ACE’s stations, both the CHR/Hot AC & the Classic Hits streams, are the same for all of its stations. 3MP’s log is unique for the Melbourne market.
I’ll post a log in the relevant thread.
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Hopefully yes. They should move 4BH back to its proper easy listening format.
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Hopefully.
4BH should go easy listening (like 3MP is currently) to differentiate it from 4KQ.
Magic and 2UE should probably go classic hits (like 4KQ)
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There’s precedence for this, for example SEN Adelaide on 5DN.
For regulatory reasons, provided neither operator exceeds the 2 stations per market and other rules then no problem. In effect both Nine and ACE are in control of the licenses.
Interesting wording that’s it’s just an option at this stage, but then says ACE will gather the required resources. So it looks like it’s happening, but not confirmed and no start date yet.
I would expect that 3MP will become more Mornington Peninsula focused with more content other than music, as seen with the Coodabeens joining, while Magic will be more music focused.
Given recent attempts I can’t see how they could make these financially viable without some sort of replication, but maybe 2UE and Magic could share a log while 4BH takes 3MP’s.
I wouldn’t expect ACE to build new studios. Maybe they will be able to use Nine’s. Maybe this is also the answer to which studios the Coodabeens will use, with no current ACE studios in Melbourne. Surely they can broadcast to Sydney and Brisbane from Warrnambool and Traralgon.
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that’s true, reminds me I think SEN was originally a “lease” deal between SEN and the 3AK licence owner which I think was still DCL at that time? SEN later tookover the licence IIRC.
However, under the old ABA there was a proposal for Bert Newton to “lease” 3AK from its Italian owner in the early 1990s to form an entertainment/talkback station. He had already proposed a frequency and name change to “Triple One-Six AM” but it was knocked back from ABA at the time. Ironically that became a frequency that the station moved to some years later. I am unclear on what grounds ABA rejected the proposal, though.
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I agree. 4BH should take the 3MP format while Magic and 2UE take the ACE Classic Hits format.
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I suppose the best outcome will be at least being voice tracked most of the day.
Similarly hopefully the need for 3MP and Magic to not share a format will mean tailored music formats to each market. As pointed out, Sydney has a real spot for a 4KQ formatted station, while Brisbane needs an easy listening station. Even if it’s just Brisbane gets the MP format and Sydney get the Magic format, it’d be a step up for Brisbane.
It’s such a shame that ACE will end up programming music stations for Nine, while they overload their own AM stations with talk.
Would be nice if this came with some DAB space sharing, so 3MP could go above 48kbps.
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While I don’t expect any major changes in the immediate/short term as part of this deal, hopefully Nine’s decision to let ACE Radio operate their music stations will eventually result in them being more locally tailored to the needs of each individual market + more announcers (Trevor Sinclair - already doing stuff with ACE Radio - on 2UE would be good) being added to the station.
In the long run, I wonder if ACE Radio will have an option to buy 2UE/Magic 1278/4BH outright so Nine can focus their attention on their flagship talk stations?
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Bold move by Nine to lease the music stations to ACE.
The log will be the same for all 3 markets and will likely be the classic hits log they already use in regional Victoria, which is not as good as the current log IMO.
Will be interesting if ACE build a new studio in Melbourne to network all 3 stations and add new accouncers in the afternoons and evenings and on weekends. Also having a new sales team will help them to grab more market share.
Will also be interesting to see if they will get access to 128 kbs of DAB spectrum in all 3 markets.
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Agreed, it’s a good move (because we’re all hoping for more to be done to these stations).
It’s just a shame, because a company like Nine would be able to afford much better talent & resources if they could be bothered.
I doubt ACE would be able to afford to bring back talent in Sydney like Tim Webster and George & Paul.
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Dump the Magic Brand in Melbourne and bring back 3XY rocking Melbourne.
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they’ll have to wrestle (i.e. pay $$$) to get the name from Greek radio
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I really don’t think there’s a need for announcers apart from the ones already there in breakfast + weekend mornings.
No announcers is what sets it apart from other music stations. News at the start of the hour, then non-stop songs without having to hear the sound of anyone’s voice, plus no ads. Perfect.
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I think a successful radio station needs good announcers all throughout the day and evening with Smooth as a perfect example of getting the balance right, with not too much talk but just enough to keep the listeners engaged.
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I seriously hope you’re wrong about the shared log. That’s not what’s needed, particularly for 4BH.
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Would defeat the purpose from Nine’s perspective - avoid AM talk competition. The sale price would be tiny, but the threat of a potential new talk competitor would be large.
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I’d say News Corp would buy it from ACE and turn it into “Sky News Australia Radio” and put the likes of Bolt and Jones on there to try to crush 2GB, 3AW and 4BC so Nine are still protective of their stations.
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News Corp sort of already owns radio stations. Smooth FM/Nova is owned by Nova Entertainment which is owned by News Corp’s Lachlan Murdoch
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TBH I can’t see Nine ever selling their music network completely, so long as they’re still running and owning their talk network.
The whole point of “leasing” the network/operations is because there would probably be a tonne of clauses and limitations to what formats would be acceptable on 2UE, 4BH and Magic.
I doubt anybody renting these stations would be allowed to run a talk network under Nine ownership.
Also - there is no mention of 6GT Perth. Will this be shutdown?
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I have mixed feelings about this. The Nine music stations have a mix of music which I really enjoy and if there are any ads, I can’t say I’ve noticed them. The lack of announcers does make the stations a bit lifeless but the good music more than makes up for it. But I fully accept there’s no way this is making Nine any money and they’ll have to do something about adding commercials without losing listeners to make it viable long-term, and effectively outsourcing programming to someone with experience running music radio makes some sense.
If Ace Radio add more voicetracking, I just hope its more contemporary and engaging than the current hosting. The metadata on 2UE’s stream this morning indicates the voicetracks for this morning were recorded on the 21st…eight days ago! If it can’t be voicetracked within a day (at most) of broadcast, with exceptions for holiday periods, then why bother having announcers? That’s something Ace could fix quickly, hopefully without breaking much of the rest which works reasonably well.
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