It’s because it’s practically a trope at this point for 30 or 40somethings online on forums like Reddit or Whirlpool to constantly whinge that Triple J isn’t what it used to be when it’s not meant to be by design. This always intensifies when a genre / sub-genre has a distinctive generation gap (mumble rap and alt-pop in recent years, dubstep last decade are the best examples of this).
It was clearly meant to be a sassy tweet in like with the Double J tweet it replied to, but it came across way too aggressive and only served to fuel the fire. Of course as we know with ratings data, Triple J in some markets is actually more popular amongst 25-39’s than the 16-24’s it’s intended to be for.
Triple J does so well in these demographics because of the sad state that SCA and Nova network stations have become. Look at the Gold Coast and Newcastle markets where Triple J has at times been ahead of the Hit station.
I think part of it is that for a lot of people, once you ‘outgrow’ Triple J there often wasn’t an alternate station to listen to - so you either kept listening (getting increasingly frustrated at the music) or quite possibly stopped listening to the radio regularly.
I remember when I was in that boat - I stopped listening to the radio (it didnt help I live in a location where the choice was Triple J or basically a single commercial station) and moved to listening more to music I had on an iPod (and then spotify etc).
Triple J picks up a wider audience than they aim for and as @Ant5476 points out, its probably for a lack of options. Its a shame that we dont have something closer to the BBC Radio stations where there is a much wider range of music options
Yes the BBC does very well at targeting a wider market then the ABC does here.
Radio 1 which is the closest to Triple J has a much broader audience, and a younger one too, around 24 years old is their average versus 25-39 for Triple J. Where they differ from Triple J is they mix up their alternative, dance, hip hop, with mainstream music so have a greater appeal.
The ABC also need a Radio 2 style station, move Classic to Dab+ / online. Basically commercial radio stations such as Smooth / WS Gold would have the most to loose from this.
Basically where the ABC problem is their radio stations are very niche and very left wing. But that is the market they are happy to target. You have 2GB to appeal to right wingers.
…and it’s probably the market that all Australian commercial radio networks are happy for the ABC to be targeting.
With the exception of Local Radio and perhaps Triple J, the ABC’s radio stations are largely aimed at niche demographics. Similar deal with SBS Radio, although at least the multicultural broadcaster’s digital radio offerings are slightly more interesting than most of the ABC’s.
In some markets - you might get some choice if you live in metro areas, but outside of that the options evaporate pretty quickly. It’s sad we don’t have greater nationally available music choices (regardless of operator)
A couple of examples here-
When Triple J started going woke and moved the Hottest 100 off Australia Day due to upsetting the indigenous community. This was a controversial decision that upset many but also was applauded by a large proportion of Triple J listeners.
Triple J news often leads with human right stories that don’t get a mention on other commercial mediums.
Q&A is a very left wing show and their panels are often stacked 2:1 with Greens / Labor to Liberal guests.
ABC has it’s purpose to give the other side of the argument, and for the extreme right wingers they always have 2GB / 4BC and Sky News after Dark to express their views.
But was it really? Or just another connected outrage by right wing snowflakes who shout down any hint of a different opinion floating around outside their echo chambers?
The best thing about Double J is that it plays heaps of new music - just in different styles/genres than Triple J. And that’s important.
For instance, one of my favourite contemporary artists has a retro soft-rock sound and a voice like Karen Carpenter. That combo would go down like a lead balloon on Triple J’s youth-focused format, but her songs fit right into Double J’s playlist.
I’m not surprised they’re bumping all other content an hour earlier, I’m surprised they’ve been able to justify having specialist shows running from 10pm - 1am for so long. The replacement for Roots N All is expected, as a lot of the genres it covered really moved over to Double J permanently, even for new releases.
Good Nights is in a very weird spot now, effectively 1 hour on Mondays and 2 hours Tues - Thurs. Does it even have a producer anymore with such a massive cut-back.
I am going to give an unpopular opinion here but shouldn’t the Hottest 100 be for new songs that came out in 2021 and not like a version (covers) I know there was only three in the countdown.
Good on the Wiggles winning this year, with the Tame Impala cover, but for me Stay was the song of the year. I obviously don’t fit into Triple J’s Aussie Indy crowd.