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What to expect from Sydney’s newest radio station 1170 SEN

1170 SEN will launch in Sydney tomorrow, but what can listeners expect from this new channel? Mumbrella's Zanda Wilson looks at the lineup.

Sydney’s 1170 SEN, the new radio station from Sports Entertainment Network (formerly Crocmedia), will go live this Thursday, October 22 ahead of the weekend’s NRL Grand Final.

The new station is promising eleven hours of dedicated live rugby league coverage ahead of the final between Penrith and Melbourne, including a broadcast of the NRLW final, but what can listeners expect beyond that?

SEN Sydney Logo

The lineup of presenters locked down by SEN boss Craig Hutchison and co. is not to be scoffed at, and between key names Andrew Voss, Matt White, Matty Johns, and more, there’s not only big game experience but deep knowledge of the local market.

There’s also a sprinkle of rising stars of the media, like former nrl.com.au journo Katie Brown who’ll join the Breakfast show.

And while it’s to be expected that SEN has gone with a male-dominant lineup, it’s also exciting to see a show hosted by sports presenter Stephanie Brantz, with ‘Trailblazers’ set to shine a spotlight on some of sport’s most incredible women.

The new station’s presenters gave media a taste of what to expect from each of their shows at a virtual launch event last week, hosted by new Breakfast jock Andrew Voss.

In his opening address, Hutchison admitted that he has been told time and time that “a sports station can’t work in Sydney” because previous attempts have failed.

Nonetheless, he remains confident that the strength of 1170 SEN’s presenters and content will make it the exception this time around.

Chatting with new Mornings presenter Matty White, Voss said the new station should be looked at like a reverse newspaper, with the sport at the front and other news at the back.

White said he’ll be making his show all about the callers, who’ll ideally have opinions on all the key headlines of the day presented by Voss and Brown at Breakfast.

Matty Johns has plenty of experience in Sydney radio

Ex-Triple M Breakfast host Matty Johns said he’d be taking a different approach to his Friday show, and would be taking very few calls because his job is to entertain listeners, not the other way around.

Johns also said he was excited to get in at the ground level of a new station, and that he never felt like Triple M was “his”, but rather still belonged to legends who forged the station like Doug Mulray.

So how will SEN Sydney fare?

Well, the answer to that question will ultimately depend on who you are, and how you measure success.

It’s sister station in Melbourne, 1116 SEN, held just a 2.7% share of listening among People 10+ in the most recent GfK radio ratings survey, but was rating up towards 5% this time last year.

Craig Hutchison is no mug, and will know that with any new station, brand recognition and listening takes time to translate into attribution.

In a spot released last week, the show’s presenters cheekily hinted at the challenge of selling sport, “and then more sport, and then more sport”.

But if SEN Sydney is hitting similar numbers to its Melbourne counterpart by mid-2021, you’d think that Sports Entertainment Network will be hailing it as a huge success.

The full SEN Sydney lineup kicking off tomorrow is as follows:

• Breakfast with Andrew Voss, Monday – Friday, 6-9am – to be joined by Katie
Brown for sports updates each morning
• Mornings with Matt White, Monday – Thursday, 9am-noon
• Morning Glory with Matty Johns, Fridays, 9am-noon
• Whateley, Monday – Thursday, 12-1pm with Gerard Whateley
• Jimmy Smith, Monday – Friday, 1-3pm
• Drive with Joel and Fletch, Monday – Friday, 3-6pm – Joel Caine and Bryan
Fletcher
• Evenings with Jimmy Smith, Monday – Friday, 6-7pm
• Trailblazers with Stephanie Brantz Mondays 8pm

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