‘Don’t judge HitFM strategy until Hamish and Andy are on board’ says SCA content boss
The head of content for the troubled HitFM network has urged the market not to judge it until later in the year when star hosts Hamish and Andy rejoin to front its national drive show.
Southern Cross Austereo (ASX: SCA) has fallen to third place nationally for the first time ever behind rivals Australian Radio Network and Nova Entertainment, due largely to a collapse in audience share for its Hit stations across the eastern seaboard markets in the latest survey today.
“There is no point in judging the strategy until it is complete,” said Craig Bruce, head of content for SCA. “There is a very important piece of the puzzle that is not on the air yet. Hamish and Andy are not the cure-all and they are not the saviours, but they will add to what we are doing.”
HitFM strategy
The drop follows a move to rebrand stations 2DayFM in Sydney, FoxFM in Melbourne and SAFM in Adelaide under the Hit banner.
However the Sydney station dropped 0.3 per cent, with heavily promoted breakfast duo of Dan Debuf and Maz Compton capturing just 2.8 per cent of the audience, while Melbourne was down 0.8 points and Brisbane down 1.1 points, while HitFM’s Adelaide and Perth stations posted only moderate gains (up 0.4 per cent and also 0.3 per cent respectively).
Speaking to Mumbrella this morning Bruce defended the eastern seaboard declines noting many of the breakfast programs were still relatively new: “What does it say about the strategy? It says we have got a new show in Adelaide, a new show in Perth, a new show in Melbourne and a new show in Sydney. We are getting back into the roster in the second half of year.
“We had new or newish breakfast shows around the country and that extra Hamish and Andy support and the star power that comes with it will certainly help in the strategy.”
The comments come as SCA’s competitors lined up to once again put the boot into the historic radio brand with ARN’s Duncan Campbell describing it as a “two horse race”.
“This survey saw SCA flip to third place for the first time ever,” said Campbell, ARN’s national content director. “If you look around the country it is becoming a two horse race with between Nova and ARN.”
Nova’s Paul Jackson trumpeted their rise to number one nationally saying: “That was always SCA’s lead line in all their press releases around the country for decades, but today Nova has won it and has more listeners than anyone anywhere.
“I don’t know (about SCA’s strategy), it’s certainly a difficult one.”
Bruce however fired back telling the market to give SCA until August before casting judgement.
“As much as we would have loved to have had (Hamish and Andy) on from the start we will have to wait until Survey 5,” said Bruce. “Come talk to me in August/September and if we haven’t moved the dial by then we will have a different conversation. Right now we have a plan in place we just haven’t been able to execute it in its entirety.
“Let’s not kid ourselves (Hamish and Andy) are as crucial to us as Kyle and Jackie O are to Kiis. Mix as it was, was at a three share and had been for 10 years then Kyle and Jackie O come along and turn it into a nine overnight. That’s what talent does.
“I’m not going to apologise for the fact that great shows and great talent move the dial and are critical for our business.”
Fall in Melbourne FM stations
The positioning over the national rankings came in a survey which also showed weak results in Melbourne for the FM stations with falls across the board, which ARN boss Campbell attributed to more AM readers being given survey diaries.
“All the FM stations were down in Melbourne,” said Campbell. “It is remaining an unstable market and you have some big cumulative moves as well with all the FM stations dropping and there is still only 1.3 per cent between first and last.”
Campbell noted the fall was surprising given the major marketing blitz in Melbourne as the three FM stations duke it out.
“There has been some aggressive marketing by SCA, by Nova and by us but then you look at the AM numbers SEN went up by 1.1 and 3AW went up 1.8 – it’s looking very much like an AM book,” he said.
“It’s hard to rationalise why the FMers dropped – there is a lot of movement between stations as people figure out where their loyalties lie.”
Macquarie/Fairfax merger
Over in AM-land the bosses of newly merged Macquarie and Fairfax Radio stations have turned down interview requests on the impact of the merger, which has seen at least 50 jobs go, but defended declines in the audiences of both Radio 2GB and Radio 2UE.
“In a State election period, these movements are within a statistical range,” said Adam Lang Macquarie Radio Network chief operating officer in a statement. “Our cumulative reach across Sydney via 2GB and 2UE is incredibly strong and especially so in reaching the influential audience over 40 years old.”
Brisbane AM station 4BC also posted a surprise 0.8 point rise in its audience in the final survey before it begins networking Sydney shock jocks Alan Jones and Ray Hadley into Brisbane.
“Each networked program in media can potentially have a different effect,” said Lang. “In the case of Alan Jones, Ray Hadley and Ross Greenwood, each of them has a national profile, are proven radio talent and cover the issues that matter most to our audience in a very compelling way. In particular, Alan Jones and Ray Hadley are stars of radio and all of them have proven that that they can relate to Brisbane.
“We have chosen to network these shows to 4BC to grow our Brisbane audience.”
Nic Christensen
Nic Christensen is a former employee of both Macquarie Radio and Fairfax Radio.
Not only do SCA have nothing positive to talk about, they make stuff up in their press release. Surely the IAB needs to get involved in the claims they are making in their Sydney HIT press releases
Number 1 on Facebook. Thats laughable
http://www.scaengage.com.au/wp.....pagers.pdf
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I’m not sure how even a strong showing by Hamish and Andy will save the hit/Today network — assuming H and A are still a thing among the fickle younger audience by mid-year. Maybe putting them in a networked breakfast show would work. It’d be bold, perhaps foolish, but they don’t have a lot to lose, especially in Sydney.
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Claws being snatched at much?
Pinning hopes on Hamish & Blandy’s infantile shtick kinda ignores how well Dan & Maz are rating on drive, let alone that they are actually fresh & often genuinely funny; they aint the problem.
Presume the ‘plan’ is to go backwards, so well played.
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So Craig Bruce is saying to clients and agencies don’t buy us now we are crap number 3, but in August 4 months away the Hamish and Andy show will have such a pronounced affect overall we maybe could get on some schedules. Bet you the sales team choked on their coffee when that went public.
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Not a good business model to put all your eggs in one basket
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craig. After all these years in radio your strategy is ‘wait till August?’ We’ve heard ‘wait till next year’ ‘wait till next survey’ and now ‘wait till August’ by August Hamish and Andy will be joining a network with no strong shows and the wrong position in market against 2 other very strong drive shows with loyal listener bases
If I was Hamish and Andy I would get the lawyers onto their out clauses in their contracts before they join the ship at the bottom of the ocean
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It’s a laughable strategy, pinning their hopes on a two-hour national show. And as for the Hit Network’s “new” breakfast shows? The vast majority are established teams or personalities. Brisbane – Stav & Abby have been on air for a few years, but this year they are without Labby. Sydney – Dan & Maz have been a team for quite a few years and have been on 2day’s schedule in late-drive and drive for some three years. Melbourne – Fifi Box comes off the back of national drive and and an established media background, and Dave Thornton has been around radio and TV for years. Perth – Will & Woody have also been a team floating around the SCA traps for years, and the point of moving Heidi over there was to cash in on her Big Brother status. What does all this tell us? The strategy is falling flat. The Hit music is repetitive and almost the same as Nova, the imaging is too try-hard and even the promotions coming out of SCA lately are weak.
What’s the alternative? For Melbourne, Chrissie Swan & Joel Creasey on breakfast. Brisbane – ship across the Sea FM team of Charli Robinson and Ross Wallman. In Sydney – bump Jules Lund back up with Emma Freedman and Dan & Maz can head off to Weekend Breakfast. Music wise – drop the “old school” segment and incorporate more gold into regular rotation.
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Wow. Some big statements made in this article.
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Craig has presided over the mega slip from AEO days to SCA. They let K and J go and if Village Roadshow were the principal shareholder bet my booty they would have stayed. To see a once dominant network on it’s knees in the key markets is sad. Then again check the annual report on salary packages of executives who made decisions that turned the Titanic into the iceberg.
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