I’m embarrassed for them…
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And remember when 2UE would rate 5-6 percent and they’d whinge about ratings?
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WOW they really are delusional about MSR’s success aren’t they!
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Ox and Marko are actually going ok given what the station is pulling the rest of the time.
Sadly you see a lot of that type of extreme delusion and spin in a lot of the corporate world these days, not just radio. But Macquarie are taking it to the next level.
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When 2GB took control of 2UE they could have saved themselves a bucketload of money and just pulled the plug on the Greenwich station.
It is a distinct possibility that MSR has more employees than listeners.
In the history of radio never before have so many employees broadcast to so few listeners.
MSR makes 2RN and ABC FM look like viable commercial operations.
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They probably aren’t, but personally I think MRN should be regretting the decision to sell off 2CH instead of 2UE.
I mean, 2CH isn’t without problems that need addressing (2CH breakfast ratings are a disaster, for instance) but at least they’re above 2% in all timeslots, MSR 954 doesn’t have a single timeslot with ratings above 1%! 
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It’s like when General Motors purchased the trams in America, eventually closing them to force people to purchase motor cars.
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My possible idea for the three stations is to turn them into Nine News, simulcasting Today and the morning, afternoon and evening news, with rolling news coverage outside of these times. They could keep the current live radio traffic and local news during the Today commercial breaks. The current weekend afternoon and evening sports coverage could be retained.
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I always thought that would work too.
Make 954AM pretty much rolling news coverage and headlines and leave 873AM as is.
That way they could also keep the previous News Talk logo.
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Really hope their spin doctors are getting a nice bonus because I have no idea how they’re able to keep spinning MSR’s numbers
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Yes in the corporate/government world its all about spin and you need to be skillful in working out what is spin and not. I hope spin does not mean the world will spiral to a darker place 
. We need the people in this world looking at real problems and genuine to make things better rather than being consume in politics whether in corporate or government. Like creating a radio station just to protect 2gb to settle old scores with 2ue to make sure they don’t rise up again to beat 2GB.
Spin is not new but it feels like there is more these days than going back in the past… Is that because there are less manufacturer jobs these days? So people are consume with this “sort of stuff” to survive. Anyway way off topic 
.
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Sorry but I doubt any format works as a network. This combo of stations is perhaps not suited to being in combination.
The MSR result in Brisbane is no surprise. Brisbane just isn’t a strong talk market, period. 4BC doesn’t rate all that well either. Which is why I have suggested before that 4BC could easily network feed from both 873 and 954 in Sydney.
882 doesn’t need to be in the network at all…or any network for that matter. It is more obvious in Brisbane than it even is in Melbourne that 882 should simply go back to its roots - whatever you call that : Easy, Smooth, Lite and Easy, Mellow Music or good old 4BH.
While in Melbourne, the opportunity to revive 1278 AM drifts further away, with Smooth 91.5 now the third choice for listeners aged 65+ behind 3AW and ABC Radio Melbourne. And with names like ‘Smooth’ and ‘Gold’ already in the market, it would be very tough going to revive an AM music station after two years of absence.
And yet I note how well Cruise 1323 are performing, how 4KQ is tops with 55 and over, how respectable 2CA performs (and having been in Canberra last weekend for Floriade, I note how great the 2CA music selection is and rich their station imagery is, a rare feature of music radio these days compared to a generation ago, in my humble middle-aged opinion)
You would go “upbeat” 50s to the 80s on 1278 AM because there’s just nowhere left to go after a failed Talking Lifestyle (which I personally had a lot of time for) and a likely failed experiment with MSR (which fails to hold my attention for more than an interview or two on a really busy sports day, a huge contrast with how often my radio was tuned to 1278 this time last year).
By all means give the cricket season a try yet I note SEN has that covered to (plus they have the A-League and have brashly launched SEN+ and posted a healthy ratings gain at the time of year you’d been concerned if they did not).
Or they might just want to try what 2SM already do and consolidate whatever strength they have in sport into an afternoon drive shift and take the rest of the day back to something broader like “lifestyle”. At least at the start of 2017 they sort of understood the need for a concept they could call their own (they just implemented it so badly).
What about Rolling news? (ABC already so that). Minor sports? (ABC Grandstand!). back to news-talk? (with 2GB having eaten up what’s left of 2UE’s star personnel and listener base, why would they bother?..and the reason 2UE used to feel like a loser on what now looks like a high-rating 5 per cent is because news-talk is not cheap to do)
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Yeah in Sydney just a 2ca format is a gap. In my view it’s better than 2ch more variety, smooth to me feels fake. They can still have the cricket and afl on , if they wish. But they probably should stick to the format and move the high rating footy shows from aw and GB to 2ue and magic in Melbourne. Drastically, changing formats every 2 years is not a good idea. They are better off playing music now every now and again. ABC Grandstand plays music.
it’s an interesting idea but i think the market segment for a news station is taken by newsradio and we see how that rates/
Way off topic but right on the money!
I completely agree with you and I think you’re onto something with the change in what “work” is. It’s not just the decline in manufacturing jobs IMO but also the rise in general automation.
I’m glad it’s not just me seeing it.
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Completely agree with your points. The solution is obvious for Brisbane. I do still think that 1278 could find a classic hits niche in Melbourne but yes the window is getting shorter.
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I wonder if the solution for Sydney is a station focusing on traffic reports? Some AM stations in the US are traffic stations in the big cities. It could be detailed traffic / news with music fillers and sport / lifestyle talk on weekends.
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I wonder how many former Magic 1278 listeners have moved to stations such as 3GG which are receivable in Melbourne. It may be too late to get them back to a new station
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What’s the 3GG reception like at night though? I find that’s the killer for AM.