous.
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I think community radio is dying full stop!
I listened in to WOWFM Penrith and SWRFM Blacktown around 11am yesterday (Saturday) and both stations were on automation with no host. I think that there are serious problems if station can’t fill a Saturday morning slot. 20 Years ago, stations would have had a long waiting list for what have been a prime time slot.
I checked both stations websites to verify.
Looks like WOW FM have a new website - www.wowfm1007.com.au
In my opinion, the worst website I’ve ever seen - a 10 year old could do a better job.
The previous one was a lot better.
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And stations seem to have more technical issues than they used to that go unfixed for longer.
Unable to pay someone or find a volunteer to fix them more quickly?
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Volunteering overall in every industry has declined since COVID.
Sub-metro community radio in particular needs to re-invent and re-position itself. Music formats aren’t cutting it. People largely aren’t volunteering to present a music format these days. And it’s very hard to build an audience for a piecemeal program grid full of eclectic 2hr shows.
These stations need to find ways to integrate themselves with the local communities and run meaningful news/talk programs. Fill Saturday mornings with local sports content. Weekday breakfast and drive can be heavy with local news. Audiences love this content, but we’re not producing it.
This stuff is a lot of work, but if done well should be sustainable.
Metro stations that know their niche aren’t in as bad a position. Regional stations are a mixed bag. But sub-metros are doing poorly almost everywhere I look and need to put in the effort to reinvent themselves.
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Which now appears to have gone down. Great work everyone, we killed their website.
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2SER, Eastside Radio and FBi have each been doing a brilliant job at remaining hyperlocal and relevant in the key timeslots. Moreso 2SER.
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And… it’s back up.
Yep, you’re right, just turned on my VPN and it’s there. Odd.
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