Wave FM are looking for a new Content Director to replace Barry Keohane.
Thanks @TV-Expert
Barry K is always planning his next adventure, never seems to stay too long.
Must be frustrating to be unable to program the music. Itâs a huge impediment. Why would the Cameron family/ARN hire an experienced programmer in a large market like Wollongong if they have no control of music which is the bulk of the content on a music format?
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That is the main problem with Wave fm.
They are going to a gun battle with i98 with a knife.
Until they can program the music to market i98 will continue to smash them in the ratings,
One option they could try, KIISafy Wave fm by taking the KIIS 101.1 log (90âs to now,) make i98 sound old. Introduce some big competitions to bring listeners across from i98 and the Sydney stations.
Wonât happen.
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Iâd go the opposite and let Wave take Gold104.3âs logs. Pushing i98 to skew younger.
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In Kangaroo valley now. Power FM / the ABCs get the crown. Followed by i98 and wave FM ( the magic of directional transmissio ) but it is still pretty good. 2st 91.7 is there pretty strong but the stereo is messy I think a hill is blocking the signal.
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One problem with this is that ARN would have to sell one of the above stations if the two licence areas were to merge, due to the 2-station rule.
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I found that down south of Ulladulla, whilst you can get Power FM and ABC local radio (from 94.9 FM & 97.3 FM) , its a bit hit or miss on your local commercial station as far as quality of reception with the exception of. 2ST 106.7 FM only shining there. 2EC & Power Batemans Bay have a power restriction northwards. I wonder if Power FM 94.9 FM should also have a repeater there as well. Whilst along the ridge in Ulladulla the reception is good for 94.9 FM and 2ST 91.7FM, due the terrain the reception can be poor in that part of the world. Thus they allowed 2ST rightly, to keep 106.7FM.
The ABC coverage is ok as the Batemans Bay donât have the power restrictions northwards (or it seems). So for example (local radio), some parts 97.3 FM is better, other parts 103.5 FM is better.
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IMO if one licence had to be sold it would be 94.9 Power fm. Unfortunately ARN / Grant have made it almost a duplication of Wave fm, and considering Wave fm overspills into the Nowra licence area they can convert those listeners to Wave fm.
The merging of the Wollongong and Nowra LAPS would require spec changes for the Central Coast Community stations too.
91.7 proposed Coast fm and 94.9 Rhema fm would need to change to a directional pattern similar to the Perth commercials.
It would work like this 4KW to the north and to 180â south. 100W towards Sydney and Wollongong to protect the Wollongong licence area, and than 500W to the WNW of Somersby.
The main population areas of the Central Coast would have a higher ERP than present, and the 100W would be towards Mt White where there is minimal population.
For the combined Wollongong / Nowra commercial fm stations they would be 40KW OD and at 120m on the Knights Hill WiN digital tower. The extra hight is to compensate for the reduction in ERP towards Nowra and the Southern Highlands.
The higher ERP of the Central Coast communities is to reduce CCI from the Illawarra.
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Not to mention with that proposal, you could literally shut off 102.9 Bowral and reassign that frequency to someone else, maybe an Illawarra RN service on FM at the same power as the other ABC services on Knights Hill and switch off 603 and 1431?
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How is Power FM into Bowral? I didnât try. I wonder if that is another spot to have a repeater for them too (in theory). Maybe it can be at a lower power, due to Power FM covering the South-Eastern parts of the highlands well.
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At my house, pretty strong, in town its still good except in a couple of blackspots such as the Woolworths underground carpark for example.
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Would probably need a null to the north to protect 2KKO Triple M Newcastle.
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If Sevenâs stake in ARN goes above 19.9%, and therefore triggers a merger between the two companies (on top of the latterâs proposed merger/takeover with SCA), then 2ST & Power FM would have to be sold due to the âNumber of Voicesâ rule, as Nowra RA1 at present has 4 voices (ARN, Seven, WIN, SCA), which is the minimum for a regional commercial radio licence area.
Wave FM wonât have to be sold, as Wollongong RA1 would still meet the minimum number of voices even if Seven & ARN merge, thanks to the licence area having a local daily newspaper (Illawarra Mercury).
If that were to happen, at least Wave FM & Power FM would have distinct music logs, as the two stations would be under different ownerships from one another.
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92.5 would be better for RN at Knights Hill but 2BOB would have to move. Maybe they could go to 102.9???
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Parts of Mittagong can be problematic for Power fm due to the shading of the Gib. North or south of there the signal is generally fine.
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2BAB, too many BABs and BOBs in radio!
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Not to mention ABC Central Coast, as the Knights Hill ABC services would get into there quite well.
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Maybe they could go to 89.5 I know it is not the correct spacing.
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It gets complex quick⌠Any merging of areas Might be better off having repeaters of Power FM and 2ST at Brokers Nose at low power to cover the Gong. Maybe 102.1 FM / 106.1 FM might work. i98 fm might cause extra issues with Newsradio in the Central Coast and Power FM up in Muswellbrook if they follow the same spec as Power FM towards the highlands? Wave FM / I98 are ok south to have the same specs as Power FM?
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