what revamp would you like to see happen to new fm i think it needs to go back to what it was famous for rock ko sounded better in the 90s as well
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Itās a pity to see Newcastle radio go backwards. I used to drive through there often all through the 90s and have fond memories of New FM and also KOFM.
It deserves better now, being the 7th largest city in the country. It needs another FM licence to shake things up. But then so does Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
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Back in the days when New FM was a rock station before Caralis gutted it to the ground, whilst KOFM was a Hits & Memories station similar to 4KQ & 2WS back in the day.
I remember reading that the ABA (as ACMA was known back then) proposed that Newcastle was to be getting 2 additional commercial stations when they did a Licence Area Plan back in the late 90s.
Hereās an article from the Newcastle Herald back in February 1998, when RG Capital expressed interests on buying the proposed new commercial licences: Link
Of course, it didnāt go ahead & instead, one of the proposed commercial licences for Newcastle was then handed over to the Central Coast for its 3rd commercial FM licence, creating the ironic situation that we now face, in which the Central Coast has a more competitive commercial FM market (even without factoring the fortuitous signals of the Sydney & Newcastle stations) than Newcastle these days.
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And the other licence/frequency was allocated as a 2nd community licence (Rhema).
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Rock station Iād say, at the moment they sound like a cheap KOFM. Theyāre attempting too hard to appeal to women and thatās all fair and well but if you are languishing at the bottom and quite frankly sound like crap something needs to change.
First thing Iād change would be the breakfast show, it still is weak in comparison to their rivals. Thereās 3 avenues you could take
#1 brand new local one: having a well known Newcastle personality, whether it be an ex knights or NRL player or local celebrity doesnāt matter but a figure that draws in the listener, then you need a radio professional and funny person. Not Steve St John.
#2 More music for breakfast
#3 Network Kyle and Jackie O, this will cause a lot of controversy and could go either way, it baffles me but people like to listen to them but people over 35 would Leave in droves.
Next thing Iād change would be the music, you could go for a rock format or do what Star Central Coast and play those unclogged songs. Personally thereās a big market for rock music but you could go down other avenues.
Scrap Kyle and Jackie O from drive, this is a dumb idea to even have a repeat of a Sydney breakfast show on drive, they could shaft this to Saturday and Sunday breakfast, the hour of power at 6 or see above suggestion. Iād slot in Hughsy & Kate honestly, it rates well in a lot of markets and a genuine alternative for those who donāt want just music or Hamish & Andy.
Obviously you want to align your content and music together so Iād make changes around that but itās some ideas which I believe are better than what we have.
Iāve also got alternate models for 2HD & KOFM but Iāll add them in another post if people want to here them.
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2HD and NEW FM need a new owner.
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That they do
KIIS FM in Sydney has often been the No.1 station for 40 - 54 year olds during surveys in Sydney in 2016. As much as it is a surprise Kyle and Jackie O donāt just appeal to the under 35s.
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Iām surprised that Kyle appeals to anyone, of any age.
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Yeah it doesnāt bode well for humanity does it.
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What about if New FM just copied Smooth FM? It works in Sydney and Melbourne, so why not Newcastle? It actually surprises me someone hasnāt copied Smooth already (except Easy on DAB of course). But clearly itās s format thatās not only cheap but resonates. Thereās no format anywhere near Smooth in Newcastle and I reckon theyād pull listeners from everywhere just like Sydney and Melbourne. I think other stations like River 94.9 in Ipswich should also consider it. They could actually take a big chunk of Brisbane if they did something radical like that. Currently theyāre too close to 97.3 and Triple M to pull too many listeners away.
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Perhaps in a smaller market like Newcastle, Smooth might be a bit too close to KO in format?
Itās worth a try thoughā¦ the results would be interesting.
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Smooth would be closer to 2NUR FMās Playlist
Agree that 2HD and New FM need a new owner. Itās criminal what Caralas has done to regional radio.
Seems to be way too much homoginisation of the radio market. Another reason Iāve switched to 2NUR FM cause they at least have a point of differnce.
Plus it baffles me that Kyle has a job. But clearly there are plenty of empty heads that listen to him.
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Itās always fascinating to drop by this page every month or so and see what the real radio programming experts think. Interesting to see that the consensus is that Newcastle Radio has gone backwards in the last 2 years. Kinda lines up exactly with my return to KO and NX so iāl take that on the chin.
I canāt answer for how the ABC or New / HD are faring but itās safe to say my 2 brands are in much better shape ratings and revenue wise than they were pre 2015. Back to number 1 and number 2 but heyā¦ who knowās how the ratings gods will mark us in 2017?
Reality check ya allā¦ we all do what we can with what we have. We are parts of much bigger machines and donāt have complete local control like we once did but hey thatās media in 2017.
I know iām proud of my team and what we doā¦ and iām sure Steve and the guys over at the Swamp are too.
Always here on email if you ever wanna share your pearls of wisdom with me.
Mike
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I wouldnāt take it too hard. A lot of the people on here express views based on what would give the biggest range of options to listeners with little regard given to having the actually make all of those options profitable.
As you know, in reality the restrictions of a limited number of stations in a market, operated by companies who can easy only have 2 stations, means that stations have to programming to appeal to as many people as possible, with concessions made that result in there not being an āidealā station for everyone. While there might be an arguement for more NRL or āSmoothā music in the market, those options can only come at the expense of another format, which would then be in demand as 4 commercial stations canāt cater for every taste.
If Iām not mistaken, Newcastle is one of the best performing markets for SCA, so Iād take that as a compliment - obviously there are a significant number of people who think youāre doing a good enough job to make it worth their while to listen and/or spend money on KO and NX.
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āItās always fascinating to drop by this page every month or so and see what the real radio programming experts thinkā
āAlways here on email if you ever wanna share your pearls of wisdom with meā
I am not too sure whether to say āouchā, ātou-cheā or āyou should drop by more oftenā. Maybe all three!
āReality check ya allā¦ we all do what we can with what we have. We are parts of much bigger machines and donāt have complete local control like we once did but hey thatās media in 2017ā
Spot on. I think most of the members of Mediaspy would love it if you had more control over Newcastleās two top radio stations. They may even rate higher and be more in front of 2HD and NewFM if people who lived and breathed Newcastle were in charge. If only you did have more of a say on how the two stations (that are pretty much a part of Newcastleās heritage) sounded.
I may be wrong but it sounds like NX/Hit, KO, New and 2HD are all largely programmed by people who have a view of the Opera House rather than of Nobbys Beach or The Northern Star Hotel
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Coming back from the Mid North Coast on Easter Monday, I really enjoyed listening to Old School Easter Monday on Hit 102.3 / 106.9 / Sea Fm. Made sitting in a 1 hour traffic jam on the M1 more tolerable.
My radio stayed on Sea Fm all the way home.
Much better then the stale playlist on Nova that is repeated every 2 hours.
Yes Mike Byrne is right these stations are all part of a bigger machine as the playlists are all the same from the Sea Fm Gold Coast log.
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Personally I think the Regional Hit Network and the Regional Triple M Network have improved considerably in the pass 2 years. When I was in Newcastle 6 months ago, I had the dial stuck on 102.9, I loved āThe Greatest Hits from the 80ās to Nowā format.
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The only issues I have with the Greatest Hits log, compared to about 5 years ago is that you donāt hear as much āunfloggedā stuff and there is too much new music in the log.
Apart from that āThe Greatest Hitsā is always my station of choice.
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Oh dear, alright well I havenāt explained what I meant clear enough and no I donāt have a problem with Mike Byrne nor the way he does his job, I think he has done a fantastic job with whatās available on hand, would person X do it differently Iād say so, would it be better in terms of revenue, no idea.
What I meant in terms of backwards step was the content available to Newcastle on a national scale, the log could be better but nothing you can do about the big players on the GC and what the give you nor can you control what H&A do a do on top of that your bosses think replays are the best fit.
The ladies and gents at the swamp canāt help that Caralis, well yeah you get my point.
Iām not attacking you Mike and saying you are the problem, itsvtge decisions at the Gold Coast and the limited wiggle room Newcastle stations have that pushes our quality back.
Great to see you in the discussions though getting involved and debating with the locals never really see that.
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