SCA bosses tell rivals: ‘If Kyle and Jackie O can boost ratings why can’t Hamish and Andy’
Dobson
Southern Cross Austereo’s (SCA) bosses have fired back at rivals Australian Radio Network (ARN) and their claims the return of Hamish and Andy, to Drive in the coming weeks, will be no “silver bullet” arguing they can have the same effect as Kyle and Jackie O did for KiisFM in Sydney.
Speaking to Mumbrella after today’s ratings release SCA’s content heads Guy Dobson and Craig Bruce touted the strong results for its Triple M network, but also acknowledged the HitFM stations continue to struggle, with its much promoted Sydney breakfast duo of Dan & Maz slumping from 2.8 to just 2.4 per cent audience share.
“We were very disappointed with the Sydney result today,” Guy Dobson, chief content officer told Mumbrella. “It doesn’t sound like a 2.8 and its not polling (internally) at a 2.8 either.
Dan and Maz
“We are going to be a little patient there as well. Obviously there is a lot of stuff we can fix and we are working on that.
“We are not stupid to sit here and say we got it right – every single day we are working on how to Sydneyfy the breakfast show, we are working to breakfastfy the Breakfast show.
“Coming from a Drive environment into Breakfast is challenging and it is a different mindset,” he said, referring to how Dan Debuf and Maz Compton were moved from Drive to Breakfast in the hope of reviving the station in the wake of a collapse in rating, following the defection of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson to ARN’s KiisFM.
Dobson also made clear that SCA was focused on how the imminent return of Hamish Blake and Andy Lee to a national Drive show would boost the station.
“Our whole strategy is to get momentum up in the second half of the year and to recycle the audience back in,” said Dobson.
“Radio is a game of momentum. Hamish and Andy will come on board they give us momentum in most of our cities and then we grow our breakfast shows while that momentum is happening and we are building Gen Y shows for the future.”
Head of content for SCA Craig Bruce also took aim at ARN CEO Ciaran Davis, who recently said SCA’s revival plan would struggle as the Drive market had changed and that there was much greater competition in the slot.
Hamish and Andy
Asked if they were betting everything on Hamish and Andy, Bruce responded: “How is this (Hamish & Andy) any different to ARN betting everything on Kyle and Jackie O?
“I will hand on my heart say A Grade talent like Hamish and Andy will do exactly that – they will bring share, they will bring audience and that is what our business is built on.
“They are a bloody good show and they will bring an audience and it will be at the expense of ARN and Nova.”
Dobson backed the firey comments by Bruce saying it was central to their ratings success.
“Hamish and Andy are back in four weeks and phase two of the strategy is them,” he said. “We are not going to shy and shy away from that.
“If Hamish and Andy came back at half as good as they were when they left I would bank on us being up a couple of points in Melbourne.”
ARN’s Campbell
However ARN’s Duncan Campbell challenged this viewpoint arguing SCA had bigger problems, particularly in Sydney.
“The HitFM format itself has effectively failed and we continue to see that each survey result where there are no signs of growth,” said Campbell ARN’s national content director.
“The key question for those guys is what do they do? Relying on Hamish and Andy to resurrect them when they have a breakfast show with a two share is not going to happen.”
Dobson acknowledged that the brand and the Sydney breakfast show were having challenges but said: “It is only five months in what we are seeing perception wise – and what we are seeing perceptionally and what we are seeing in reality (which is the GfK survey) are two different things.
“Perceptionally in all our markets it is extremely strong, high engagement, our internal polling is looking good.”
Southern Cross Austereo bosses said they were pleased with the strong performance of Triple M across the key markets with Sydney up in total people 1.4 points, Melbourne up 0.5 points, Brisbane up 1.5 per cent,.
“It’s one of those great things where we found a strategy for it,” said Dobson. “It has a sporting DNA, we found a music product that we could move slightly older or slightly younger depending on the audience, we have found some breakfast shows that are resonating very well.
“The numbers are on the board and it is Australia’s fastest growing FM network.”
Asked how much of the rise was on the back of the return of the AFL and NRL sporting seasons Bruce said: “A little (is sport) but at the end of the day any share improvement on any format is based on breakfast.
“Football obviously is the cream on the cake – especially over the 7-8 months of winter – but overall it is built on breakfast.”
Nic Christensen
Radio ratings:
- Sydney radio ratings: 2DayFM share hits new low as Kyle and Jackie O slip behind ABC 702
- Melbourne radio ratings: ARN’s Gold boosts share to tie with SCA’s Triple M
- Brisbane Radio Ratings: 4BC up with Jones and Hadley shows as Annakin Skyrocker lifts TripleM
- Adelaide radio ratings: Mix102.3 regains top drive slot after big swing for Hughesy and Kate
- Perth radio ratings: Triple J sees resurgence as ARN’s 96FM endures tough period
And this article sums up why the hit network is a failure.
Reminds me of the 2 old blokes in the muppets!
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Thats funny. Dobson and Bruce say that H&A in drive will lift the station share and then later in the article come out with this
Asked how much of the rise was on the back of the return of the AFL and NRL sporting seasons Bruce said: “A little (is sport) but at the end of the day any share improvement on any format is based on breakfast”
Time for a bex and a good lie down chaps
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He knows better than that surely. For H&A to impact the Sydney 10+ ratings from the drive slot they will have to get a share number near 40. They are good, but that’s not going to happen.
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Wouldn’t it be interesting if SCA’s secret strategy was to put Hamish and Andy into national Breakfast rather than Drive?
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That might work but I’d be amazed if Hamish and Andy wanted to get up at four in the morning.Are radio audiences staying stable as iPod connectivity increase in cars? Or are they all fighting over a smaller pie. The car is the only time I ever listen to the radio.
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I’m sure H and A would get up early if SCA sweetened the pot. It makes commercial sense. You make savings by networking; you have an A-list breakfast show in each market; and you have the pull of being able to attract the best guests and national sponsors. Given that the young audience are generally not concerned about parish-pump issues, you’d need only minimal local “windows” — just news, weather and, maybe, traffic. As much as I love the local feel of radio, networked breakfast is inevitable on commercial FM; somebody’s just got to blink first. H and A are Austereo’s best bet.
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Dobbo, you know what would be a silver bullet? Bringing back Get This. It has sizzle, traction, cut-through, likability, familiarity, dangle, carrot-wave. All the good stuff.
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As a former employee of SCA, I can speak on behalf of hundreds who are loving seeing these guys scramble and choke in their own poo as they continue to humiliate themselves with the world watching. Some of their business strategies in relation to ‘maintaing the best talent’ was floored and self indulgent… you can only get told “well we cant do anymore than that, but you are working at the number 1 station in Sydney” so many times before you leave. And look what happens to accompany that cant retain the best staff. Let this be a lesson to SCA, when you do not retain and reward the best you stop being the best. As for your breakfast show, they sound like local Goldcoast heroes, or better yet 96.1 back in 2002… what deaf clown put the fate of a sinking ship on Dan an Maz’ shoulders and then built them up to belive they could do it. [Edited by Mumbrella]
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I would switch away from Kyle and Jackie O to a national Hamish and Andy at breakfast networked from Melbourne in a heartbeat. They would get a huge audience.
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