That is why you will find Triple M will be more competitive in markets such as Albury, then Wagga or Griffiths where they are the only station on AM.
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Can someone explain then, why the government turned of analogue tv signals in favour of digital tv & we still have commercial radio on a scrappy MW band.
Itâs the Dunning-Kruger effect on steroids
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This is how I see it
- Better quality picture for the consumers
- Only have to broadcast at 1/3-1/4 the analog. power for same coverage.
- More efficient use of spectrum.donât require the same number of frequencies, so the government can then sell off excess spectrum to telcos for billions of dollars. They are even proposing for the ABC and SBS to share one frequency, and the commercials two frequencies, (5 to 3 ) so even more spectrum can be sold off to the telcos.
If the MW band was worth something and the government could flog it, all AM stations would be cleared off it to fm or dab+ .
At the moment frequencies cleared from am to fm conversions are reserved for future DRM test.
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2 reasons I can think of
- Not enough spectrum on FM to accommodate everyone.
- Incumbent commercial FMs will complain that their advantage that they paid for has been wiped out.
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Does 2WG not qualify for the latest round of FM conversions for sole licence areas? Do they overlap too much with an adjacent licence area? Or is it just still in the works? (Apologies for the stupid questions)
Having asked all of that, a nearly 8% drop isnât explained away by the AM effect - itâs a reflection on the station itself. It was still on AM last survey (and all the ones before) too.
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Yes, they do qualify for an FM conversion for solus licence areas.
No.
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Today, itâs off to Sale in the Gippsland region of VIC: https://www.commercialradio.com.au/RA/media/General/SALE-XTRA-INSIGHTS-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RELEASE.pdf?ext=.pdf
TRFM remains at #1 with 36.7% (+4.3 from 2019), followed by ABC Gippsland with 12.7% (-6.0), Triple M Gippsland (formerly Hit Gippsland) with 9.8% (+5.7), Gold with 9.5% (-8.5), JJJ with 7.9% (+1.1) & 3GG with 3.5% (-0.6).
In the demos, TRFM is #1 in the under-65s, with ABC Gippsland topping the 65+.
The âOther Stationsâ ratings is at 15.8%, up from 11.2% in 2019.
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Would be interesting to know what the surveyed listener split between Traralgon and Sale is. As Triple M has a repeater there, but not in Sale.
I would think the Warragul area wouldnât be represented at all, as itâs a separate market, though still within Gippsland region.
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The change from Hit to Triple M seems to have worked out well at least into the Sale RA1 license area where itâs now a point of difference from TRFMâs CHR format.
It will now be interesting to see how it fairs in the Warragul book.
There is fortuitous reception into the Sale and Maffra area but it disappears well before Bairnsdale when driving on the Princes Highway. The overlap of Sale RA1 and Warragul RA1 license areas in the Latrobe Valley would be the majority of the Triple M Gippsland audience in this particular survey.
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Though with such large changes for the ABC and Gold not accounted for with increases to the other stations, something else must be going on here?
Gold wasnât that bad of a station when I was last in the region, especially where you can listen on FM, and thereâs so much of the region where Triple M wouldnât be an option, so it canât explain all the drop.
10% for SEN Track or something?
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Weâre definitely dealing with a small sample size, and theyâre displaying 0âs where less than 50 surveyed people in a demo were listening - which doesnât help with the skewing of results.
Triple M and done a good job of picking up the AM audience, particularly in the younger demos. Also shown with a boost to TRFM with hitâs CHR audience moving over.
Gold also donât have local breakfast, although that was the same last survey too.
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A fair chunk of the âotherâ would probably be Gippsland FM (104.7), and thereâs also the Christian station Life FM 103.9, both in Traralgon. Sale doesnât have itâs own community radio station.
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I think one of the interesting outcomes is the ABC Local Radio. Thereâs a consistent trend away from the ABC across multiple licence areas. Whilst brekky ratings still tend to exceed the overall station outcome, the trajectories are still similar.
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Would also add REG-FM in Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance which takes in a fair chunk of the Sale RA1 commercial license area.
But ironically Life FMâs studios are in Sale. I queried this recently in the Community Radio thread the fact that the license area just falls short of Sale despite the station being based there.
Gold 1242 only has an FM translator in Bairnsdale which is where Triple M Gippsland probably has little to no coverage. That might be Goldâs only saving grace.
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Warrnambool had their ratings out today: https://www.commercialradio.com.au/RA/media/General/WARRNAMBOOL-XTRA-INSIGHTS-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RESULT.pdf?ext=.pdf
Coast FM is #1 with 30.9% (-10.0 from 2019), followed by 3YB FM with 16.1% (-7.9), JJJ with 6.1% (-0.9) & ABC South West VIC with 5.1% (-1.1).
In the demos, Coast is #1 in the under-55s, with 3YB topping the 55+.
The âOther Stationsâ ratings is at 35.3%, a big jump from 18.3% in 2019.
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I thought 3YB would have done a lot better.
Big drops for both Coast and 3YB.
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Unfortunately neither station has a local breakfast show produced exclusively for the region anymore. A lot of listeners would have tuned off Coast once Monkey left.
Other element is the music, Coast has skewed a lot older as part of the ACE network strategy with a lot more overlap with 3YB
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Can someone remind me, when did 3YB convert to FM? It was on FM in 2019 wasnât it?
Thatâs a massive âOther Stationsâ rating. What else is on the dial down in the 'Bool other than other Ace Radio stations from neighbouring markets? What does 3WAY FM sound like these days?
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3YB converted to FM in July 2018, so yes, it had already converted when Warrnambool was last surveyed.
This program guide may or may not answer your question.
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Where did Monkey go after Coast?
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