Discuss matters relating to Nine Radio’s Music stations.
2UE 954AM Sydney
Magic 1278AM Melbourne
4BH 882AM Brisbane
6GT DAB+ Perth
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Would that mean it might become known as Magic 1170?
I know back in the 80s Sydney had Magic 11 (2UW), that was a more comtemporary format (at the time) compared to what Magic runs with in Melb/Bris now.
Depends who 2CH is sold to. How long is it now?
I believe that 2CH has to be sold by March 31.
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I can’t believe how much they’ve ruined the music on Magic 882 since they’ve started getting it from Magic in Melbourne. It’s gone from a fresh sounding station to something from the 1960s. I used to listen to Magic 882 quite bit but now can’t stand it. Flicked on this morning and was straight into “Silvia’s Mother” by Dr Hook. What… the…you know what. Very sad. Before it was ruined they were sounding great with lots of contemporary sounding easy listening and new music from Adele etc. Now it’s a train-wreck imo.
I agree, I no longer listen to Magic anymore either
Bob Rogers played a song about Magic last night and said something along the lines of “remember that word” - so Magic 1170 is definitely on the books.
Hopefully they’ll keep him on and network him to Brisbane and Melbourne, plus get their music mix right. At the moment it’s only about 70 per cent there.
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Haven’t we all forgotten that MRN legally has to sell of 2CH to comply with the two station rule?
Unless that rule is changed…or it’s now 2UE that the network is planning to sell off (I somehow doubt this), I highly doubt that we’ll have a “Magic 1170” anytime soon.
Agree but one can hardly imagine that the sale of 2CH would be viable on its own. Surely a sale of the 2 Magic Stations plus 2CH would be an attractive option creating a boutique network for a prospective buyer.
2CH could potentially still use the name Magic even if under a separate owner, unless Macquarie decide first to use the Magic name in Sydney for either 2UE or perhaps a DAB station.
We’ve seen “network” names used by other licencees in markets where the name was not already in use, e.g. 94.9 in Ipswich took the call-sign 4MIX, essentially blocking ARN’s 97.3 in Brisbane from being able to use the Mix branding. And Austereo picked up the “Mix” branding in Perth even though it was a brand more associated with ARN in other cities.
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Isn’t it likely that 2CH will be sold back to the NSW Council of Churches anyhow?
Off topic, but I still don’t get how a callsign means they couldn’t/can’t use the brand for 97.3.
With 2CH there might be an arrangement like was worked out for MIX FM and Sea FM on the Sunshine Coast when they were forced to be sold (due to licence overlap with Brisbane). They still take programming and some branding cues from SCA. That might mean that 2CH was programmed from Melbourne rather than the other way around though.
Hard to imagine that 2CH will be sold back to the NSW Council of Churches, surely they have moved on from this. My “wild” prediction is that 2CH and the two Magic Stations will be sold to Grant, they will relocate from their offices in Crows Nest to the current 2UE studios in Greenwich, rebrand to Forever Classics and network all three from these studios. Just my thoughts.
I agree, I think 2CH will be sold to an organisation with an existing radio presence in Oz.
It has previously been reported that the NSW Council of Churches offered to buy 2CH for $1, and would then outsource the day to day operations of the station to MRN, in return for a (substantial) cut of profits. MRN seem pretty to keep operating the 3 stations, so I imagine they’re fairly likely to go with that.
Problems with the suggestion of Grant buying the 2 Magic stations and 2CH and networking/branding them as Forever Classic:
*Grants do not network - they have not added a new stations to any of there networks for nearly 20 years. All their networks have been purchased as a network, or in the case of Power FM, was setup in the 90s.
*The Forever Classic brand is owned and run by Capital Radio Network - it just happens that Grants have bought into 50% of some of these stations, but they have no say in the programming of these stations.
wait and see - there could be wide-reaching rule changes by the Government which could allow MRN to keep 2CH.
but by the end of March?
Possibly by the end of March. I’ve heard the media changes are going to be introduced to parliament early this year. My guess (and it’s pure speculation) is that the 2-station rule will change IF it involves AM stations. E.g. they’ll let a company own 3 AM stations or 1 FM and 2 (or more) AM stations. Just my guess.
@ AustralnAerial re Mix. I don’t think there would have been a regulatory reason why 97.3 couldn’t be called “Mix” in Brisbane, even with River 94.9 having the 4MIX call-sign, but I’m sure it would open up a can of worms with potential legal challenges. The Ipswich station could argue that their callsign is a “trademark” or something in the overlapping markets. Anyway there would be some grounds to challenge it based on competition laws. When the Ipswich station moved from 106.9 to 94.9 just before 97.3 went to air, their test broadcasts were basically a repeating statement saying “This is 4-M-I-X blah blah”. So it really was designed to be a blocker to a potential Mix 97.3. The Ipswich station had also been a keen bidder on that Brisbane licence anyway. Also don’t forget Mix FM Sunshine Coast (4SSS) also overlaps with Brisbane officially so I’m sure ARN thought it was all too hard with potential legal challenges from both sides of the metro area and just went with 97.3. Not really a big issue in the Brisbane market which has long been used to stations going by their frequencies (FM104, B105). Sorry a bit off thread.
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