Eddie McGuire’s Melbourne radio audience falls in its first ratings period
Austereo’s expensive investment in Eddie McGuire for Triple M’s Melbourne breakfast show has been met with early disappointment, with ratings for the timeslot falling.
The latest radio survey, released this morning, suggests that the audience share for the show fell slightly from 3.7% to 3.6%.
However, too many conclusions cannot yet be drawn from the numbers. The ratings period covers August 2 to September 5 and September 20 to October 24, while McGuire only took the hot seat on September 7. The ratings announcement of December 15 will be the key one to assess the performance of McGuire’s show.
Meanwhile, there’s better news for Austereo in Sydney, with a recovery in ratings from the Kyle & Jackie O timeslot, back up from 9.8% to 11%. However, the same issue applies with some of that period covering Sandilands’ suspension for his Magda Szubanski concentration camp comments.
not so locked in eddie
It’s .1 of a drop!
Pity Triple M for these results, as McGuire’s arrival did engender promise. But perhaps it will gather extra listeners when it is not just “a jumped-up one-man” show. It would do well to utilise the talents of the so-called “co-hosts”; each who have their own strengths to add if allowed to. Instead of being perhaps much too much of one man; more particularly one continuing voice
“jollying” everyone up in a typical football “ra-ra” manner. If it was a team effort, running whimsically and bouncing off each other naturally, it would eradicate the “sameness” and almost stale repitition that comes over the airwaves now.
A pity really, because McGuire is an outstanding talent, but this format allows him to be at his biggest disadvantage; namely that whenever in the past he has been given untrammeled right to hold forth unfettered by direction or team requirements, that is when he has been at his most boring worst.
Memo Producers: Give them all some rough “idea lines’ and situations that let then play with and then see what comes out; you may be delightfully surprised.
I want to stand up and support the move to bring in Eddie Maguire as a breakfast host. The previous talent in Pete Hellier was crud and managed to send me away from Triple M after never wavering since the first day as EONFM. I moved to the ABC but Eddies format lured me back. What I see in Eddies format is much like the intelligent breakfast that has never been available on FM in Melbourne. It will take a while to grab, as with such poor starting cume and average audience but as the word spreads that people with an IQ higher than their shoe size finally have something to listen to. Look beyond Eddie and see the opportunity to have something to listen to and learn about your community on radio because if you want banal music – listen to your personal ipod.