Gypsy Queen by Country Radio just played on Magic, haven’t heard that song on radio for such a long time. Also heard Melting Pot by Blue Mink in the past couple of days. Keep it up music programmer!
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Had a listen this morning. The breakfast is much better with Trevor (and his unofficial co-host), the voice tracking seemed quite relevant but the ‘co-host’ did national weather at one point.
The music is okay, skewing much older than under Nine, quite down tempo though which is a problem that I had with Smooth before, sounded too depressing.
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Listening to Magic 1276 online, I think the music playlist is more aligned with the Nine music radio format, playing more upbeat music. It probably fits to my taste more than the easy format. Despite this given Nine Music was “repeating” the same songs after 12 hours, I still prefer the new 2ue music format over the original Nine Music format. As a side , I did sample Smooth the other day and it too plays some upbeat pop songs as well (more so than 2UE).
I hope this Magic format in Melbourne gives the FMers something to think about (Smooth/Gold). I agree with posters who mention the order quality isn’t great of Magic even online. Feels over processed. I still fail to see . why so many community radio stations have better audio quality than some of the commerical players. Not sure why it is so difficult. Like when 2SM gets feeds from 2HD the audio is poor when playing music.
In respect to the “perfect” dreamworld format if I was to launch the network , my view of radio should be more like community radio music where DJs program their own shows and play just about “whatever they like”. I guess that is available in community radio today. One day I hope a commercial operator may decide to experiment with that concept. I know I have posted this before, and rationally it doesn’t make sense in today’s world , personally I would try one show or two and see how it goes.
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I have been listening closely to Easy Music 2UE since the launch. I reckon they have got the music profile pretty much right and especially will suit Sydney given the gap in the market that 2UE can fill as the Ace station in the harbour city. I have recently logged also Smooth and 2CH for comparison. 2CH is really an old playlist “60s, 70s and a dash of the 80s” … so basically nothing much newer than 40 years. Smooth is a lot more contemporary eg. Lewis Capaldi , Sam Smith. Ace’s Easy Music should fit nicely into the gap between these two in Sydney to provide hopefully a really good coverage across 60s to 90s . The Easy theme can weave these decades together very nicely. Early days but a promising start imho.
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It’s what Fairfax could’ve & should’ve done instead of the Magic network. They should’ve based their music network on the then 2CH Easy 1170 format.
With a bit of luck for ACE and Nine, this move to Easy Music 2UE might be the final nail in the coffin for 2CH DAB+.
Yep I agree. And I feel quite sorry for a great pro like Tim Webster buried on 2CH DAB+ surrounded by such a mouldy ambience. Really hope he could get a gig with Ace. He and Trevor Sinclair could work together again just like at 2UW in the early 80s!
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I’d really love to know what is keeping Tim at 2CH.
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Another option for Tim could be floating on Nine/2GB ? They had Rob Duckworth on Saturday nights over summer … yet another 2UW 80s lad !
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He probably has a nice fat contract there.
Yes it is a good playlist and with the new announcers, it is quite possible it will rate double than what it is currently rating, by the end of the year.
If they tell people it’s there. I’m sure most of Sydney would think 2UE’s a talk station.
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Considering 2CH rated a 5 share before it became SEN, I’m sure a lot of those listeners will move to 2UE.
I am not sure on that. 2CH had years of legacy as a music station where 2UE were only full-time music in the 70s for a short time. People perceive them as a talkback station. So the new 2ue needs a decent marketing budget. It would of been easier when SEN bought 1170, Nine radio did a swap with SEN, and use the 2CH branding for the music station. ie a total 360 turn. It was different management at the time who bought 2UE into the 2GB empire, Nine already did a 180 degree and made 2UE a music station so basically like the old 2CH / 2GB (only its now 2UE/2GB). Having 1170 with music would have a better chance of success as the foundation was there. If SEN was on 954 I don’t think it is much of a threat to 2GB.
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But we all know had 2GB not kept and converted 2UE from its talk format, it would be a very different AM radio landscape today. Especially now that Jones is gone.
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Now that 2CH is not on the AM band there will be the same demographic searching for a music alternative on AM, so some of them could find 2UE. I think 2UE may also take some listeners away from Smooth and WSFM, as well as Smooth Relax.
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But just how long does it take ex-2CH listeners to ‘find’ 2UE playing easy music?
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Yes unless they promote it, potential listeners are unlikely to just stray onto it. But promotion seems to be a lost art in radio these days, for new stations anyway.
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It won’t happen overnight of course but, as I mentioned earlier, at the end of the year they may double their share.
Of course, promotion helps and so does word of mouth.
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Easy Music will be a winner for 2UE. I can only talk from my Sydney perspective but this Easy format fits beautifully into a big gap in our market for Australia’s largest city. ACE easy music playlist is light, its right, its outta sight. Interesting to note their positioner stings are “playing the greatest hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s”. Yet they are also including regular 90s which is great. I would prefer something like “playing the greatest EASY hits from the 60s to now”. The focus should be on the Easy style of music, not just limited to certain decades. Newer music can also fit the Easy format. This is not just a Classic Hits music log which is inherently much older like 2CH which is running a mouldy oldie log. Easy Music 2UE sounding great so far … keep it up ACE.
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Maybe if it is promoted but I am not anticipating any meteoric rise in the next couple of surveys. To be quite frank I far prefer Tim Webster to Trevor Sinclair.
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