I was actually about to note the only other time 2BL/ABC had a greater share was in 1966.
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Absolutely agree. Smooth isnât the same station it was, not by a long shot. Used to love it but every time I switch on these days it seems like theyâre playing âMurder on the dance floorâ by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. UGH!!! Itâs become awful and has none of the originality it used to have.
Why would they mess with it?
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A couple of my observations:
- 4KQ is solidly flogging 97.3, B105 and particularly 4MMM. When will one of the FMâs realise thereâs an opportunity here?
- 4MMM in particular is not resonating anymore
- But itâs not as bad as 6MMM, what a complete disaster! The switch has probably been a failure considering 96FM and Nova are close to or in front of Mix 94.5, and Triple M has bombed.
- Smooth is holding up in Sydney but I predict a downward trend given the changes to the music.
- Are they really happy with where Triple M are in Sydney and Melbourne?
- 4BH given a glimmer of hope with 3% but now theyâre going to disrupt that again with the frequency swap to 1116.
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Smooth has continually gone down in the ratings since Survey 3, in which they were at 10.8% & its share had gradually declined since then. The biggest drop occurred between Surveys 4 & 5, in which they went from 10% to 8.4%.
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I feel that smooth is becoming like WSFM - if I tune in today or in exactly three years from today - they will be playing the same music. For a while, smooth was also surprise FM. Now itâs more same-sameFM or safeFM.
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While 2GB will be happy with their ratings across the board, 25.7% between 7pm and midnight was a particularly incredible result. Makes you wonder what John Stanley might receive in a higher profile timeslot.
Interesting to see that the ratings of WSFM breakfast remained steady while their ratings fell during other timeslots. Given that the last TVC campaign was centred around Jonesy & Amanda (with those brilliant dolls ads), this would suggest that WSFM may benefit from a more generic, music-centric based TVC campaign in the near future to win over those disenfranchised Smooth listeners.
At the risk of flogging a dead horse, those Nova ratings are tragic. If improvements arenât made there soon, theyâll become the next 2DayFM!
Like most people, Iâm genuinely surprised that the ratings of 2DayFM actually increased (not by much, but still) across the board. Is it enough to give Hughesy, Ed & Erin another year on-air though? 
While certainly not the worst example of Early 2000s pop music, that isnât really a Smooth FM song! 
Probably something to do with wanting a younger demographic.
Itâs stupid though. Smooth FMâs music format changes are only likely to benefit WSFM/Gold, 2UE/Magic, 3MP and maybe 2CH (whoâve gone up during the latest DAB+ survey, makes you wonder how theyâd be rating now if still on 1170AM) in the long run.
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Letâs have a look at the ratings trend for Smooth 95.3 in the 40-54s & the 25-39s since the beginning of this year.
40-54s
S1/2021: 12.1%
S2/2021: 10.0%
S3/2021: 14.0%
S4/2021: 10.0%
S5/2021: 5.1%
S6/2021: 6.9%
25-39s
S1/2021: 9.7%
S2/2021: 9.8%
S3/2021: 9.6%
S4/2021: 9.4%
S5/2021: 7.7%
S6/2021: 7.2%
Mirroring the overall ratings drop during Surveys 4 & 5, Smooth 95.3âs 40-54s ratings dropped by an alarming 49%.
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John Stanley received 31.4% for his slot from 8pm-12am (the 25.7% being from 7pm-12am), as you can see in Nineâs press release a few posts up. Incredible stuff.
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youâd have to think if an FM conversion came up in brisbane KQ would be a major contender for it
4MMM has multiple problems. one is itâs bogan image, another is itâs format. when i turn it on - what i am i getting? am i getting sport, music or talkback?
The rock station image they cultivated over the years has worked, but they have boxed themselves in. regardsless of the truth the image of a 4MMM lister is one of 2 types:
1 - the tradie on the worksite listening on his jobsite radio or,
2 - the bogan in his ute driving 20 over the limit down the freeway dodging though traffic (come to think of it, they could be the same)
brands need to create a sense of belonging - and unless you fit into this narrow market, there is no sense of belonging
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This is as competitive the FM market in Perth has ever been, itâs great to see after 2 decades of dominance from Mix.
Triple M Perth going horribly in all demos and timeslots, but breakfast continues to decline - canât wait for them to whip up an excuse on-air that Baz is too busy with his mayoral responsibilities and has to quitâŚ
Also kind of funny after seeing print media in Perth sound death knells for ABC Perth back in Survey 2, seeing silence now that theyâre well ahead of 6PR again.
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Agree 100%. I know I bang on about the good old days of FM104, but what 4MMM has become is just tragic. So narrow and so bogan in its appeal. Whereas 104 had such broad appeal in age, sex, and âtypeâ.
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Yikes! Thatâs worse than I thought.
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Canât believe Iâm saying this, but maybe SCA are going to have to look at reviving the old PMFM brand on 92.9 Perth. Itâs obvious that Triple M never has been, nor ever will be successful in the West.
Although since the Ms arenât going all that well in the Eastern states either, a new strategy is probably needed for those stations as well.
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Although I guess itâd be a lot easier to pick one of their 50 um, several other varieties of Triple M (as per regional stations/DAB+ logs) and just stick with the branding. 
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If it were me, and knowing SCA itâll never happen, Iâd ditch the Triple M brand altogether. I feel itâs become so tarnished itâs basically worthless.
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While I generally agree, what would you rebrand Triple M as? 104.9 Sydney has more or less always been known as Triple M while the Melbourne, Brisbane & Adelaide stations have also used that name for decades now.
Iâm also still an advocate for completely relaunching 2DayFM. $1 Million Alphabucks might result in a marginal ratings boost for 104.1 during Survey #7, but at the same time it wouldnât be wise to put money on the station (and especially their breakfast show) getting a podium finish in the Sydney FM ratings anytime soon.
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Certainly made me reach out for the earlier ratings (at least since GfK took over) to see what Brian Wilshire was rating in that timeslot prior to his departure a few years back, given how much was talked about that around that time. Was certainly high but not quite that high. 
Suspect a bit of a perfect storm of lockdown, the older demosâ grasp on that time slot (which, honestly, many just want/need a human voice to listen to, especially with a curfew through most of that slot for more than a third of Sydney) and John Stanleyâs personal appeal that probably made him one of the few remaining highlights of the Macquarie era of 2UE.
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If anything, itâs really encouraging that John Stanley is the highest rating presenter on 2GB. Heâs their best anchor and a nice guy from what Iâve heard of him and he thoroughly deserves those high ratings than everyone else on that station.
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I agree. The Rock, Sport & Comedy format must be costing a lot of money. As far as Melbourne is concerned - return the EON FM name and just play music with live local DJs who know the music. The Triple M name certainly has that bogan image associated with it now.
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Wonât work. PMFM has been gone for over 20 years and had a different format.
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