I think NEW need to get a big name personality or two on the brekky shift, a new modern logo (the current one is basically 30 years old!), and spend some $$$ in promotions with giveaways and advertising on TV.
Music wise, I wouldn’t change too much, but add in some slick voice overs and a positioner of “More Music Variety 105 point 3 NEW FM”
Maybe they do need to sound different rather then trying to be one thing for everyone.
CHR / Hot AC is covered by Hit
Triple M is AC
Maybe New Fm needs to go Gold / Classic Hits WS / Gold 104.3 style,
and get a new breakfast show and local drive rather then doing highlights of KTM.
Something like Classic Rock 95.3?
Personally I would love to see New FM as a Rebel FM (Rock Variety) type station and have 2HD as a Smooth type station, with a little bit of local talk.
Bathurst has great variety that Newcastle could follow… hit105.9 Orange, Triple M Orange, then B-Rock and 2BS FM, along with MoveFM.
And on a good car radio some Sydney fm reception in higher spots.
TBH none of those ratings are anything to write home about (even SCA).
Back before NEWFM started, 2NX & even before that 2KO, were pulling high 40’s, I think on occasion over 50% in the ratings.
Someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t NEWFM pull high 30’s in the early years?
In Sydney 2GB are pulling almost as much as 102.9 with a much higher split market across AM/FM & DAB+.
Yes Sydney is a larger market, but these are % figures of total potential listeners not CUME, so we’re comparing 100% of Sydney potential listeners to 100% of Newcastle potential listeners.
Even with 102.9’s (sarcastic) excellent 16.8%, 83.2% of Newcastle listeners are NOT listening to 102.9 for whatever reason, which in my books doesn’t mean what’s going to air is either good, working or successful? You might have topped the class, but you’ve failed miserably.
A good station in Newcastle should still be able to pull over 25%, an excellent station could even get over 30%.
No surprises in the results though, no competition from Sandgate, NEWFM Breakfast is woeful & getting worse.
While Mark’s is proud of the figures, & I know there’s a good team at SCA, but it wouldn’t have been terribly hard work to achieve, they could’ve broadcast mostly dead air & still beaten NEWFM.
SCA should be concerned about 106.9 Breakfast too, 2HD isn’t that far behind & 106.9 went up 0.4 this time around. Richard & Kim on 2HD are actually quite good, I listen every day on the way to Sydney, they play quite a bit of music in Breakfast now too, with some great Classic Hits.
I did training there at that time & it was more a positioner ID that sounded good, rather than an all out ROCK format.
NEWFM was still a power house at that time, NX hadn’t long changed to FM with the failed high rotation CHR format of X107 all new, all hit radio.
NXFM’s Always Great Rock N Roll format was probably close to what NEWFM is now, NX didn’t come good until after NEW got sold to Caralis & it went downhill, then NX started to pickup & later SCA shifted it to the CHR format it is now, essentially back to where it was No.1 as 2NX before NEWFM started.
If NEWFM hadn’t dropped the bundle, SCA would be dealing with a very hard fight, & NEWFM may still be beating both SC stations, but that’s just dreaming now.
I’d be happy to be number 1. Whether it be 50% or 10%.
To be ahead of your commercial competitors is always a good thing.
Correct me if I am wrong but I thought they already have 2 separate logs, one for New and one for the regionals??
It’s the same music, just played separately (if that makes sense).
I think NewFM have more talk breaks than the regionals as well.
Unlike SCA, BOG FM stations outside of Newcastle get much poorer treatment.
I actually agree. Triple M should be doing better given the competition or lack thereof. They are clearly losing listeners to other stations like 2NUR. My guess is the jarring Triple M format of music, sport, talk just pushes people away and they end up finding alternatives.
New FM debuted in 1st place with a 24.7 in its first survey (S3/89), knocking 2KO from a 24.1 to a 9.9 in the process. Unfortunately I’ve yet to find any survey results from the rest of '89 or early 90s for Newcastle. I do know New remained #1 through 1992 when KOFM signed on, but do not have the shares. It is quite possible it rose into the 30 share range during that span.
Back to RFBurns comments regarding NXfm 106.9 All Ways Great Rock N Roll era which I remember quite well from dx reception from Sydney.
They were rock, active rock during the day and top 40 CHR at night, and then back to rock after their Hot 30 countdown concluded, it was a bit all over the place.
From memory they played Sound Garden’s Spoonman and Lead Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love quite a bit on their playlist.
Paul Lobb read the local news after the national news taken from 2UE from memory.
The sound of the station then was not up to that of New Fm at the time. I have no idea of ratings as they were not as easily accessible as they are now.
Sorry if this is to radio history.
NEW FM did outrate them back then…
NEW were about 17% and NX about 12%.
I do recall when SCA acquired NX that they thought their playlist was “a bit grungy” as there was quite a bit of Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, though mixed in with a bit of Roxette, so yeah, not terribly consistent.
We might have to move this to radio history, but I don’t totally agree with that description, yes the format was all over the place, but it wasn’t heavily rock skewed, (nothing like NEWFM at the time, but they did play what we’d now call Classic Rock of the time which NEWFM/Triple M Sydney didn’t).
NX played rock to try to get back some listeners off NEW who were rock at the time (along with Triple M Sydney), but they also had CHR, because after NEWFM started, there was no CHR station in Newcastle initially 2NX went Classic Hits, then the failed CHR of X13/X107, but after moving to Charlestown with KO & changing to Always Great Rock & Roll, with a mixed format, the CHR got left somewhat behind, KO was then the updated FM version of their AM Hits & Memories format, & 2HD was Talk & Sport.
Don Dawkins was playing 10 from then at midday on NXFM, & other older stuff what would be now Classic Hits. Best times I had there around that time was when I was training to panel & I’d play Savage Garden - To The Moon & Back (hit at the time) really loud in the studio, & let the ending run right out (most jocks even to this day cut it short, which pee’s me off to no end), & my very first song I played on air at NXFM during that time was Duran Duran - Hungry like the Wolf.
Maybe later in time, Paul Lobb would read the News, but when I was there in 1994-1995, Georgie Gardener was reading the News on NXFM, KOFM used the News booth, so NX News was actually read out of the on air studio, & I used to sit next to Georgie while she’d read the News. 
Sorry this is taking this more radio history, feel free to move it to the Radio History Forum.
It was 1994 when I remember the Always Great Rock and Roll era of NXfm. Rock music seemed to be the most popular format of the time on commercial radio. Even 92.9 Fm Tamworth was running the same format and Positioner.
From memory the Austero stations at the time all had a hybrid rock top 40 format, 2Day played more soft rock as they were in a slanging match with Triple M and promised no heavy rock. They still played Screaming Jet, and the odd song by the Doors, and Midnight Oil. B105 played more heavier rock and more classic rock then 2Day.
NX Fm and Fm 104.7 were more grungy, and Fm 104.7 was the last to depart from their rock format.
Re Don Dawkins he then moved to Canberra to Fm104.7, and then to 2CA before retiring?
Yes, rock music was much more prolific back then.
Not many good rock bands coming through these days.
That is why no one will do a pure rock format in Newcastle now. Triple M only rates well in Brisbane which in my opinion has been more of a rock city then other markets.
This probably explains why you hear more rock songs on Nova then other cities.
Let’s now bring this back to Newcastle ratings now!!!
Yes, Newcastle is too small to sustain a rock station anyway.
NEW could adopt a MIX Adelaide or Perth format, they rate well there.