Nine Radio (Music)

Great article on Radioinfo from Brad Smart on Macquarie Sports Radio’s future.

https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/fair-go-sport-macquarie-needs-goal

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A rather short article then? :wink:

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I am tipping that article is being too optimistic about MSR’s prospects. At best, MSR should be concentrated toward being just a Sydney station, allowing it to go NRL-heavy (just as SEN is AFL-heavy in Melbourne). This would allow the programming to have depth and cease this futile mindset of being a ‘companion’ station to 2GB, defining the station only by what 2GB doesn’t provide (That mindset failed 2UE Talking Lifestyle and the early signs are that it serves MSR even worse). It’s sister stations on 882 in Brisbane and 1278 in Melbourne can still carry any live sport from MSR. Live sport need only be appointment time programming - it doesn’t necessarily require a 24/7 sports format to facilitate it. I’ve already got a one sentence working title and strategy for Melbourne’s 1278 - call it BIG 1278 - a big lifetime of memories. Copy and paste 4KQ’s playlist and hit play. Maybe even recruit Red Symons for a key shift of entertainment and you’ll quickly have a station with a rebuilt profile. 882 is a different approach again, though one that perhaps ties into either some networking with 1278 or even Sydney’s 2CH to keep it afloat - call it 4BH 882 - Brisbane’s Mellow Music. Again, by doing those things that’ll quickly rebuild a station profile. Their biggest problem is getting beyond thinking they can let their network be finance-driven with a one format, three cities approach. It ain’t working and I cannot see how it will.

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Completely agree with you about the Brisbane and Melbourne stations. Melbourne needs a 4KQ station and Brisbane needs a Smooth station. Simples :slight_smile:

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Good call about using Red on a music format 1278. In fact, borrowing part of the name of a station in the USA, I’d call in ‘Blue 1278’ with TV promos along the lines of “Red… on Blue 1278”.

Plus you’ve got Grubby and Dee Dee in the Macquarie stables, who could easily gain a share of audience if they returned to a music format station.

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Bring back Magic and 4BH as music stations then bring back 2UE as what it was meant to be… lighter talk but NOT commercial talk.

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Magic 1278 with Grubby and Dee on breakfast and Red Symonds on Drive or Mornings would shoot quite high I would have thought with a 60-80’s music mix. A bit like BBC Radio 2. Could network it to Brisbane if must, and flip 2UE back to a proper talk station.

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Bring back an owner with vision and not these idiots within MRN.

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I nominated BIG 1278 as a working title (whether that would pass market testing is another matter) based on there being a station called BIG 100 in Washington DC (Classic rock) and there used to be a retro beats format called KBIG in Los Angeles (which ended in 2007 as LA stations - KBIG and KYSR - shuffled formats at the same time). More importantly than what you call it is that you do rebrand and reboot. The 4KQ style memories format is a generational shift from the old Magic and that’s as it needs to be. You’ll always have a 55+ demo gap for a music based 1278 to service as the 6 FMers can’t seem to resist all chasing the middle ground in their own ways (even Nova are leaning in old Sokol now while Sam Smith is the promotional face of Smooth - to give two examples). Those personalities mentioned are by no means the only options but they are very good ones - the 3AW stable is a pretty full house at the moment. But I would suggest a more mellow 882 in Brisbane compared with a jukebox 1278 in a Melbourne even if you have shared personality and share voice tracks etc. And no sport at all on 882 (Brisbane being such a low market for talk radio that 4BC is better to be a feed for both MSR Sydney and 2GB).

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Sadly they’ve dismantled 2UE and if there’s one thing they won’t do, they won’t bring it back. MSR really needs to be a very Sydney station and 2GB needs to give it some viable ground by splitting its NRL coverage with its other station. Probably by limiting 2GB footy to just the afternoons, 1pm to 6pm and give MSR some territory of its own. Had they done things closer to properly, shows like Pete Graham’s would have also moved to 2GB, leaving the sports channel to cover the sport.

And spend substantial money on external marketing, the dills at MRN don’t seem to get the message on this.

This is the regulatory failure. Legislators should empower ACMA to ‘space’ the stations apart, get involved in format control again.

It needs to be sold to a new owner with vision and deep pockets to create the right format specifically for the Sydney market.

This is MRN’s short sightedness, they think one format fits three markets. Wrong. Same idiotic thinking besetting Nova, SCA, ARN and so on.

Pete Graham can always resurrect his show via alternative means once he’s had enough time off and should he have that desire. MRN’s sat is not the only way to distribute live audio and there’s plenty of regional stations to take the program on same terms or less.

I have to disagree. I don’t think the regulator in Australia has ever had the power to determine formats. Nor should they. They always have been and should be commercial decisions. However incorrect they frequently turn out to be.

I can’t believe that in the UK commercial stations have to have their formats approved by Ofcom. And even a minor change needs to go through a process of public consultation then government agency decision making. Yikes.

Moving to 2CH would have been a better move, but of course, Pete Graham would have to be in the mood.

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At least ARN demonstrate you can share talent across varied formats (KIIS a different playlist to Brisbane’s 97.3 or Adelaide’s Mix. Of course ARN are not perfect as their handling of Perth’s 96FM demonstrates.

Axing Pete Graham was rather short-sighted if there’s a possibility that MSR’s very low rated Melbourne and Brisbane signals have to retreat to mainly music. 4BH, if revived, could take select programs from 2GB such as George and Paul, Sunday Lifestyle and a revived Pete Graham (or very similar), giving 4BC time to share NRL content with a Sydney-focused MSR. While in Melbourne, a revived music format on 1278 could take the bulk of Cricket commitments off 3AW over the summer, which would them also be simulcast on Sydney’s MSR and Brisbane’s 4BC. Such an interwoven approach to programming necessarily ends thinking about Macquarie as two separate networks. It’s replacing top-down strategic thinking that’s failing to translate into the real world by tapping into genuine market gaps.

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Maybe 1278 could take AFL matches from 5AA and 6PR, to take a bit of burden off 3AW during footy season.

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If Only The Ownership for Commercial Radio Stations in Sydney and Melbourne are Beefed to Three, SEN and MSR would become One Network and 1278 will Convert an Easy Classics Station like 2CH,

That would still require one station to be divested - since Macquarie own 3AW and 3EE (Macquarie Sports Radio) and Pacific Star/Crocmedia own both 3AK (SEN) and 3MP (Classic Rock Radio)

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A month later, and still MSR are going with “All Sports, All the tim” as their slogan.

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If MSR fails, maybe they can go to All Tim Radio. Nothing but announcers and presenters named Tim. Sponsored by Arnott’s Tim Tams.

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