4BU still pretty impressive for an AM competing against two FMs.
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And judging by the 50% jump in 4WK’s ‘most listened to’ stat thanks to a low powered FM service for the market’s biggest city, if the same was done in Bundaberg, 4BU would be even more competitive.
Billy Healy’s show is highly competitive with the FM choices and shows the interest in local content.
Local ABC is on FM in Bundy too. More would choose the FM 100 broadcast than AM 855 from Dundowran.
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Yes definitely more would be on the FM frequency for ABC local. 4BU’s reception in the region has always been less than impressive. It struggles even in Childers. I’ve often wondered why the owners never explored options for an FM translator like many of the Super network stations do.
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The 4BU (and 4FC) LAPs don’t cover Childers so a translator would be granted. It’s why Rebel could get remote area licences for the town.
I thought 855 4QB from Pialba/Dundowran got decommissioned some years ago?
And why should 4BU get a FM translator in Bundy?
1332 is only on the edge of town at Sloping Hummock.
Or are you talking about one in Childers?
The latest Central Coast radio ratings have been released: http://www.radioalive.com.au/RA/media/General/Documents/Surveys%20for%20DAB/GOSFORD-XTRA-INSIGHTS-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RESULT.pdf?ext=.pdf
Star 104.5 has narrowly taken out the #1 spot with a 16.7% share, with Sea FM not far behind at 16.6%. 2GO fell 0.9% to 10.8%, probably their lowest overall share in the station’s 47-year history. The Sydney stations are once again not listed in the survey.
In the demos, Sea FM is #1 in the under-40s, Star tops the 40-54s, 2GO tops the 55-64s & ABC Central Coast wins in the 65+. Star had a boost in the 55-64s, going up 4.8% to 15.5%, but 2GO also went up 4% to 19.1%. Nevertheless, the gap between the two stations in that demo have narrowed from 4.4% last year to 3.6% this year.
In breakfast, Sea FM’s Gawndy & Ash are #1 with 17.6%, followed by Star’s Julie & Rabbit with 16.4%. 2GO’s Mandy & Akmal fell below 10% to just 9.7%, narrowly beaten by JJJ. In drive, Hughesy & Kate on Sea was #1 with 19.4%, followed by Star’s Hayden Else at 17%. Kennedy Molloy on 2GO rated just 10.6%, just ahead of JJJ’s Veronica & Lewis.
The Other Stations, which mostly includes Community & Sydney stations, account for 39.7% of listeners surveyed, up 0.5% from last year.
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2GO being outrated by Triple J (which doesn’t even have a Central Coast broadcast, with the region presumably having to rely on either 105.7 Sydney or 102.1 Newcastle) even if only by 0.1%…oh how the mighty have fallen!
Although I personally think they should avoid doing this at all costs (bad enough that Newcastle will soon have a Triple M-branded station), what’s the bet that some marketing guru at SCA will think it’s a great idea for 2GO to be rebranded as “Triple M 107.7” sometime in the next few months?
You’d have to imagine that a decent chunk of that 39.7% would most likely be made up of Coast FM, 2GB, Smooth 95.3 and WSFM?
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That’s for the breakfast slot, not overall. That said, there’s no doubt that the dumping of Sarah King from the station after 25 years has certainly caused quite a backlash on among long-time listeners.
Knowing SCA, it wouldn’t surprise me. If they’re doing it to the #1 stations in their respective markets, 4TO & KO, then surely 2GO, being a distant #3 in the market, will certainly follow suit as well.
That would be about right. Plus on the northern half of the Central Coast, a number of them would be tuned to 2NUR, as well as 2HD to a lesser extent.
The “Other Stations” ratings on among the older demos are as follows:
40-54s: 37.3%
55-64s: 51%
65+: 64.6%
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Not at all surprised about the 2GO result considering the backlash of the axing of Sarah and Paddy and people boycotting 2GO.
Really quite surprised about the Triple J result considering the variable reception of the Sydney and Newcastle frequencies across the Coast. Any idea why ABC Central Coast rates so poorly?
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I seem to recall 2GB rating rather well on the Central Coast when the Sydney stations were included in the published ratings. A decent chunk of that 64.6% would have to be 2GB.
You would be right about that.
Here is the 65+ ratings for the Central Coast back in 2012, the last Nielsen ratings for the market, which listed the Sydney stations.
#1 2GB: 23.3
#2 92.5 ABC Central Coast: 21.1
#3 2GO: 11.4
#4 ABC Classic FM: 5.9
#5 2CH: 4.1
=#6 2HD: 2.5
=#6 RN: 2.5
#8 2UE: 1.8
#9 ABC Newsradio: 1.7
#10 WSFM: 1.6
#11 Sea FM: 1.4
#12 Star 104.5: 1.2
#13 Smooth: 0.3 (it was just starting up back then)
#14 1233 ABC Newcastle: 0.2
=#15 2MMM: 0.1
=#15 KOFM: 0.1
=#15 New FM: 0.1
And here’s the top 10 stations on among the 55-64s from that same survey:
#1 2GO: 21.4
#2 92.5 ABC Central Coast: 19.8
#3 2GB: 10.3
=#4 Star 104.5: 7.6
=#4 WSFM: 7.6
#6 Sea FM: 6.2
#7 2HD: 2.1
#8 RN: 2.0
#9 ABC Newsradio: 1.6
=#10 2CH: 1.2
=#10 Mix 106.5: 1.2
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2GB does extremely well considering it’s signal is quite weak on the Central Coast.
My in-laws get it fine on their car radio at Gosford but use an old antique portable radio that has a sensitive tuner in the house. Their mini hifi can hardly pick it up. Reception is worse at night due to night skip.
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But the Sydney results have not. The new methodology has seen the loss of detail of Sydney surveyed stations.
Wonder how Mickey and co will spin another failure at their hands?
Removing Sarah and Paddy was never going to be pretty, especially without a well managed transition and decent talent that the market accepts.
Local drive proving its worth again to the detriment of 2GO. Star run a music shift, so no big PM drive spend and still end up with a decent result. They’d win if they invested as seen with Mix Maroochydore or Hot Tomato.
And it’s likely 702 won ‘off the sheet’. The overall share for ABC Central Coast is distorted due to programming duplication with 702 and that 702 for the large part, easier to receive than the low powered allocation on FM.
The commercial share this time is 44.1% compared to 46.9% last time. From when it was a solus market for 2GO, Central Coast has always suffered with lower than usual commercial share.
@SydneyCityTV, good analysis on brand changes, for SCA, they don’t care what the stations rate to change brand. Anything to cut costs reduce intangible values seems to be SCA’s model.
The brand confusion is laughable enough between KO and 2MMM, to have another between perpetuates the joke. “Which MMM?” “The rock one or the 2GO/KO one?”
It shows how desperate the audience is, happy to tune to out of area reception or confusing it with online to avoid mediocre local content where local talent is removed without audience support.
See above, it’s due to most listening on 702 and the low powered allocation of the FM licence.
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By listening you can really tell how bad the quality of the regional SCA stations have become in the last 12 months.
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just have to listen to Cenatiempo spewing his right-wing filth and ignorance. Can’t stand the turd. Especially after his university rant last week that totally ignored autistic and people on the spectrum, and when parents rang up to tell him why he was wrong, they were just abused and hung up on.
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Wow, I didn’t know his content was that bad. Needs a good mentor, Luke would be a good start.
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How about going back to an all request music show like The Nightmix of the 90’s! So much talkback and BS on regional radio now. Bring back the music.
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I couldn’t agree more!
Not a fan of FM talk.
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How did you get access to that?
