I can’t believe anyone would want a music station on AM.
Any audience who fondly remembers music on AM and who would welcome it would have to be 60+ and that’s probably being kind.
And for better or for worse, 60+ is not a demographic that’s sought by advertisers,
The music formats being suggested are best catered for on digital if there’s no interest on FM. Australia has a rotten track record on developing digital but other countries don’t and it will happen here… eventually.
I live in Canberra and only listen to 2CA on digital radio or streaming. The AM sounds terrible in comparison.
People suggesting music on AM like me are only seeing it as a supplement to DAB until DAB finally gains traction. You’re right it’s been a debacle but until it gains awareness a station that also has an AM frequency will have fairly significant advantage over a DAB only station.
The only mainstream (non DAB) station I listen to is 4KQ, and I only listen to them on DAB.
I think you misunderstand that it’s not “nostalgia” for music on AM. It’s the chance to provide a format (on DAB as well) that isn’t covered. Eg. There’s nothing like 4KQ currently on Melbourne radio - DAB or otherwise.
Similarly, in the case of Brisbane which only has Smooth on DAB, a station that plays easy listening on BOTH AM and DAB will have an advantage until DAB truly takes hold - which is little way away.
Oh and FYI I’m nowhere near 60 thank you very much. And if advertisers choose to ignore a 50yo earning well into 6 figures with the most disposable income I’ve ever had in my life then good luck to them 
They can continue to flog mobile phone plans to cash strapped 20 somethings LOL
@Brianc68 Well said Brian. If 60+ is not a demographic sought by advertisers then GB and AW must be in serious trouble! After all, isn’t most of their audience older right wing listeners? GB will fall in a heap when Jones and Hadley retire. I don’t know why we continue to comment on MSR. Like everything this company does it’s rubbish! I am well over 60 but would never listen to Macquarie rubbish on any of their stations.
I too, only listen to DAB+ mainstream and DAB+ only stations.
The fact is that an AM licence playing music in the metro markets will always struggle ratings wise and therefore financially as the only demographic who would tolerate music on AM are aged 55+ at best and from 2CH’s figures 65+. It’s no use pointing to 4KQ as an example for Sydney or Melbourne because it is the WSFM/Gold of Brisbane….there is no Classic Hits competitor there.
I think you’re missing the point entirely. There is no such thing as an “AM music station” in metro markets anymore. There are only AM/DAB music stations. Over time the AM becomes increasingly irrelevant as the majority listen via DAB.
Nobody needs to “tolerate” music on AM anymore and I think you’d find the majority of these “poor oldies” are in fact early adopters of DAB.
If you think 4KQ is anything at all like Gold/WS you need to take another listen. Gold/WS are more like 97.3
And in most regional solus markets, commercial AM stations, most of which are music-based, are in the process of converting to FM, particularly given that DAB+ rollout to regional Australia is still quite far away.
I’d rather listen to a great song on AM than an average song that’s beeen played to death on FM
And I’d rather listen to a song on AM than what is currently being broadcast on MSR
That is exactly the point… but we are nowhere near that stage of development. We should be, but we’re not. Commercial radio in particular has consistently stuffed up the rollout of DAB.
And while I acknowledge your point about AM/DAB combos, no one in the debate about turning 2UE in music station has mentioned digital as far as I can tell.
And I suspect, without any statistical proof, that oldies are NOT in the forefront of DAB adoption, at least none I know.
I certainly agree the implementation and adoption of DAB continues to be largely a debacle.
However I still think in places like Brisbane and Adelaide with strong AM/DAB music stations like KQ and Cruise, adoption of DAB amongst older demos is much higher. Of course I don’t have hard statistics to back it up, but for example both my local Post Office and doctors surgery run KQ on DAB - and they’re definitely in the older demographic. I stand by the early adopters assumption, my Post Office has been exclusively on DAB for YEARS - firstly on 4BH and now on KQ.
Regarding the discussion about turning the MSR stations (including 2UE) to a music format it’s pretty obvious people aren’t just talking about AM but also digital.
I’ll pay more attention when I’m out and about 
As for the debate, I certainly didn’t sense a digital aspect to it, but you know the forum and its members much better than I do.
True, 4KQ maintained an ageing audience while Gold 104.3 and WSFM evolved away from the Boomers and towards Gen X (although if you look at the latest ratings, Gold 104.3 has the widest appeal across all demographics of any commercial station, which perhaps says something about the appeal of 80s music.
The only music station demographically older than Gold is now Smooth, a down-tempo format. I would suggest nobody really knows what happens if you insert another station demographically older than Gold that is up-tempo. It’s also a big assumption music couldn’t work anymore at all on 1278 AM. In Adelaide, 1323 AM spent years in talk and sport (as Radio 1323, then 5DN, then SEN) before Cruise came along. The AM band in Melbourne also still hosts two of the city’s biggest stations - 3AW and ABC Radio Melbourne and the Smooth ratings indicate some of these listeners drift away from talk, especially in the PM, and listen to music.
And just because formats have been suggested here for Brisbane 882 and Melbourne 1278 doesn’t necessarily suggest Sydney 954 is suited to music. My last point was more that I think two years had been long enough to determine these three stations aren’t necessarily a matching combo and might be better to all go off in different programming directions.
MSR drive co-hosts David Schwarz and Mark Allen have re-signed with the station for two more years.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/the-score-is-kevin-bartlett-leaving-radio-station-sen/news-story/659247480575acb6c42cef10ae10e888
Two years? That could be up to nine different formats.
2 years? Quite ambitious.
I wonder if MML brings back Magic would David Schwarz and Mark Allen do agree to do drive on Magic"
How would David and Mark know if MSR be still be around in 2 years according to the latest radio ratings which is about 0.4 in Melbourne?
MML won’t bring back Magic.
A new owner of the licence would be needed for that, the current incompetents don’t know how to save face, admit their failings.
They probably only re-signed the two drive announcers to block SEN from their “expansion”.
I’d say MML would be a little scared at the speed of SEN right now.
Who knows where they’ll appear next.
I wonder if MML would consider a joint venture with SEN?
Melborne would be a problem but Sydney and Brisbane would work nicely as SEN network stations.
Melbourne MSR would become SEN2 allowing 3MP to return to music.
What’d be best is if MML sold MSR to SEN.
Put some passion back into the network.