Desperately Smooth anyway. 97.3 is a bit closer to WS these days and KQ is great as is. Smooth is the gap.
2 Likes
This has been said many times before, but I actually think that if there was a Smooth (or to a lesser extent, Pure Gold) station on FM in Brisbane, they’d have a very good chance of being #1 in the ratings.
5 Likes
Its possible, 97.3 used to be very similar to Mix 106.5 Sydney when it was dominant. The network shows do not sound great, when you mix the content of Will & Woody with the Music of WSFM it really doesnt gel.
4 Likes
If 97.3FM keeps declining then it could become a reality.
Then again, who are we kidding… ARN would win over NE and it would become KIIS97.3.
2 Likes
KQ is classic hits. It would be great if WS revert back to that format. I think it is a real winner.
3 Likes
Remember when I said this about Fox and people (one person) said I was crazy, that I couldn’t possibly predict such a thing from one survey?
Luckily for those one #1 bonuses at Fox breakfast, Nova had an average book and Smooth was more or less flat, but Smooth is certainly within striking distance at breakfast (!). A .4 tick up for Smooth and a .5 tick down for Fox would have them level - both results are very possible. A result identical to today’s for Christian O’Connell would see him take #1 if others stay flat or drop.
Fantastic result for Smooth. Proves you can be #1 without having live announcers! As much as we love to talk about ‘live n local’ it’s clear the audience doesn’t care anywhere near as much.
Fox, Gold & Smooth all in very close contention for #1 FM, with Smooth edging them out this time.
Fox & Gold beating the entire rest of the board in the arvos.
Survey 1 2019 will be very interesting for Melbourne.
Big day for Smooth. #1 in both markets. Interesting that in Sydney, Smooth actually lost overall share, but still managed to hit #1 (and lost in what might traditionally be their demographic but picked up in 18-39).
Mix, Cruise, 5AA and ABC are killing it in Adelaide. Maybe a reflection of the demographic of those that listen more than anything though…
Interestingly, their best rating timeslot is the heavily networked evenings…
1 Like
100% agree. It could dominate the market if it stopped sounding so disjointed and modified the music just a tad to be a bit more like the old Mix 106.5 or Smooth. They could keep some of the newer music of course but they need to differentiate from Hit and Nova.
2 Likes
Agree with the sentiment that 96fm should go Pure Gold. Would grab some share off Mix and 6IX, can’t see them improving past where they are now with the current hybrid format they seem to be running.
2 Likes
I didn’t expect that,that Triple M breakfast show is now Number 1.I listened to Hit 105 Breakfast show last week and they all sound so immature, I found them very irritating.97.3 have really crashed and burned lately,maybe since the departure of Terry,
1 Like
Gold rating above Nova in the 18-24s???
I think it depends on what MIX 94.5 do. Given the music director in Perth is gone, and direction is coming out of Triple M Adelaide, and the departure of Lisa from the station, I wonder if they are going to change MIX 94.5 to Triple M sooner rather than later.
If Triple M/94.5 goes more rock, then I agree 96FM should move towards a Pure Gold playlist, kind of like MIX 94.5 are now, and try and pick up their audience.
If MIX 94.5 stay as is, I reckon 96FM should go full rock, like they used to be a few years ago under Fairfax ownership.
Either way, they need to ditch the ill-fitting KIIS network, the awful logo and the awful networked programs. Live and local from 5-midnight as a minimum.
4 Likes
Which Lisa is leaving/left?
I would normally suggest that live/local is best, but as I said above the heavily networked nights is their best rating timeslot.
Breakfast & Drive are the worst performing and only one of them is networked (and the success of networked drive shows on Nova & Hit suggest its not the networking in and of itself that is causing their problems.
Dumping the parent company’s format on Perth has been tried & failed. It’s what killed 96FM (tks TV-Expert} to start with, reverting to there original format has helped them to revive some of there former status. For whatever reason Perth people don’t like having the other states format forced onto them.
I know plenty of people who will not listen to any programs that are networked from the east (live sport is an exception). Sometimes because of the 2/3 hour delay, sometimes because of the eastern-centric nature of the discussions.
I read somewhere many years ago that radio is the most personal of the three traditional types of media (TV, radio & print), maybe it does need to be ‘live & local’.
1 Like
It was actually 96fm that rebranded to Triple M back in the 90s, due to common ownership at the time. When Austereo bought PMFM (now hit92.9) & 94.5 in late 1997, they sold Triple M to Southern Cross Broadcasting (who owned 6PR & 6IX), who then rebranded it back to its original name. In late 1998/early 1999, Southern Cross sold 6IX to a JV of Capital Radio Network & Grant Broadcasters.
2 Likes
Probably holding off from changing to 96FM to Pure Gold as ARN are leaving the door ajar to potentially buy 6IX.
They could have the same set up as Brisbane and Adelaide
KIIS - 96FM
Pure Gold/Classic Hits - 6IX
That would give SCA and NE some decent competition.
2 Likes
They’ll have to sell 50% of Nova 93.7 before that can happen though.
2 Likes
They could a straight swap with 97.3 Brisbane. NE own half of that station.
Given 6IX’s improved ratings, it could be an attractive proposition.
1 Like
Good point.
That way, NE could then potentially buy 4BH from Macquarie & have Smooth 882, which would do much better than what Macquarie Sports Radio will ever achieve, especially given it rates well in the DAB+ ratings there. I guarantee that Smooth 882 would challenge 4KQ in the AM music ratings battle. 
5 Likes
Smooth AM would work well in Brisbane. It’s clear that up there people prefer music over constant talk. That said, it’s interesting that 4BC has managed to build over the last few years since completely wiping out their local lineup for 2GB programming.
2 Likes