popular K&J may have been but they were toxic to the work environment and too restrictive on the licence conditions. Said it before, will say it again, SCA is better off without them.
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As a shareholder in SCA I miss Kyle and Jackie O. Admittedly I did not have to work with Kyle (and from many reports he is toxic) but I appreciated the $1.80 share price.
Mind you when they announced they were jumping ship to ARN I did not sell my shares.
Now whenever I see a poster for Kyle and Jackie O on a bus shelter a little tear will form in my right eye. When I see an poster for Rove and Sam tears flood from both eyes.
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So does anyone have any thoughts on what 2Day FM will do? Another result with not really much changing. Will they move to an âall hit musicâ breakfast format? Considering that itâs doing wonders for Smooth having more music. Or will we continue with Rove and Sam or will they put in another new breakfast show?
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A âhitâ breakfast show comes along once a decade. From 1975 until 2016 Sydney as had only a few high rating breakfast shows that lasted for years. Ian McRae(1970s) , Doug Mulray (1980s), Wendy Harmer and Peter Moon (1990s) and then Kyle and Jackie O (much of the last thirteen years).
Others have been No.1 for a shorter period of time - Rik Melbourne (early 80s) / Merrick and Rosso (2001)
When you have the formula that tops the ratings I think the lesson is to hang on to it with everything.
Maybe 2DayFM should go all music at breakfast. Three years in the wilderness is too long to keep looking for the new No.1
Maybe the magic canât be found or created.
Personally, I agree that 2DayFM should try an âAll Hit Music Breakfastâ type show (but obviously have a presenter in the studio to break things up a bit + regular news/traffic/weather updates, like Smooth have with their music-dominant breakfast shift) if Rove & Sam continue their lacklustre ratings. Would be a very good point of difference from KIIS and Nova at that time of morning I think.
If SCA really want to stick with a personality-driven breakfast show for 2DayFM, I think they need to try some talent thatâs completely new to the Sydney radio market (surely there has to be some talent at SCA stations in smaller metro markets or regional areas who want to make it big in Sydney?) and build a completely new program from scratch. Afterall, Kyle & Jackie O were not the household names in Sydney they are now when K&JO first started presenting breakfast radio in this cityâŚ
Maybe my suggestions wonât work, but (despite reassurances by 2DayFM/SCA management they would be âin it for the long runâ) none of 2DayFMâs breakfast shows since 2014 have worked either.
If Rove & Sam continue their rather disappointing ratings, knowing the SCA Hit Networkâs love for The Bachelor/The Bachelorette, the 2DayFM breakfast show in 2017 will probably be hosted by Richie Strahan and Georgia Love! 
At least Georgia has some sort of media experience. Unlike Sam.
They donât need a new #1. Not immediately, anyway. The thing is in just over two months time, the show will be 12 months old, and the numbers are no better than when Dan & Maz were on.
Yes, Dan & Maz had lower numbers in some books, but they were able to pull a 3.9 in one of their last surveys, and theyâre also a much cheaper show than Rove & Sam
A show that can pull a consistent 6 or 7% share is enough, especially if you can build and grow the show & audience.
A show that pulls a consistent 3% share just isnât good enough, especially given the money theyâre throwing at it.
You would imagine a more music breakfast show would at least be able to pull a 3% share.
They should have tried for Karl Stefanovic when he was re-negotiating with Nine. He may not have gone for it, but thatâs your potential new #1.
I canât really think of many others who would be able to give K&J a run right off the batâŚ
Youâd think an open spot in Sydney breakfast would be the perfect time to slot one of their many, many shows from across the country in. Iâm pretty sure Stav, Abby & Osher, or Heidi, Wil & Woody, could probably have pulled 3âs in Sydney too⌠And maybe could have done even better, considering theyâre⌠You know⌠Established radio teams with plenty of experience in a major marketâŚ
I actually do think Rove & Sam have potential⌠But in a âgo and spend two years on the Central Coast or the Gold Coast and then come backâ kinda way⌠The problem with Sydney is with that kind of breakfast team, you have to be prepared to play a really, really, long game - to the point where you may not see any real success until K&J go away. I donât think thatâs what 2DAY want to do.
The other problem is that Sydney brings with it a HUGE amount of pressure and accountability. On the Central or Gold Coast, you have a lot more ability to experiment, and find your âgrooveâ or your chemistry. You can make mistakes without as much consequence, whilst having more freedom to do the show you want to do.
You can get comfortable with each other, comfortable with radio, comfortable with what the show is.
In Sydney itâs much harder to do because youâve got a team of Producers and a PD and Group PD all having their say and putting huge amounts of pressure on. And the stakes are so much higher - every mistake has huge consequences, and 2DAY are already dealing with their license sanctions from K&JâŚ
Galey, Ross & Charli could have been a good one for Sydney. I think Charli would do well on a Sydney breakfast show. Even Kristie Mercer. SCA had and still do have some great talent, there just doesnât seem to be anyone there who knows how to a) retain it, and b) manage it into the right places.
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On a slightly different note who would have won the ratings if all the following breakfast shows were on air at the sane time? If this was the line up in 2016 who would be No.1?
- KIIS: Kyle and Jackie O
- 2DayFM: Wendy Harmer and Peter Moon
- Triple M: Uncle Doug
- Nova: Merrick and Rosso
- WSFM: Ian McRae
My money would be on The Morning Crew (Wendy and Peter) or Doug Mulray.
What about James Kerley and Dave Lawson? They had amazing chemistry on Nickelodeon back in old days haha
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Depends if youâre talking âin their primeâ or right now.
If comparing all at their prime, I think thatâd be a very competitive (and very good) Sydney radio market.
If comparing them all now (that is K&J now versus Harmer & Moon coming back on the airwaves in 2016) I think that would be a different story.
I meant if all the shows were in their prime. It would be great competition. All very good but all very different.
It also got me to thinking. Kyle and Jackie O are a very different style of show to the other No.1 breakfast shows. K&J are not really into comedy. No skits. Wendy and Peter, Doug and the others were partly based around comedy sketches. K&J really just âchatâ for a few hours each morning. With each other, celebrities and open line callers.
I am not too sure what Sam and Rove are as a show. I think they are going for the âfriends to wake up withâ genre. It does not quite work. Mind you, Sam is sounding better and better each week. Rove sounds the same as he did at the beginning of the year - a talented television personality who now works in radio.
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I think thatâs their problem.
Theyâre trying too hard to be relatable, and the fact is theyâre not really. Rove would do better talking about celebrities heâs chatted to or hung out with, or giving us a glimpse behind the scenes of television or radioâŚ
Instead we get another show of two people on stupid amounts of money pretending theyâre relatable.
To be honest, I think if you put a great male anchor a la Byron Cooke, Dan Anstee, Ed Cavalee, Tim Blackwell⌠It would lift that show hugely.
Iâm not sure what 2DAYâs aversion to doing that isâŚ
Which is weird considering Melb & Bris both have announcers as part of their show and they also both have 3 co-hosts as of this year.
Sydney seem to be struggling along with just 2 rather than trying to find the right mix to compliment both Rove & Sam.
I hope theyâre in it for the long haul.
thinking about it, a funny anchor would help that show
No. They are very literally worse off without them.
no theyâre not. Ask any staff member of 2Day how they feel these days - itâs like a weight lifted off their shoulders. Itâs a much more positive environment to work at.
From the perspective of how the work environment is at 2DayFM these days, itâs probably better now than it was three years ago not just because of K&JO (who during their time at 2DayFM had their fair share of scandals with the now infamous lie detector stunt and On-Air insults, etc.), but also because you have to remember that 2DayFM and indeed the SCA Network as a whole was going through the immediate aftermath of the âRoyal Prank Callâ scandal at the time.
However from a ratings and revenue perspectiveâŚwell thatâs another story. I canât imagine that network management is particularly happy about how at the moment, more Sydneysiders are listening to 92.9 ABC Classic FM (of all stations!) than 104.1 2DayFM!
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In reality Mark, that means jack-shit to the investors and the profit sheets.
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in even more reality Mike, if you donât have a good work environment youâre not going to attract the best staff members and retain the ones there for any length of time. Itâs not all about money mate⌠people need to come first. And SCA are starting to realise it.
I would vote for Kyle and Jackie O there. They have really stood the test of time and the fact that they were able to take most of their audience with them from 2Day to KIIS speaks volumes.
I think Doug Mulray would have found it much tougher in todayâs market, as he was on when there were only 2 commercial FMs (and no such thing as podcasts or iPods for competiton either). And I donât know that his persona and image would have worked on a âhitâ music breakfast show, he would have had to be on Triple M still these days, or maybe WS.
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