Get rid of the “canned laughter” and they may have fewer people flicking to other stations at 6.35am. It’s very American but it does not work in Australia. It takes the warmth out of the show.
The other stations that offer comedy at breakfast do not have this type of forced laughter - including KIIS, Nova and, of course, 2GB.
Kate, Tim and Marty, Hughesy and Kate and Hamish and Andy all have success without the need for a laugh every 17 seconds.
Less fake laughs can move 2DayFM’s cumulative audience into a higher quarter hour shares if fewer people hit the change station switch.
But we’ve established it’s not canned laughter but an annoying team member in the studio. With three team members there now, there should be little reason to have another team member’s microphone switched on all the time especially if he is uncontrollably laughing at everything and anything.
Not totally sure. He’s a producer of some sorts but it was very annoying during Em & Harley and it’s carried over to this show. He really doesn’t need to be there especially when he doesn’t even talk! So I’m not sure why his mic is on.
I’m fairly certain that Christian Hull has been moved onto working on the Carrie & Tommy show now based on all his behind the scenes posts on their social accounts the past week or so.
Essentially he’s a a digital producer for the network and contributes on-air sometimes.
Can confirm that Christian Hull is a Digital Producer and hasn’t worked on the show since July.
The mysterious laughter in the studio is Ben Wasley, the Melbourne panel operator for the show. He was also Hamish and Andy’s first panel op- they nicknamed him Giggling Ben.
I must admit I have simplified it to “radio must be relevant to its audience, and for most people that means local and live”. I would’ve thought that applied equally to Sydneysiders and Melburnians, as to any other licence area. (I got that from a few years back when I was working in Gippsland and TRFM had an ex-soapie actor as its breakfast host. NRL state of origin was happening and the actor prattled on about for a few days - the radios at work switched to StarFM.).
Are Melburnians more demanding and tougher at assessing of relevance? - I’ll take your guidance. Clearly amping up the relevance (ie we have an ex-AFL player on our brekky crew at MelbFM) is an absolutely legitimate competitive tactic (and also is part of the game of demonstrating a competitor is not relevant to listeners). I think the major hole in the 2DAY line up, is will Sydneysiders consider a bunch of Melburnians relevant. One possibly forgivable, two maybe not.
In terms of other differences, please tell me what else, as I like your different opinions and it helps me learn. BTW I assume you are not talking agency v direct advertising (for which I assume agency portion is higher in Sydney).
I think a big problem 2Day FM Breakfast currently has (and did last year) is broadcasting the show from Melbourne. THEY NEED TO BROADCAST A SYDNEY BREAKFAST SHOW FROM SYDNEY!!!
Took a look at the 2Day FM stream, and they seem to not be doing the nights as CHR now?
The log from their recently played + listening to it a bit, so probably goes back to ~12:20am 17/1/18
Cry Me A River - Justin Timberlake
Opposites Attract - Paula Abdul Feat. The Wild Pair
Beautiful Trauma - Pink
Real World - Matchbox 20
The Way I Are - Timbaland Feat. Keri Hilson And D.O.E.
Take My Breath Away - Berlin
Friends - Justin Bieber Feat. Bloodpop
Cats In The Cradle - Ugly Kid Joe
Suga Suga - Baby Bash
They certainly aren’t afraid of jumping all over the place, the song labels came up a bit before the song started, so I had about 30 seconds to prepare myself for the Bieber to Ugly Kid Joe transition.
I love Real World by Matchbox 20 but that’s the second time they played it in 12 hours. I hope they have added more than a couple of dozen songs from the 80s and 90s or this is going to get very boring - very quickly.
With all due respect, radio being ‘live and local’ is a different argument to ‘the demographics are the same so Melbourne is the same’. Overall, good content is what makes successful radio.
Gippsland is a different market again. Regional stations tend to need to be even more local, especially those that have crossover with other markets. Each radio market around the country is unique, even though there may be evident similarities between some. Sydney and Melbourne are not the same market, even if the demographics are the same.
I 100% agree - though not in a Melbourne way. Having lived in both markets, I feel Sydney-siders are much more forgiving of Melbournians on their radio as long as the content is still relevant whilst Melbournians would be much quicker to turn off a Sydney-based show because it’s based in Sydney regardless of content.
As far as I can tell, the local content could be the struggle as it seems the 2DAY breakfast guys couldn’t get any info about Sydney train delays…
Been listening online, don’t mind the vibe they have at the moment with the change in music… I have also noticed that I am yet to hear any commercials… Are they not playing any??
