Triple M (formerly KOFM) maintains the #1 spot with a 3.7 increase to 16.8, followed by hit106.9 with 12.5, JJJ with 11.5 & ABC Newcastle with 9.6 (down 3.1). 2HD fell 0.8 to 8.0, whilst New FM fell 1.2 to 7.5.
The “Other Stations” scored a 25.7% share.
Triple M up 4.8 in mornings and 7.4 in afternoons, big gains for triple j across the board too.
Over half of that is Radio 16, if narrowcaster Sean Ison is to be believed.
Wow, I wonder what’s happened to the SCA stations over the Summer? I was fully expecting parochial Novocastrians to completely reject their favourite commercial station taking on fully networked/Sydney branding with further increases for ABC Newcastle and “Other Stations”!
Although since the KOFM > Triple M rebrand seemed to work, I guess it’s now safe for NEC to rebrand NBN News as Nine News Northern NSW/Gold Coast. 
I personally find that very hard to believe. At least 2NUR-FM is transmitted from Mt Sugarloaf (I think)?
Are all markets different? Or can it be said that nobody really cares about ‘heritage brands’.
So long as music & content work perfectly, I don’t see why a name change could harm a station.
For KOFM/Triple M Newcastle, the perfect recipe was found, created & kept many years before the rebrand.
And/or you can say that neither 2HD or NEW have presented themselves as credible alternatives to the SCA pair
Though content is more important than the name. And unfortunately means that the “Feels Good” log seems to be working 
Yes Mate, I was a bit gobsmacked myself. I think they would of grabbed a few Female listeners from New FM. I thought there was not much difference with the old GH from the 80’s to Now music format and the Feel Good music format.
It’s a ripper result for us. Hard work by the Content, Promotions and Sales/Marketing team to get the Triple M ethos out in the public. Great work by the dedicated content team to nail every aspect of the format change. Great work by every single bloody person in that 7th floor building, including our colleagues at Nine, who have embraced the chance to work together.
But I’ll also say that Survey 1 last year gave KO/Triple M these similar results. So I know we’ll be working harder to maintain these figures.
I want to say how great it is to be a part of the Triple M football team. These blokes - Frank Barrett, Michael Hagan, Matt Rodwell and Marc Glanville, ably led by JR and pieced together by this idiot here - are doing great work and putting out local product that is national quality. So to be #1 on Weekends is a nice bonus. Knowing how much effort the weekend warriors put in at both Triple M and Hit, it’s a nice reward.
Ash, Mike, Ryzy, Carly, stuff it, the whole team… are just amazing.
See ya!
What does New Fm have to do to improve their standings in the Newcastle ratings?
Rebrand
Go 100% rock / classic rock / Alt Rock
Go 100% CHR
Go Classic Hit
What is everyone thoughts??
The Triple M ethos for me was Doug Mulray, and I really haven’t listened since Andrew Denton left.
What’s interesting to note is that the combined ratings of 2HD & New FM is less than what Triple M alone got in this survey. This is further proof that the BOG stations are not very competitive with the SCA monoliths. 
Personally I think the New FM name is fine for a radio station in Newcastle, although they’d benefit from a better logo.
Music format wise, would moving New FM closer to the format of their sister station in the Manning Valley work? Or would that be encroaching on Hit 106.9 territory too much?
A simple start would be to introduce sweeps and IDs that boast about NewFM being Newcastle’s own (2HD could be the same too). Bragging about what the station names stand for.
Then I’d turn New into a pure rock station and leave 2HD to round the clock classic hits.
One to tackle Triple M and the other to take on 2NUR.
Would they be better off going all out rock like the old Krock in Geelong, considering Triple M Newcastle is not a full rock station?
From memory NXfm 106.9 All ways Great Rock N Roll did not do to well either.
Here’s a fact if you listen closely… both NEW and HIT play more rock in an hour than MMM does.
How depressing
The answer might be in the figures. Evenings are the only lift for NEW. K&J and Love Song Dedications.
Maybe the softer music is making an impact? If so, a gold/AC format focusing on MORE MUSIC and LESS TALK (hmmm, sounds familiar) might help?
A mature breakfast host focusing on 8 songs an hour - 3 more than HIT and 4 more than MMM. 80s based gold.
Daytime - I’d whack MMM with the Greatest Hits format. 70s, 80s, 90s and pure inoffensive pop.
Drive - I’d go back to live and local. Do the Classic 5 @ 5. Stuff like that.
Evenings - 70s and 80s based love songs. Night is the only demo that went up
Weekends - MORE MUSIC LESS TALK. Focus on while the other mob are doing country, football or Australia By Night, we’re doing MORE MUSIC.
Go back to simple stuff. Over-serve your market with music.
So what you saying something between Smooth and Star 104.5 music wise?
Wouldn’t that be something similar to the Triple M Feel Good stations?
Only problem is NewFM are the feeder for the BOG regional FM stations.
That would mean two separate logs meaning more work that Bill wouldn’t want.
… not unless the entire regional network changes focus too and goes with “more music less talk”, leaving the hit music for SCA …
