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2Day FM needs a full rebrand, claims rival

paul jackson dmg

Jackson: 2Day FM should start again

The owners of 2Day FM should “rip it up and start again” one of their closest rivals has claimed.

The comments from Nova Entertainment’s programming boss Paul Jackson came after 2Day FM delivered a share of the weekday Sydney audience of just 4.2 per cent.

Last year, prior to Kyle Sandilands’ and Jackie Henderson’s defection to Kiis FM, Southern Cross Austereo’s 2Day FM was top FM station. Kiss FM now has nearly double the weekday share of 2Day FM.

Jackson was responding to observations by SCA’s head of content Craig Bruce regarding the three-way battle between Nova, 2Day FM and Australian Radio Network’s Kiis FM. Bruce told Mumbrella: “It’s a very unusual situation to be competing in one city with two other top 40 stations. We have got a strategy in place for 2Day FM, but having three play in that space does make it more difficult.”

Craig-Bruce

Bruce: Sandilands’ audience will get older

Bruce predicted that Kiis FM would gradually skew older, reflecting what he claimed was an ageing demographic of Sandilands listeners. In today’s numbers, The Kyle & Jackie O show fell from a 9.5 per cent share to 9 per cent, while FM leaders Jonesy & Amanda grew to an 11.1 per cent share on ARN’s WSFM.

Bruce claimed of the Kiis FM breakfast show: “Most of their growth is coming at the older end. The audience profile for Kyle is old.”

Bruce reaffirmed 2Day FM’s two year commitment to its breakfast show lineup of Merrick Watts, Jules Lund and Sophie Monk along with Mel B. The show’s share fell to three per cent, which Bruce acknowledged was “tough”. He added: “We are very happy with how the show sounds.”

However, Nova’s Jackson disagreed with Bruce’s assessment that if there was room for only two players in the top 40 space, it would be ARN’s Kiis that was forced to move older.

He told Mumbrella: “Why on earth would Kiis want to move older when they’ve got WSFM? Nova is the hit music station.

“Unfortunately poor 2Day FM is behind the eight ball. I see it now as Nova versus Kiis. 2Day FM is out of the game. It has no share.

“They should start again – with the brand, with the breakfast show – the name of the station, the presenters, the programming, everything. They’ve lost the hit music station positioning. Nova is taking that audience and we’re not giving it back.”

duncan campbell arn

Campbell: Kyle will go back to number one

Meanwhile, Duncan Campbell, head of programming for ARN’s WSFM and Kiis FM, which are number one and two FM commercial stations respectively, told Mumbrella that prior to the launch of Kiis, he had expected the two top slots – but the other way around.He said: “We had modelled that by this time of the year Kiis would be number one.

‘And the reality is that Kiis is still the number one station in 25-54. The next wave of marketing will be for Kiis and that was always going to be the case.”

Campbell predicted that Kyle & Jackie O would again overtake their stablemates Jonesy & Amanda. He said: “I’d expect that to happen in the next couple of surveys, definitely.”

 

 

 

 

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