Probably as late as possible, but then again, who is actually listening to Magic these days to even notice?
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So heās on 3AW as well as Talking Lifestyle (1278)?
And on 4BC apparently.
It would have been good if there was a syndicate of Leo Laporteās āThe Tech Guyā from KFI because thatās about 3 hours of Tech talk!
I love the idea of syndicating some US talk radio shows over here and there are plenty of US lifestyle shows which could be good filler content on Talking Lifestyle, but the problem more than anything else is the timezone difference for pretty much any show which could work over here.
At this time of year, Leoās show runs 6am-9am Sunday & Monday Sydney timeā¦thereās just no way most talk stations would run syndicated US content in breakfast on Monday, and very unlikely Sunday for that matter too. At the other end of the year itās arguably worse at 4am-7amā¦what station in its right mind would spend money on a fairly expensive US show and dump it in overnights?
Of course, you could do away with the idea of having Australian listeners call in live and run the show on delay (say, in the afternoon or early evening). Could be difficult to get Australian talk radio listeners used to the idea that they canāt call in to a call-in show though, especially with Leoās show where he actively solicits for international callers. Leoās show is unusual among the lifestyle talk shows in the US that, while it is run on delay in many markets just like most lifestyle talk shows, no provision is made for callers from those markets. A few other shows (Dave Ramseyās financial advice show and Bill Handelās weekend legal show are probably the best examples) take details of callers outside live show hours and arrange to either call some of them back during the live show (Ramsey) or pre-record some calls and slot them in to the live show (Handel).
Personally, Iād love to see Rush Limbaugh get a run out here, but the 2am-5am Tuesday-Saturday timeslot in our winter and 4am-7am in our summer poses the same logistical problemsā¦and while delaying it is an option (if Rush would even allow itā¦heās been very picky about not letting most affiliates delay his show) so much can (and often does) change in the news between recording it and running it later in the day that it would be difficult. Iāve lost count of the number of times Iāve listened to the podcast of Rushās show in the afternoon Australian time and the news has changed significantly in the few hours since the show went to air.
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I think the point Trevor is making is that he is on over 30 stations a week but not all at the same time. His Talking Lifestyle nightly show goes out on what was 2UE and also, from later this month, on what was Magic in Brisbane and Melbourne. He is a regular contributor to 4BC and 3AW shows (and 2GB too?) but doesnāt have a specific show on those stations
he does a 3 minute segment weekly on kofm breakfast in newcastle
Russell Tateās statement confirms that effectively the money comes first and the listeners second. In other words theyāre prepared to lose listeners if the money is still coming in. As Macquarie is ultimately a commercial operation and not the ABC, what he says is no great surprise and there will be cost savings from closing down Magic and simulcasting across 3 stations (there has been no mention of any local optouts for Brisbane and Melbourne) - but obviously if listening levels drop too low, that does start to impact on earnings as advertisers and sponsors become reluctant to buy airtime.
I think if they were going to sell 2UE, they would have done so at the beginning rather than selling 2CH. They would probably have found it easier to sell 2UE and would have got more money for it. Despite 2UE having been in the doldrums in recent years, it still has a semi-iconic status attached to it as Australiaās oldest commercial station. I doubt Macquarie would want to see anyone else getting hold of it. They might be happier to sell off 882 Brisbane and 1278 Melbourne in due course.
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I used to watch the tip of Leoās show when it ended at 7AM and sometimes he would tweet that he was pre recording the show and he would have people call in.
I think Leoās show was on a Brisbane FM station at one stage??
It seems a weekly show on 3AW and those regional stations.
It will be interesting what comes of overnights when 1278 becomes Talking Lifestyle at the end of the month. Does this mean that Moclair and Pearsall remain on 3AW or make the switch. I guess this means that Michael McLaren will also be heard in Melbourne. And how will Melbourne listeners take to John & Garry, might be like a breath of fresh air!!
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Logical thing would be for Moclair and Pearsall to make the switch and for Michael McLaren/2GB overnights to appear on 3AW. This would leave Nightline sitting slightly uncomfortably between Steve Price and Michael McLaren. If Nightline wasnāt so Melbourne-centric, it might have been possible to move it over to Talking Lifestyle and thereby have the full 4 hours of Steve Price on 3AW. However, I donāt see Nightline working in the Sydney and Brisbane markets and as far as I know, there are no plans for local optouts and hence no possibility of Nightline just being on 1278 Melbourne
As you know my personal preference is to have Moclair and Pearsall stay just in Melbourne but I guess this aint going to happen. Whether Melbourne overnight listeners will be able to find 1278 is another thing I guess but one thing is for certain Michael McLaren wonāt put up with the lonely hearts club brigade sending cheerios to one another, prayers and so on.
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Michael McLaren would be quite a culture shock for the long-standing overnight 3AW listeners. Certainly the first night heās on 3AW would be an entertaining listen! Such a change would make Nightline increasingly stand out like a sore thumb. I think its days must be numbered now
Hopelly MRN will announce the full details next week ie new name, if they keeping the magic name or not full programming line up
Iād be very surprised if the name was anything other than Talking Lifestyle. Thatās what 2UE has morphed into over recent months.
It could force Phillip Brady into retirement and his legion of fans wonāt be happy.
The key to 3AWās ratings success over the years has been the amount of locally made programs. Why should Macquarie subject 3AW listeners to shows broadcast from Sydney from 7pm to 5.30am on weekdays?
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I donāt disagree with you but sadly and perhaps inevitably the general direction of travel at Macquarie is towards increased cost savings through networking. Iām sure it wonāt have gone unnoticed by management that Steve Priceās return to 3AW hasnāt been a disaster for the ratings. Why then have a different show on 3AW after 10 when you can have the same show as 2GB, save money and maintain respectable ratings? Playing Devilās Advocate with that but if I were a senior Macquarie manager looking to deliver further savings, it would be the kind of question I would be asking.
He generally will stay back for an hour or so taking calls when he has holidays coming up. That way they can build some pre-taped shows which can air while he is away. His absences usually result in a few weekends of pre-taped shows, a couple live shows hosted by his home theatre expert, and some ābest ofā shows during extended absences.
Not sure about it being on a Brisbane FM station. Could have beenā¦canāt say I was aware of it. I do recall when he visited Australia a few years back and did his shows for a weekend from a radio station in Tasmania. They didnāt take the show, but granted use of their studio space.
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If 3AW starts taking 2GBās overnights, I think 6PR wonāt be far behind (whether they join in progress at midnight local time or from the start of the show at 9/10pm) with the added benefit from a Macquarie management perspective that they could run some of Alan Jones live in to 6PR and charge a bit more for Alanās live reads. Alanās feature editorial and interview of the morning runs 7am-7:30am, so if 6PR stuck around for that they could still start a local breakfast show at 5:30.
What 6PR would use to fill the gigantic 10 minute top and bottom of hour breaks is anyoneās guess thoughā¦some news obviously for some of it with commercials filling the rest, but with the first one being at 5:30am Sydney time and that equating to 2:30am or 3:30am in Perth depending on the time of year, I canāt see the Perth newsroom producing a bulletin at the bottom of each hour in the middle of the night. Maybe they could use the national prefeed (3 minutes) and/or the morning rural news (4 minutes) which are both Macquarie Sydney productions and wouldnāt be out-of-place during an Alan Jones break.
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