Definitely given it has been called Smooth FM here on DAB in Perth for a long time. Clearly Nova is pulling out all stops to get Nova on FM here in Perth. However as a listener on DAB of Smooth that will be the end once it goes to FM: more commercials (on par with 6iX it is replacing), a yakety-yak breakfast show, etc. Oh well it was good while it lasted (which may not be long if 6iX comes to FM already as Smooth, no time wasted!).
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No urgency whatsoever (which is a great opportunity missed). Weâre 14 years into DAB+ Australia. Although, Iâm grateful that the majority of new cars now come with DAB as standard which I think is great.
I really hope thereâs a future for DAB+. Iâm a fan if done right.
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Thatâs exactly it - TV was fairly easy as most people only had one or two TVs in their house, it was at a point where digital ready flat screens were able to provide a far superior picture so lots of people were happy and/or keen to upgrade, and fairly cheap set top boxes were available for those who didnât want to/couldnât upgrade.
For radio, weâre talking multiple radios of varying ages which currently function perfectly, digital only offering better audio quality compared to AM. Most new cars might have DAB+ now, but there are lots of cars on the roads which donât, many of which have been built to not allow easy upgrades to the in-car radio.
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I assume you mean Smooth? Completely unrelated - Smooth Perth is getting the same imaging as Adelaide and Brisbane. âSmooth FMâ sneaks through from the Melbourne and Sydney stations which are on FM.
I disagree. ARN are cashed up and actively in the market to buy stations. They would have be interested IF and Perth licence were to become available (assuming they could do a deal with Nova to get rid of their 50% of 93.7).
Nova on the other hand have shown little interested in expansion. Lachlan has been very hand off, and Nova have done of lot of cost and staff cutting.
I donât see how Nine selling 6PR would be any different to 6IX .
And that assumes than Kevin even wants to sell 6IX FM. Heâs more open to continuous investment than our other millionaire moguls, so he might want to try his hand investing more in Perth.
Great points made there @webguy. Regarding 6PR I did read last year when Nine did their end of financial year thing that theyâre very happy with their acquisition and will further invest into their four capital city radio stations. I think in their mind they want to keep a commercial talk station in Perth. But who knows? Money talks right!
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DAB is one of those things people need to experience to see how useful it is and thats an issue. I also feel for alot of people if they said (for example) that on dec 31 am / fm is switched off, on Jan 1 streaming would explode, and the stations donât want that, because all of a sudden Nova is not just competing with B105, triple M and 97.3 but now they have to deal with BBC radio 4, and the hip hop station in new york.,
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Iâm sure Smooth in Perth would go to Number 1 eventually if it was on FM. Would give Nova number #1 and #2 stations in Perth, which would give them a huge amount of advertising revenue.
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DAB+ is already a huge success in the metro markets - just look at quality of offerings, listener numbers and it has attracted lots of advertisers.
For it be successful in the regional markets, the federal government would likely have to chip in to help fund the rollout to some of the larger regional markets as I donât think ARN, SCA or BOG will want to do all the heavy lifting themselves, financially speaking.
Come to think of it. Youâre right. I think the next thing youâll see is the networks that run these offerings starting to market and possibly get talent on those stations. Wonât be long?
the number one issue is the chopping and changing of stations. it almost feels like some networks treat there DAAB offerings the way 2day treat a morning show
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I agree with you. But thatâs what I donât get - the existing operators are already pushing their audience to streaming options rather than DAB. It makes no sense to me, as you say their pushing their audience into a world of almost unlimited competition and better options. I personally know someone whoâs not overly savvy who used to listen to 97.3, but after ARN flogged iHeart now listens exclusively to a soft rock station from Texas because she prefers the soft rock format. How is that a good idea for ARN? Theyâve permanently lost a listener to their flagship station. Instead they could have 97.3 Soft Rock on DAB and push that instead.
I also agree the audience donât understand the main benefit of DAB which is more choice. When digital TV launched everyone knew it meant more channels. The radio operators have failed dismally to promote understanding of whatâs on offer.
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Both these options are virtually identical. 97.3 Soft Rock would still direct people from their flagship station. iHeart plays local ads, so ARN still get the ad revenue whatever iHeart station you listen to. Rates would be fairly similar per 1000 listeners to what they could get on DAB+.
The main reason that DAB+ isnât treated by the networks as a viable option is that they donât really want you to listen to the digital only stations. The only reason they have them is to try to make the digital-only audience listen to them rather than a competitor, and still offer something to those that are leaving anyway.
The rating system and ad market in Australia is centered around a single station being #1. Be that #1 overall, #1 in a demo, or whatever. And then #2 is next best etcâŚ
If a station were able to successfully split their audience, and even draw in new listeners, they might have a bigger audience and theoretical better offer to advertisers, but the largest audience over multiple stations just doesnât sell as well as the largest audience on a single station. Maybe it doesnât make sense, but like the huge gap between metro and regional advertising, itâs just how it is. The commercial decision has to be about how to get the most revenue, rather than the most listeners.
Yes interesting point. But the thing is I think once you direct your audience to streaming they wonât necessarily stay with âyourâ platform, like ARN and iHeart. It opens up a whole world of streaming other stations where you get no revenue (e.g. BBC or any other UK station really via the Radio UK site).
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Problem is digital TV offers better quality reception than analogue (no ghosting!). What does DAB+ offer in terms of quality over FM? The deeper bass and more thrilling highs you can get on digital are nicely obscured by the low-bit rate artefacts and distortion.
Which is because the ratings system follows traditional definitions. Heck with streaming you could auto-survey 100% of listeners if you were serious about digital streaming, and also customise adverts while you are at it. With DAB+ you canât get that but multiple stations/formats you should be able to attract more listeners (cast the music net wider, grab more fish!).
Yes that is the one aspect I agree the traditional limited station approach works better at, which the TV FTA stations know too well about: you canât switch selection and on demand, you are stuck to what the one channel has to offer, a captivated audience! DAB+ makes the former easier and the streaming makes both easier (hey what is this thing called Spotify app that is on my phone?).
But the genie is out of the bottle (read about it: Streaming services overtake free-to air TV for first time in Australia), and surprised limited channels broadcast radio still works (on FM here in Perth we only four commercial stations, that pales into insignificance compared to DAB and even more so stream options).
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Thatâs true of anything though. Direct people to DAB+ and they might find stations that arenât yours. Keep them on AM/FM and they might find another station.
At least directing people to an platform you control (like iHeart, Listnr), everything they find there is âyoursâ. To move to another platform is an extra step at least.
I would also question the wide appeal of international stations. Maybe for a music listener, but thatâs the sort of listener that could just as easily move to Spotify or similar at any time.
We keep using the arguement that radioâs main appeal is local, and thatâs what will keep them away from Spotify. I believe that to be true of the people that will continue to listen to radio. Some will go to a music only platform, but they were never the engaged listeners that advertisers want anyway.
Only a Perth based stations can offer localism for Perth (be that hyper local for just the Perth market, or wider local for all of Australia). A Texas station, no matter how good it is, is really competing more with the streaming services than our local stations.
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Another reason why I think they do this is that they can get a MUCH more accurate measurement of how many people are listening and when in real time. Makes it easier to sell to advertisers.
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No longer true with the temptation of syndicated programming from over east which is cheaper. Look at the TV, I look forward to Matt when he presents the 5 minutes of news on Sunrise each morning directly from Perth. For radio the only local thing I am interested in is the weather and traffic, when it concerns music it doesnât matter, and I donât care about âtalkâ radio.
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You conveniently left out the next part, which stated that even Australian content from âover eastâ will be more local than whatever the Texan station has.
Which is still only available on a local station. No streaming service to my knowledge offers this.
At the moment they are only marketing them through sweepers on their FM stations (Smooth and 2DAY FM do this) and on their websites/ streaming services. There are specialist programs on The Edge, Dance hits, Double J and there are announcers: MMM 90s has Ella Hooper, MMM Classic Rock has Alice Cooper (the old MMM Soft Rock had the love god) and Coles Radio has workday and weekend announcers. CW Remix used to also have announcers - I havenât listened to it an a while so not sure if they still have them.
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I would love to see a marketing campaign from the big networks for their mainstream stations in DAB only markets. Just imagine the hype 96.1 or Smooth would bring to Perth if pushed. If they treated these DABs like FMs and get presenters on talking about the city AND market the buggery out of it⌠just imagine the possibilities?
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