Interesting story: 4BH used to be owned by DMG (NE’s predecessor) back in the early 2000s before selling it to SCB (later Fairfax, now MRN) after they purchased the 91.1 Sunshine Coast licence (now Hot 91, currently owned by Grant). During DMG’s ownership, 4BH used to rate around 7-9% in the overall ratings (this was before Nova 106.9 came on air, mind you). From what I gather, 4BH’s music format during DMG’s ownership isn’t that much different to what Smooth is sounding like today.
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I guess the past six months of ratings highlights that the Rove and Sam Show could probably work. In Dubbo.
It’s a worry for 2DayFM. Rove costs a fortune. Behind Alan and Kyle / Jackie O he would have to receive the next biggest pay packet in Sydney breakfast radio. And to be levelling out at a 3 per cent. It was a bizarre experiment in bland for a Top 40 station. Rove and Sam would have to be the only show in history to have more billboards than listeners.
2DayFM are learning that Top 40 is not just about the music. It’s also about the breakfast shift. And they have the 6 - 9am shift so so so so wrong.
I reckon Sydney’s most underrated station at breakfast would have to be 2UE. So listenable but it’s just not getting the ratings.
Nova should look at JJJ. Combine JJJ’s alternative music with the Top 40 stuff. And beef up the news service. Actually start from scratch. Start all over again.
And KIIS in Sydney and Melbourne really need to ditch Ryan Seacrest. It does not rate and is gawd-damn awful radio. If they had an Top 40 show with and edgy host and live calls from listeners they could build up some talent and offer something different of a night. Nights with Ryan is holding both stations back.
Gotta love ratings day!
They don’t have Ryan Seacrest at 7pm. It’s The Thinkergirls.
Not much comment on the big ratings mover - ABC Classic FM knocks off Magic 1278 - overall, breakfast and in the 65+ age group. Surely the launch of Baroque 1278 is only weeks away…
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I can see the competition getting fierce
Ryan is on for 2 hours from 9pm. It is the most painful two hours on Sydney Radio (apart from anything on 2SM).
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How much of that show is Ryan, though? Last time I swept the band on KIIS, there were three or four songs before each talk break. Considering that’s condensed from the four hour long KIIS-FM LA breakfast show, that can’t be many breaks being played out in AUS.
[quote=“nickatnights, post:22, topic:1117”]
Nova should look at JJJ. Combine JJJ’s alternative music with the Top 40 stuff. And beef up the news service. [/quote]
That’s what I’ve been saying since they started making changes a couple of years ago and going in the wrong direction.
They start playing some good stuff that Triple J does like The Rubens, Hilltop Hoods, Troye Sivan, Birds of Tokyo, Disclosure or Haim but they often drop them after a couple of weeks and go back to playing the same 20 songs every two hours.
They need a wider playlist and keep some of those good tracks even if they don’t ride high in the chart.
The problem is that neither Sydney or Melbourne is big enough for 3 Top 40 stations.
In the last few surveys we are fairly consistently seeing 2 of those 3 stations being the 2 lowest rating commercial FMs in those markets.
I agree. Although I really can’t see SCA or Nova changing the format of 2DayFM/Fox FM or Nova 96.9/100.3 anytime soon, if only because they’d naturally want stations in Sydney and Melbourne to be the flagship stations for a wider network.
Very good results (or increases) for Hamish & Andy on DRIVE 
They might win every market next survey, except Sydney!
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Neil Mitchell, Denis Walter & Tom Elliott thanked AW listeners for the big ratings today.
Steve Price also thanked Melbourne & Sydney listeners on AW & 2gb
IMO this is what Nova 96.9 / 100 need to do to sound different in their respective markets.
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Cut the repetiton - I can tolerate the hits being repeated every 4 hours not ever three hours during the work day and ever 2 hours on the weekend.
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Nova needs to go much hotter in their playlist and play more dance and alternative music.
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Donot play the same throw backs as 2day fm and kiis. Examples of great throw backs that could be played are:
Unfinished Symphonay - Massive Attack
Come as you - Nirvana
Where’s your head - Basement Jaxx
Crush - Pendulum
Praise You / Weapon of Choice / Rockfellow Skank / gangster Trippin - Fatboy Slim
Shooting Star - Bag Raiders -
No more Secret Sound ever!!!
Give away a house something that has not been done before -
On Saturday nights don’t start your dance music shows at 10pm, start them at 6pm when 2day and KIIS are. At present you are repeating the Same songs you played leading up to 6pm again and again up to 10pm then you start your dance / RNB specialty shows.
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Drop … Fresh hits slogan and return to “Sounds Different” with the hybrid top 40 / alternative playlist.
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Find new talent to eventually replace Fitzy and Wippa who are struggling.
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Stop trying to be a KIIS / 2day / Fox clone.
The fresh slogan isn’t bad but the content doesn’t match. When you play the same song every two hours, that’s not keeping it fresh. 
In the last few weeks, they had started to move away from putting “entertainment news” in the news bulletins which was a good move in my opinion. After the ratings came out yesterday, they went back to putting a different entertainment story in each news break and trying to pass it off with “news”.
A big problem is that the stories they choose have often been online for days so are not “news” and they are often factually incorrect.
This morning’s news bulletin story ran a story about Chris Hemsworth rewarding a kid with $10,000 for returning his lost wallet. The story appeared online yesterday, on Entertainment Tonight yesterday afternoon and The Project last night. Chris actually appeared on the Ellen show and met the kid. He let him keep the money in it and gave him some extra. It was Ellen that gave him the $10,000 for his education. Old news and reported incorrectly on Nova again.
I suppose Nova have to ask two quesitons
“What did we do in 2001 that took us to No.1 and pushed 2DayFM down in the ratings?”
“Can we repeat this in 2016?”
And I agree about the entertainment news. It is just tacky. JJJ have no - none - nada - zilch - entertainment news and this is resonating with the younger demos.
From what I remember when Nova launched in April 2001 2day fm was a completely different station to after Nova launched. The playlist was quite stale and they were still playing the same safe 80’s 90’s and 2000 hits. Also the morning crew had been weakened after Peter Moon left.
When Nova launched they had the no more then 2 adds in a row policy, and the music was great with alternative tracks only heard at the time on the J’s from Powerfinger, Shaggy, Daft Punk, the Gerg, Dandy Wallhogs plus the current top 40 to appeal to everyone. Nova also had a superior news service headed by Paul Murray.
2day fm lost the number one fm position to Nova and instantly went younger. They sacked Wendy Harmer and the morning crew and replaced them with Judith Lucy. They did not rate and allowed Merrick and Rosso to cement the 1# fm breakfast show that then setup the station up to be 1# overall.
It was only when Kyle and Jacki O moved to breakfast that allowed 2day fm to go 1#
After this Nova changed their format to be a copy of 2day fm and now KIIS / 2day
Going more alternative in their playlist will not give them the 1# fm, this probably will not happen until they find some new talent to replace Fitzy and Wippa and Kyle and Jacki O retire. What it will do is make them sound different from the other CHR’s in Sydney and Melboure and take a couple of share points of Triple J that would move them for a 6 to a 8 to what WS rates in Sydney.
I am 99% sure that Peter Moon left the morning crew after Merrick and Rosso had negatively impacted on 2DayFM’'s breakfast ratings. It was a knee-jerk reaction that weakened the 2DayFM breakfast ratings even more.
That is correct Moon left in 2002 due to tension with Harmer. They then replaced him with Greg Fleet.
The morning crew was axed in 2003.