I didn’t know NewFM produced a different show in the evening. Does its Love Song Dedications program go across the network?
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No, New FM likes to keep things 100% local except for Kyle and Jackie O as far as I know.
However the New FM studios at Sandgate is the head end station of Bill Caralis’ FM network, just look at the “Broadcast Operations Group” Wikipedia page to see a list of all Bill Caralis’ FM stations. This FM network studio is a different studio to New FMs one.
Each local station in the network chooses wether they take the network feed or not. For example Tamworth or Taree have a lot of local programming so don’t take the network feed as much but once they finish local programming they return to network which is played in Newcastle, the Newcastle playout sends triggers to local ads play in each market
But “Fresh nights” hosted at Sandgate would most likely go to almost all of the FM network of maybe 30 stations, except for New FM who make their own show
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Newfm’s push for total local is, in my opinion, being wasted… not that I think it would ever make Newfm a power player that in any way/shape/form would make HIT/Triple M tremble even to an extent of a large leaf in a very very very slight breeze… but hear me out.
Newfm take Kyle and Jackie O, and I think it is a good move for them in regards to brand association and for the one stretch in 24/hour period a legitimate fit out being heard on the station. However, Newfm backs this up going straight into Love Song Dedications, and isn’t this just as stale as the dirty sheets of the prisoner in Cessnock Correctional who may be listening and penning the odd letter whilst pining over the love they can no longer be with because the pandemic pretty much got rid of conjugal visits?
Let’s be real, if MGMT at Newfm were in anyway serious about being taken as anything other than a laughing stock in the ratings and actually wanted a pat on the back for their local rebranding efforts you would think that they would actually go to bat. Hire good local talent/identities for the breakfast show. Good, established workday jocks. Ditch love songs for a more local evening show, they spend time doing a countdown for the network, maybe that kind of effort (and I am not saying a countdown, but something more than these BS love songs) would go a long way for them in starting to make progress. I’m sorry, but the biggest problem that I see and hear from Newfm is that it is the guy at the party with all the confidence and smack talk, but nothing to back it up.
I was talking to a few of my family and friends at our easter bbq and the topic of what station to put on the old speaker came up (we are traditional, so we like to put the radio on when in the backyard)… not one person mentioned Newfm as their choice of tune, and probably luckily so as they do not even stream…
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100% agree.
As I’ve said before, just because community radio stations are also, “As Local As”, it doesn’t make them the number one choice. Nor does it make the networked radio stations look any more worse.
Being locally programmed is one thing. Being locally programmed with no clear identity or programming strategy is another.
Local does not win the ratings. Strategy does.
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What should New fm do, what format should they adopt?
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The answer is cheap & simple.
NewFM - Newcastle’s BEST Rock. Take the log from sister station B-Rock Bathurst.
IMO, since SCA have shifted its Hit network to an older skewed format, there is not as much wriggle room for another “80s to Now” station in each town. Especially for Newcastle, with Star104.5 just down the road.
I would shift the BOG FM network to either Lismore or back to Sydney (still keeping the remainder of the FM network as an “80s to Now” format).
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You haven’t listened to Hit recently?
It’s gone back to 2000s to new.
#1 Hit Music Station positioning.
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I’d still shift NewFM to pure rock.
That’ll leave the 80’s format to 2HD (even though there is a fair bit of talkback on the station).
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Sell.
Lets’s be honest, a format change alone is not saving Newfm. The place needs a swift sweep out. New MGMT/talent. Advertising. Oh, maybe just a budget in general. And the brands need to be ditched. Can you really say that there isn’t a very stale and negative association ironed into novocastrians minds when it comes to the words Newfm, or even novo?
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And try and woo back some of the previous announcers which added something great to the station. They’ve been some big resignations from the station in the past 18 months.
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Yes, there has by the sounds of it.
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And somewhat ironically, it’s the oldest commercial FM station in Newcastle and will be 34 years old next Friday, so not very ‘new’ anymore.
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New name for New Fm, NRock, “The Rock Of Newcastle”
What would Triple M think of that???
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One of the proposed callsigns/names for the first Newcastle FM licence by a rival consortium was 2NRG (Energy). That could work?
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2NRG reminds me of a French CHR station, actually it is NRJ
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They’d be laughing with glee. If you’re trying to copy B-Rock - don’t. B-Rock works for Bathurst as the Bathurst 1000 is run there, and was dominated by Peter B(-)Rock. NRock sounds rather silly.
New FM (and 2HD) needs new owners. Simple as that. Does Billy Boy have kids? Once he and Pam kick the bucket, how long before they sell out and cash in?
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We can all assume Bill’s children will take over the network. That’s unless they do not have as much sentiments and would hopefully sell.
Yes it’d be sad as it would lead to more networking and potentially more loss of local heritage station brands.
But it would also mean greater competition for markets which have SCA stations present - and this can only be a good thing, as it’d hopefully give everyone a kick up the backside.
Imagine if all regional BOG stations were all very competitive.
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Such wasted potential.
Crazy to think they almost had it on track a couple of years ago but they clearly can’t retain decent talent.
Spend less time attacking the opposition and put time and resources into an original approach.
Slogans won’t win ratings, strategy does.
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I think you still need something to get people to tune in and sample the product, whether that be a good slogan and/or promotion, the strategy will keep them there.
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Eg: Nova “Sounds Different”… and they actually did.
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