THEY EVEN PLAYED ARIANA GRANDE’S SANTA TELL ME ON SMOOTHFM WHAT IN THE WORLD! The good news is, they played forgotten songs like Des’ree’s Feel So High and The Tony Rich Project’s Nobody Knows.
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They should be banned for that alone. 
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this is it in a nutshell and when i hear more plans about network centralization and rationalization i laugh. I remember hearing about one of the big players (maybe hit?) introducing a networked Bris / Syd / Mel breakfast show. i knew it would not work, besides the obvious (sport is a big one) it’s things like local place names (Yatala and Rode Road in brisbane to come to mind) that will cause issues
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There was a rumour floating around about this in 2020 that (seemingly) hasn’t come to fruition.
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Okay, I understand that Brad Smart has a lot more knowledge on the subject than I do, but that article is very much one side of the coin.
Exactly. From a listener’s perspective, why would I listen to, say the Hit Network in a small country town. They’ve got Carrie & Tommy, Ash London, Tom & Olly etc. which I could stream from one of the ridiculous amounts of other stations. In fact many other stations streaming online have countless amounts of great programming, but you know what they haven’t got? Local information: a connection to what’s going on where I am, a genuine connection with listeners & advertisers who are just around the corner. Local is radio’s biggest strong point in the digital age, and yet it’s being discarded.
Yeah what is going on with that? It’s gotta be a bit of bitterness from community stations doing a better job at serving their community than what his stations did, right? I never listened to any of his stations while he was running them, but I’m guessing they we’re mostly 2GB relays like they are now? Or at least highly networked/voice tracked? Admittedly I have seriously pondered how commercial-like a lot of community stations are run (like having a set format and whatnot) and whether this is really right, but most of them are doing a service to the community by both providing a place for anyone to have a crack and filling the huge gaps commercial stations leave behind - especially in small country towns.
And on the too many of them, I somewhat agree. Some towns can occasionally have more than one community station, but being of different types (e.g general vs religious etc.). This is excessive and usually leaves both stations in a bad way, splitting up the already small pool of volunteers. But what I personally think he fails to see is that they can’t be distributed based on population. We’re such a big country that having community stations allocated this wat could mean for some that the “community” station they want to volunteer at is 100+ kms away!
Finally, on the revenue front. This I am no expert, but surely the reason revenue is so bad in the regions is because the stations are run like crap? If they were more local they could gain more listenership and most importantly, gain a reputation in the eyes of local businesses. The small business owners live in the area and are your listeners. They understand how well a station is doing if they listen to it, if their friends listen to it, if their customers listen to it, if the other businesses in town do better when advertising with it. Be in their town, make your station known. Sponsor some local footy teams, have some advertising on billboards, TV etc. Do OB’s - get out into the community an be a part of it.
You used to see this everywhere, now it’s mostly the very few independents left. The example that comes to mind is ACE Radio in Gippsland, you can’t drive the Princes too far without seeing the Gold logo.
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I was out that way recently - saw one Star 94.3 logo on a sign - no Triple M anywhere. TRFM/Gold were all over the place however.
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Something quite random.
Triple M tonight played the latest Crowded House song (“Whatever You Want”) followed by a Nirvana song (“All Apologies”).
Fine minutes later WSFM also plays Crowded House (“Better Be Home Soon”) followed by Nirvana (“Come As You Are”).
Both followed the Nirvana song with a lengthy ad break, I heard the same Google Home Mini ad on both stations too.
I’ve not witnessed that before.
Fortunately, normal service resumed thereafter with Triple M playing Gangajang (“Sounds Of Then”) and WS going with Roxette’s “Dressed For Success”.
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“Come As You Are” plays at times on Gold and WSFM.
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Yesterday I headed west. And I can confirm the DAB repeater on top of the hill nearby is working for ABC Grandstand (I am not use to calling it “ABC Sport”). Did not have a lot of time to mess around with the radio, water and radios don’t mix. The reception was very good, I am sure that would of been a blackspot back before the repeater was on air.
Not a bad spot to cool off but I didn’t “really” avoid the crowd… It was a bit busy and too many dogs in my view 
. It was too hot too. Despite this the water “looked very clean”.
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Small world sometimes. I went there yesterday too, late arvo. Middle of the day is too packed with not enough shade. Was better before the floods in February.
And yes DAB is perfect, FM is full of multipath.
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It probably doesn’t deserve it’s own thread so are posting it here.
After seeing this posted on the UK Digital Spy forums, what special programming do stations/networks here have planned for NYE?
I’m assuming with COVID there won’t be any special OBs?
I remember when I was a kid 2Day FM would have a special broadcast with an excellent production piece to coincide with the fireworks.
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Probably just automated “party mix” programs similar to Saturday nights like they normally do, I think?
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Yeah went home around 5pm. I should get there at that time but I live close to 60 mins away. With young kids I need to take them home. Any other good spots to go with young kids? Maybe you saw me I was probably the only one with earbuds and a Sangean radio lol.
I am sure WSFM 99.1 would be excellent. I think the rest would be average. Didn’t try 96.1 or Hawkesbury FM.
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I would have just missed you got there about 5.15. Yarramundi side (not the Grose Vale side). Colo River near the bridge on Putty Rd is another similar spot but like anywhere it’s busy on a hot day in peak season.
Re reception there, generally speaking anything from the East will have multipath issues, anything from the mountains will be clean. 96.1 and 99.1 don’t have any shading issues until you get right under the foot of the climb at hawkesbury heights. 96.1 is worse than 99.1 and worse than the shading at Lapstone on the highway.
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I just bought some earbuds for my radio on special.
They sound pretty good to my ears. Good for my radio listening. No inbuilt mic though a bit old school.
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That’s a pretty good price for a well regarded brand too!
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Best brand for both music & DX is Audio Technica “AIR” AD700. Love these headphones
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Just wondering I would like to get wired earphones worth for $200 plus one day but does it really make a huge difference if you just listen using a mobile or a pocket FM radio? ie you should buy a high end DAC plus subscribe to tidal etc. I’d imagine using a set of $500 headphones on a 40 k DAB station would not make it sound any more brilliant in sound. 
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You would probably notice a small improvement in sound quality for DAB, pocket radio or on a low end receiver if using high end headphones, but obviously the better quality sound source, the greater the gain in sound quality is on high end headphones.
I have the Bose QC35 and Sony XM3 headphones, both have very good sound and are very comfortable. I also have the Bang and Olufsen H4, more expensive again, but not as comfortable as the others but have a very meaty sound.
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good headphones are essential to avoid listening “fatigue” especially over long periods. Good headphones also allow you to hear detail - important when listening to DX through noise. For music they are simply fantastic. You can score a pair for $279
A lot of headphones are horrible for listening to DX. The AD700 are fairly neutral whereas avoid pioneer which pound your head with excessive bass. - UGH
These are the 700X model (I’m not sure how these compare to the AD700’s I have but I’m assuming they’re similar) & are a newer version to what I have.
BTW - they pair well with a Marantz amp for music quality.
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