Perth has been there before. In the 80’s Perth’s population overtook Adelaide’s yet they only had 2 commercial TV stations vs. Adelaide’s 3. So I’m not sure whether who initiated things but in the end, Perth was allocated a third commercial station (NEW10) and it started in 1988 in time for the Seoul Olympics.
So if Perth’s population is approaching Brisbane’s then someone could argue to the ACMA that Perth’s population and/or economy could support a 7th, and possibly an 8th, commercial radio station because it is more like Brisbane than Adelaide.
So maybe that’s how 6IX and 6PR could convince the incumbent commercial FM stations to agree to them moving to FM - point out that they have a choice between two existing commercial broadcasters occupying those two FM frequencies, or one to two new competitors.
According to ACMA’s Draft FYSO 2023-28, which has been released today, consultation in regards to the conversions of Perth’s ABC AM services & other requests is set to be released on Q1 2024 (Jan-Mar).
What? So soon? I guess with the less controversial ABC AM to FM conversions it will take them only less than 2 years to decide if and how it will happen. … damn! where is the sarcasm button in this thing?
With the release of the final FYSO 2023-28 today (3rd October 2023), the proposed timeline for the above has been changed to “Timing driven by approaches from broadcasters”.
The latest update about the FM conversions for ABC’s AM services according to ACMA’s Draft FYSO 2024-29 released this morning revealed that the consultation for it has been pushed back to the back end of this year (Q4: Oct-Dec).
I see Maryborough (QLD) has popped up on the competitive licence areas where an AM station has expressed interest in converting. This can only mean 4FC (Radio TAB) is looking to convert to FM. Bit of a waste of FM in my opinion. They should look at getting a narrowcast licence and then sell off the commercial FM service (in my dreams to Breeze!). A commercial FM licence in a LAP with a population over 100,000 should still be worth something.
I think that’s basically all that’s needed to be said.
I’m sure officially they can’t blame it, but the SCA/ARN merger has a lot of impact in Perth’s competitive landscape - potentially changing the ownership of nearly all the FM stations in the market. It shows that despite the prospect of FM conversions, there’s demand to purchase FM stations in the market - all the more reason to just allow the conversions to proceed.
If the Perth FM conversions were to go ahead, it’s a good bet that Nova might buy the FM license of 6IX and launch Smooth on FM in Perth, considering ARN will soon have Triple M and 96FM post merger with SCA.
And Mix94.5, so 3 out of the 4 FM commercial stations in Perth owned by the same owner? But apparently this merger is still in play from a quick read now that I became aware of it. So much for media diversity.
Yes that’s my guess too. I guess it’s possible ACP could also take ARN’s 50% of Nova 93.7 giving them 1.5 stations in Perth. It’s a bit of a mess though like Brisbane, where Perth will end up with 3 of the 4 FMs all sounding the same (Hot AC/CHR).
Another option is ARN flip 96fm to Triple M as its current format is more Triple M. They might retain Mix and convert that to KIIS as they are similar. ACP would then have 929 as a Hit station.
I don’t believe ARN can just sell their 50% of Nova to another company. Nova Entertainment has first right to purchase the remaining share in the joint venture. I’m assuming it would be the same at KIIS97.3 Brisbane.
IMO, the easiest way to sort it would be trade the 50% share in KIIS97.3 for the 50% share in Nova93.7, making each company 100% owners of their respective branded stations.
Yes that’s quite possible those are the terms of the JV although we don’t know that for sure. DMG have a bit of leverage here though in that case as it’s ARN who want/need to change the arrangement.
That’s the thing though. Regardless of whether Nova wants it or not, ARN can make the offer to sell their share to them, but if Nova says no, then ARN can sell to someone else.