They were on FM briefly in the 90s ,
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4CA was on FM from 1998 until 2009, when then-owner Prime Radio decided to expand the Zinc brand beyond its Gympie/Sunshine Coast station by taking over 4CAās FM frequency, causing 4CA to move back to the AM band.
The same happened to 4MK in Mackay, who were on FM from 1999 until 2009.
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For the first time, CRA has released a timetable as to when the Xtra regional surveys are released.
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Hmm no Gold Coast in there? Or is that more metro these days? It probably should be with 750k population (excluding tourists)
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Gold Coast is surveyed by GfK, which its first of three surveys for the year will be released on Thursday 9th May.
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Canberra and Gold Coast come under the metro GFK rating system.
Interesting with the Central Coast being surveyed right at the end of the year, normally itās survey is released mid year.
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It is a strange release date, as this list is only results release dates & not actual survey dates, Central Coast survey has been around September in recent years so not quite mid year but still, if the survey period is still around September, why are they holding the results off until late December?
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Itās possible that the Central Coast will be surveyed at around late November/early December for this year instead of the usual August/September that was traditionally held at over the many years (except 2021, which was held during June), hence the December 19 release date. 
Here is the first radio ratings survey released for 2024, which took place in Roma: Commercial Radio and Audio
Hit 95.1 is #1 at 32.8% (+8.9 from 2021, when the market was last surveyed), followed by ABC Southern QLD at 22.4% (-5.6), and 4ZR with 17.5% (-4.1). No demographic breakdowns are included in the figures.
In breakfast, Hitās Bronte & Lakey from the Gold Coast is #1 with 35.5% (+11.5 from when it was Cliffo & Gabi out of Townsville), followed by ABC Southern QLDās David Iliffe at 25.7% (-3.8), and 4ZR at 13.6% (-7.7). Hitās Carrie & Tommy dominates drive with 35.2% (+11.0), with 4ZR at a distant 2nd with 18.1% (-8.7), and ABC Southern Drive at 3rd with 13.6% (-7.5).
The āOther Stationsā ratings is at 23.6%, up 0.1 from 2021.
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I am curious why Central Coast isnāt measured same as these 2 markets? Central Coast would be comparable to Gold Coast and Canberra in terms of market size? And there would be similarities with the Gold Coast in terms of significant overlap to a nearby capital city
It is a bit puzzling, isnāt it? Central Coast is arguably a more competitive market than Newcastle, even without taking the overspill from Sydney into account.
The same can be said for Wollongong, where Nielsen held two surveys each year in the past.
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With a 0 rating (though small sample size), perhaps the ABC should consider switching 97.7 from Classic to Triple J (note I think this is an ABC funded service, not self help).
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They are also missing an ABC News outlet.
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I wonder if the ABC are spooked about expanding JJJ in areas where it likely would impact the profitability of the commercial stations in a marginal market.
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Itās possible I guess, but Triple J rates poorly in regional areas generally, even the small markets.
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Better than Classic rates anyway. Canāt do worse than the big fat 0 it got in Roma.
I think the only market Iāve ever seen anywhere where Classic outrates Triple J is Canberra.
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I canāt speak for or try to guess todayās JJJ audience in regional Australia these days, but it would have had a significant proportion of, say, 12-35 age brackets 20 or so years ago. Back before SA had a full suite of commercial FM stations (which was up to as late as 2003 when Magic 105.9 commenced from The Bluff), Triple J was pretty much the only music station we had growing up.
Tropo occasions from Adelaide were excitedly talked about amongst my friends and I because we could pick up SAFM! Iām talking late 90s / early 2000s when radio was still a big part of everyoneās lives in a small town and we only had 2 (later 3!) TV channels.
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Where was that in? Port Augusta?
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Quorn is where I grew up, about 30 min from Port Augusta just the other side of the main ranges.
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Thatās a good get, given you had the Ranges to contend with
Would have been even easier to get in Port with the better line of sight.
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Fresh FM 92.7 actually used to come in the best, both during tropo on the farm, and coming down off the ranges into Port Augusta where thereās a good line of sight south. The high power ABC FMās from Riverland were regulars too and even Adelaide DAB I got once - just had to walk up the hills behind the house basically to get the further signals.
Not to mention over at our eastern property up the top of Mt Stokes the DX was simply amazing as a kid - talking places like Mildura and Broken Hill in the middle of the day. One day when Iām back āhomeā Iāve got to get back up there and do a band scan for yāall.
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