Melbourne’s SEN overhauls digital presence and says it will join new RadioApp
Melbourne’s Sports Entertaining Network 1116 SEN is set to join the new national unified radio app when it launches, despite having just launched its own app in September.
Last Friday the radio industry announced The RadioApp, an Australia-wide service that would bring together many of the top radio brands from across the country in one place on people’s smart devices.
Speaking to Mumbrella, Cathy Thomas, general manager of broadcasting at SEN said of the RadioApp: “I think its fantastic. We will definitely be a part of it.
“I think it’s a very positive and innovative step for the industry, which is what we needed to do.”
SEN overhauled its own digital presence in September, launching its own radio app in the lead up to the AFL Grand Final in the hopes of make access to the station easier. 
“September is such a massive month because of the AFL, so we wanted to get it up and running for the finals,” said Thomas.
“I wanted to make sure you could listen to us anywhere. And 50% of our audience is accessing us through their social media and through their mobile”, she said.
Thomas said it was important to have an app in the current market and doesn’t believe it will be difficult to compete, despite the station’s size.
“There is no other station that delivers 24 hours, 7 days a week and talkback”, she said.
“We’ve already had so far 21,000 downloads. And that’s in four weeks. We are an AM station and there are issues in terms of our sound compared to FM and digital. To have an app is really critical for us, because it means now they can get perfect sound anywhere.”
Thomas also mentioned the local radio station attracts listeners from interstate and overseas, attributing it to SEN’s 24 hour sport coverage. She said that the diversity of sports coverage will also attract listeners to the app.
Cathy Thomas, general manager of broadcasting at 1116 SEN
“Our listeners want to know everything about AFL, what is going on, the opinions from our talent, and they want to interact. That’s a really big thing.
“If you’re on our app and you want to interactive with our on-air guys, you can do that.”
Thomas believes the app will continue to grow, despite the finish of the AFL season two weeks ago.
She explained: “We have our shows around what is happening in the draft, talking to player managers, talking to list managers. If you want to know about you’re club, who they’re going to trade with, who they’re going to draft, then you need to listen to what SEN is saying.”
The station also broadcasts the A-League, basketball, cricket, The Australian Open and the Women’s AFL in 2017.
Following the launch of the application, SEN pushed out a targeted online campaign by Quattro Group, which promoted the new application via Facebook and Instagram, and has been running for the last month.
The station also did listener research through Facebook, with over 2,000 respondents on the station’s page.
“It was about asking our listeners what do they want to hear, what do they want to know and making sure that we are delivering to our core what they want,’ she added.
“The app will absolutely broaden our audience and we want to be available, and make it really easy to access SEN. So if you’re online, on your phone, you can access us. And that’s what really are trying to make easy.”
Thomas added that the new app will also have benefits for the station’s clients: “You can reach audiences anywhere, but what our clients want is to be able to reach consumers that are being actively engaged in the medium they’re advertising on.”
It’s not the App. It’s the content!
There’s a reason thousands tune out of Aussie media and seek sources from UK/US and beyond. Australian media is a really poor imitation of the product it’s trying to imitate. There are execs getting paid a ton of money here and all they have done is copy a format from overseas and stuck a fat bogan behind the mic or some vacuous kids.
Time and time again they put the advertiser before the listener and it’s crap.
You saw how easy it was for Netflix to rock up and demolish Foxtel’s business plan. Just wait till the BBC, HBO and the rest turn up. By the time the pigs look up from the trough it’ll be far too late. It’s likely too late already.
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I’ve just purchased a digital radio and would like to know where I can find SEN on the fm dial please,thank you
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