June 2022
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SCA moved a few streets away in June/July 2022.
SCA had 2 levels - level 2 being Fox, and level 1 being Triple M, corporate and additional studios for production and digital.
Nova have taken over level 1, but not level 2.
It looks like Nova have kept the same studio shells. Nova 100 are using the former Triple M studios up the Dorcas st end of the floor. I haven’t seen pictures of Smooth yet, but I assume they’ll be in the former DAB/podcasting/remote studios down the Coventry St end of the floor.
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Any reason why SCA moved out?
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That’s the $64,000 question. Probably a combination of upgrading studio spaces to support podcasting getting all staff on one floor. They now have several podcast studios of different configurations designed around the more informal presenting style of podcasting compared to the traditional radio format of a large desk and panel.
Cynically, I’d say after moving many stations into newer facilities over the past few years including Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Rockhampton, Hervey Bay, Toowoomba, Newcastle, Wagga Wagga and Griffith, corporate were feeling a bit left out.
In my opinion the Clarendon St studios were some of the most advanced radio studios in Australia. Despite being 15 years old they were build with a real vision for the future and had been upgraded in recent years. Much of the gear was so new that SCA boasted they saved $3.3 million relocating it to their new studios rather than purchasing new gear.
It seems like a step back for Nova to move into the former studios of their competitor, but in this case Nova is the winner, they get to move into a world class facility at only a fraction of the price. Not needing to have a lengthy build process sees them on air in less than 6 months compared to 12+ months for SCA.
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Aaron Rich is putting a good “wow” face on, considering he’s spent a long time in those studios.
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To be fair he was upstairs at Fox and may have never broadcast from that part of the building. The studios have also been fitted out with new desks and tech so would feel completely different.
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Kate Ritchie has announced on her Instagram that she will continue to be absent from KTJ for a few more weeks, with her return date still to be announced. Ricki-Lee continues to fill-in.
Meanwhile The Chrissie Swan Show begins 2pm Monday January 30th.
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Could there be a chance that she will (or continue to) promote Australian Idol on the show? Apologies, I don’t listen to radio often on weekdays.
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Well, why not? She talks about everything she does outside Nova including Australian Idol. The only problem might be that if they are recording live shows on Monday nights she will probably be missing from Nova that afternoon.
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Just heard the song “Nonsense” by Sabrina Carpenter on Smallzy’s Surgery this evening. Another example of Nova latching onto a song way well after its release date (it was released on December 7 last year).
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Only just started to get popular though.
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I do think it takes a while (say 1-2 months) before a song gets popular in Australia, especially by up and coming artists.
This is only my own opinion/theory but it’s quite difficult when you have huge stars such as Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Bebe Rexha, Lewis Capaldi, Sam Smith and OneRepublic dominating radio airplay like they are now.
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But there are a lot of songs released every day. It’s impossible to play every new song by every new artist. There has to be some cut through.
Nova won’t even play songs that are in the top 50 chart right now, so it’s always going to be even harder for new artists to get a chance.
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Nova will only play a song by an up and coming artist if it went via TikTok first.
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Notable exception: Rosa Linn. We all know how popular her Eurovision song “Snap” is, and three months ago she released a duet with Duncan Laurence called “WDIA (Would Do It Again)”, which I have a good feeling will start hitting the airwaves soon.
And while Ava Max is due to drop her second album at the end of this week, her recent song “Million Dollar Baby” appears to be confined to airplay only on Smallzy’s Surgery, and nowhere else within Nova’s schedule.
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I realise you’re a fan of these artists but they just aren’t as popular with the wider population.
A lot of their songs sound very alike and therefore they don’t really cut through and become very popular.
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It also depends on when the song becomes a priority for the record label - not every song is pushed to radio immediately upon release. Sometimes it takes a while.
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Just a question for anyone who knows: how do radio stations in Australia decide which songs get played on the airwaves and which don’t, at the time of their releases? Could it depend on the potential they have to chart well here, how they’re performing in other countries, especially their country of origin, etc.?
I also find it rather annoying that songs by particular up-and-comers don’t get their time in the sun as they should be, and some (like I pointed out earlier) only get confined to airplay either during particular shows on the schedule or even in the late night shifts.
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Not exactly a simple answer.
I haven’t specifically worked in music radio for a while but labels would push new tracks to programme directors of stations for sampling and they’d be playlisted perhaps off peak to begin with if the PD liked it and then would grow over time, in line with music charts and audience feedback etc. It used to be new music was confined to off-peak until it “proved” itself through popularity, requests etc and then would move up the ranks in terms of bigger shows and bigger rotations in the music log.
I think it has changed a fair bit especially with TikTok and other forms of music discovery now.
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