Sounds embarrassing.
As I read on mumbrella - the Nova ads are a rip off from Londonâs Capital FM:
I can remember when Nova sounded different and reshaped the Sydney radio market. Nova played dance music, extended remixes and never more than 2 ads in a row.
Now Nova copies ads from a station in London and has only 2 songs on its playlist!
I donât mind listening to Nova or any of the commercial FM stations (apart from MMM). Itâs just a pity that Australian radio in 2018 relies so heavily on overseas radio stations.
Radio exec 1:"Letâs spend some money on a TV advertisement"
Radio exec 2: "Any ideas?"
Radio exec 3: "I just saw a great ad for Capital FM on Youtube. Itâs from 2014 but letâs use that for the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide markets"
Radio exec 4: âOK - Lets go grab some breakfast - itâs just past 9am and I am starving - thereâs a great new cafe on Pyrmont Roadâ
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And has never been more profitable!
Nova was a fantastic station that made no money. Now itâs an also-ran that does quite well financially.
Thereâs only so much you can run few commercials and still make money when youâre not #1 (or far from #1). Nova is in probably its best ratings and financial positions in Sydney and Melbourne since those first few break-through #1 surveys despite being a carbon copy of Capital, being completely unoriginal and very homogenised.
Sounds Different was cool, but as anyone whose been in a band that makes no money and has to take a day job can attest to - being cool doesnât mean making money and sometimes being able to be cool is directly contradictory to making money.
I once chatted to a guy who worked at Nova in the early 00s. He told me they didnât run Harvey Norman commercials because Nova was too cool for that. Harvey Norman is supposedly one of, if not THE biggest radio spender in the country.
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Although remember that Nova Entertainment is not a public company and thus does not have the same reporting requirements as ARN or Austereo.
Obviously copying Capital FM has worked wonders. Fresh hits definitely. Fresh ideas - nup.
Yet as far as I know the business model at Nova didnât change until after the GFC. It was the original Nova format that went to #1 in Melbourne overnight, after all.
But they were quite happy to run those cringy âup the nose and away it goesâ ads feat. Ugly Dave??
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Yes - wasnât that around the time when DMG sold the company to Murdoch because it wasnât making any moneyâŚ?
Novaâs original format took it to #1 in Melbourne in survey #1, sure. But how long did it stay thereâŚ? Not to mention the different radio climate that was 2001âŚ
By the time Nova were sold to Murdoch, I think they were running 6-8 ad breaks of two ads per hour whilst every other station ran 2-3 ad breaks of 6-8 ads per hour. Given people mostly listen to radio for music, I donât see how breaking the music 6-8 times per hour is anything close to a good idea. Additionally, they were losing out on many smaller and mid-tier clients who couldnât afford the necessary premiums for the â2 ads in a rowâ shtick.
Meanwhile, budget cuts meant that all the writers and producers they hired in the beginning to script and produce all the topical stuff and âsounds differentâ zips and zaps had almost all gone, without replacement. Unfortunately, random topical sweepers and things only work if you can produce hundreds of them so they donât burn.
Never more than 2 ads in a row and âsound differentâ could have worked if Nova had consistently stayed at #1 or #2 position in Sydney and Melbourne. But they didnât and eventually the company was sold to Murdoch who I guess cared mostly about his radio network being profitable above all else.
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Letâs not forget that SCA blatantly copied the Coke Taste the Feeling commercials for their Hit Network ad campaign last year.
Congratulations to Chrissie Swan of Chrissie, Sam and Browny who was named Moomba Monarch for 2018 this morning, alongside Jimmy Giggle.
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Whatâs this got to do with Nova? And what even is that?
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Moomba is an annual community festival held in Melbourne every March, duuring the Labor Day long weekend. It is sponsored by Novaâs sister station Smooth 91.5.
Just another random fact of kindness. 
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Nova 106.9 Brisbane is the official broadcaster of the Commonwealth Games. Seven announced:
Yeah sure. It will probably only be handful of event finals that will be live with news updates, I think. Dumping their music format for blanket live sport? I doubt it.
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Youâd think a radio station which is actually licenced to cover the Gold Coast area (even though Iâm sure Nova would be receiveable there, particularly on the Northern half) would be the official radio broadcaster of the 2018 Commonwealth GamesâŚ
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Nova 106.9 is the official radio broadcaster of Commonwealth Games for the Brisbane area. Iâm sure an announcement of a GC-based station as the official broadcaster wonât be too far away.
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Hot Tomato perhaps?
https://radioinfo.com.au/news/nova-1069-announced-official-broacaster-2018-commonwealth-games
Read the comment from an abc staffer, the local abc is an official broadcaster. I believe the money would be better spent resourcing more local shifts and local news bulletins.
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This copped a mention in the last break of Kate Tim & Marty this afternoon - was only half-listening admittedly but lo and behold, itâs real.
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Was that seriously in Melbourne!?! Holy shit.
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