Nova 106.9’s first survey result delivered a message to advertisers and competitors. Nova has arrived in Brisbane.

The station debuted in second place at 11.3% – and then they all went bowling.

Nova’s 11.3% put it just behind market leader Triple M, which dropped nearly 3 share points to 15.4%, and half a point ahead of third placed B105.

The station was strongest during evenings in this first survey, scoring 15.9% of the available evening audience and winning that timeslot. The ‘at work’ shifts were also strong, scoring shares between 11-13%. Weekends scored 10.2% and breakfast was weakest at 8.8%.

Nova 106.9 won the 10-17 and 18-24 demographics outright, and was second placed in 25-39s. It did not attract many 40 + listeners. Triple M and B105 are Nova’s closest competitors for the younger age groups.

Nova 106.9 General Manager, Sean Ryan, spoke to radioinfo about the station’s first result:

radioinfo: How did you celebrate on Tuesday?

Ryan: We took the team bowling of all things!

We had a presentation to 150 clients on the Nova brand and on what Nova is about. Then the fun began – artists painting, fairy floss girls, games. Lots of fun.

radioinfo: Who was the poor sucker who had to stay on air while the rest of you had fun?

Ryan: That was Emily Jade. She was the unlucky one on air, but we phoned her during the show to include her in the celebrations. At the bowling alley, we even had cardboard cutouts of her.

radioinfo: You seem to have taken on the same irreverent sense of fun that the other Novas have adopted.

Ryan: If there was no fun in this business then we’d go mad. The team is a young bunch who get on well, so having fun comes naturally. We’ve given listeners what they’ve asked for and fun is a part of that.

radioinfo: Is Nova Brisbane different in sound from the other Nova’s?

Ryan: All the Novas have the same D N A, but they’re all individual. We have similar traits, especially less advertising clutter, but we have built a brand that is right for Brisbane. Everything we do here is created locally for Brisbane listeners.

radioinfo: What songs have been added to your current rotation category this week?

Ryan: We’ve added Freeloaders “so much love to give,” End of Fashion “o yeah,” Deep Dish “say hello,” Rob Thomas “this is how a heart breaks,” Bon Garcon “freek u,” and Evermore “come to nothing.”

radioinfo: You were on air for a long time before this survey result, so did you anticipate the 11.3 figure?

Ryan: No, I was not expecting a firm figure. I thought we may get just below or around 10, but I wasn’t sure.

I wasn’t too focused on figures, I was more interested in building the station and getting in place the right mixture of people and processes. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

radioinfo: Where do you think the audience has come from – community radio? triple j? B105? others?

Ryan: Its come from a mixture of places. Feedback is also telling us the market is expanding. People are coming to us from cds, which they used to listen to when they couldn’t find the right radio station.

radioinfo: Who is in the breakfast team and are you happy with how they are doing?

Ryan: Meshel Laurie, Ash Bradnam, Dave ‘Luttsy’ Lutteral and Kip Wightman are the breakfast team. I think they’re absolutely fantastic, down to earth genuine people.

We know it will take some time to break into the breakfast timeslot, because people get comfortable with their breakfast routine and they are reluctant to break that.

radioinfo: So will you be doing some specific marketing to promote breakfast?

Ryan: Not at this stage because we are still marketing the station overall at this time. But we will do breakfast promotions if they are relevant.

We are having some planning sessions to analyse the results later today and we will be planning those things from there. [Group PD] Dean Buchanan is working with us on that.

Dean’s skills have been a big part of the success of this survey for us. Nova is now nationally the best under 40’s network in Australia. Dean played a big part in achieving that.

radioinfo: Any other shifts that stand out that you want to comment on?

Ryan: Our Nights team were the leading program with a 15.9 share. Jabba, who was previously on channel V, is teamed with Justine McKell, and they have won nights for us.

radioinfo: Have you had any advertiser reaction to the two ads in a row programming policy?

Ryan: They understand and embrace the concept, but they told us we needed a survey to back it up. Now we have that.

radioinfo: What launch promotions did you do?

Ryan: We had a few. The ‘pep up your life’ promotion bought an old 76 mercedes coupe back to life and we asked the people of Brisbane tart it up by calling in to tell us how to paint it and what seat covers to buy, things like that. We also threw a party for 100 listeners.

Next was catch 22, where we rang someone and gave them $5000 but there was a catch, they had to do a difficult task, things like crawling over the Storey Bridge or going on the Vomitron ride on the Gold Coast. We also had ‘phone sex,’ which is about guessing the sex of the next caller.

radioinfo: How long do you think it will take for the honeymoon period to be over and what figure will you settle back to once the market stabilises?

Ryan: Because we were on air for so long, from Aug 9 last year, in test mode, I think that manoeuvering may have already happened. It’s crystal balling to say where we will be in the future. I’ll just be delighted to keep doping what we’re doing, listening to the consumers. If we keep doing that we will perform well.

radioinfo: What percentage of revenue is local Brisbane advertising and what percentage is local at this early stage of the station’s business?

Ryan: I’d prefer not to give that information at this early stage because it will of course change.

radioinfo: Do you think you have grown the Brisbane radio advertising market, or is your revenue coming from other radio stations?

Ryan: The market will grow, it’s early days yet. When they know Nova exists it will grow.