I’d think any difference between 4KQ and what ACE do with Magic now is really down to what little the ‘Magic’ name still means - and that heavy rock and roll is such a contrast to the daggy image Magic has. Which is why it’s so ill suited - people who have memories of the old Magic aren’t the target audience, “hey Magic is back on air” really doesn’t get the attention of the audience that you’re trying to get with the station.
It’s kinda a name by default - 3EE sucks and there’s lots of cost in trying to build a new brand name up from scratch. If ACE are picking up stuff from ARN - the 3TT call sign and “Double T” have far more nostalgia to the current Magic target audience than “Magic” does.
I agree. The name Magic doesn’t really fit the target audience or indeed a classic hits station in general. I think if they don’t want to build a call-sign name then they’d be better off just calling it Classic Hits 1278. Would make it easier to network to other stations, like 4KQ.
They might have even been better off making 3MP the classic hits station and Magic the easy music station.
It will reduce costs for them by having the same line-up for Magic as 4KQ and as they will have a duopoly in Brisbane, then it would make sense for them to move 4BH to the 3MP log, so they have the same 2 logs and line-ups in Melbourne as they do in Brisbane, regardless of whether they keep the name ‘4KQ’ or change it to ‘Magic’.
Obviously it’s not a network with 1 standalone station in Melbourne but it would be with 2 stations. From a business perspective, it would make sense for them commercially to align 4KQ with Magic in Melbourne to form a new network - it saves them money and its good for advertisers, in other words it’s more profitable.
It’s looking that way but I would still not discount SEN. It is looking like it will be a 2 horse race between ACE and SEN so it will be interesting to see what happens.
Having said that, we could all be wrong and it might be sold to BOG or Capital.
I think the new ‘Magic’ is better than the old one. The music is good and the announcers give the station some life, so it’s more than just a jukebox. Both 3MP and Magic logs are quite good for classic hits/ easy listening. I don’t mind the new logo either.
From Mediaweek’s interview with Nine Entertainment Co CEO Mike Sneesby:
Nine Radio: AM licences for sale?
The chief executive wouldn’t be drawn on whether Nine has looked at selling its underperforming AM music stations. The deal with Ace Radio to lease the frequencies for 2UE, Magic 1278 and 4BH is perhaps the next best thing. “The core of our radio business is talk radio and therefore the most important thing is the strength of that network and its profitability. What Tom Malone [Nine Radio chief] has done in executing the [Ace Radio] deal underpins the strategy to be the leader in talk radio and maximise profitability.”
Mark Taylor (ACE CEO) said/implied in an interview recently that they had approached Nine with the idea of leasing the stations.
I suppose it could make sense that Nine had made some approaches looking for a buyer and ACE respond with no to buying, but would they be interested in leasing instead.
It could also mean that ACE don’t have the current cash levels to afford the purchase (which is not unsurprising given the last two years). Unfortunately, that would not auger well for ACE buying 4KQ.
Alternatively, Nine think the stations are worth a lot more than ACE (or anyone else) were willing to pay.
There’s no problem with ACE finding the cash if they want to. The Peterson/Handburys are very wealthy and ACE has very little, if any, debt.
Buying 2UE/4BH/Magic is a very different proposition to buying 4KQ.
Those three stations would be worth to $15-20 million as a package, and for that you get very little more than the licence. ACE need to completely build tue audience and revenue base, which is risky. With the lease, they can hand the licences back to Nine only losing whatever they’ve invested so far rather than getting stuck with almost unsellable licences worth that much.
Nine also would have been reluctant to negotiate price down too much as by selling those lose control and have the risk a competitor could pop up on those licences down the track - something which would almost certainly be disallowed in the lease agreement.
4KQ on the other hand comes with more guarantees. It has an audience, it has advertisers and is making a profit. Much less risk spending $10 million or so when you know that unless you really mess up you’ll be getting profit from day one.
I was listening to Magic 1278 last night and one of my pet hates occurred. They played Layla by Derek & the Dominoes but only played the single version which immediately fades out after the singing portion. No awesome piano interlude at the end. I wish being a music station they would play the full album versions of songs.
Imagine the outcry if it was Guns N’ Roses’ November Rain, the Eagles’ Hotel California or Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody that got the “radio edit” treatment! Radio edits are very common on Triple M and Gold!
Absolutely correct. Definitely 2UE/4BH should be playing 90s and also 00s +. As i have posted on here before, the focus should be on Easy Music not just limited to a few defined oldies decades. It really annoys me to hear their positioner as playing “60s, 70s and 80s.” Even the 80s is now some forty years ago ! This is not a classic hits format, it is Easy Music. Forget the music era, focus instead on the music genre ACE.
Does Ace need us to tell them to drop the doing the "greatest hits of the 60’s, 70, 80’s?
They should just use the same music log as 3mp. 3mp does not have that problem. They play music from 60s to now. 3mp’s slogan is Melbourne & the Mornington Peninsula’s Easy Music
2ue and 4bh share the same website design as 3mp and the logos are the same. But the music log is different between 2ue/4bh and 3mp
for some unknown and strange reasons I noticed
Former Gold 104.3 presenter Gavin Miller will present the 10am-1pm slot from Tuesday (26th April) on Magic 1278. This will include The Magic Lunchbox from Midday, showcasing music from the 60s & 70s.
I agree. They should be playing easy listening from the 60s to now. It’s about the genre not the decades. They can still focus on core decades like the 70s and 80s but include select newer songs that fit the format.
4BH used to do this in the late 90s and early 00s in fact.