Triple M at sixes and sevens and Craig Bruce is loving it

Why wouldn’t he with a 6.4 in Sydney and a 7.6 in Melbourne?

Bad news makes for better headlines than good. “2Day Loses Number One Spot” will always win out over “Triple M Network Gains Ground.” So on ratings day, with most media attention on WS-FM knocking 2Day off its perch, it was easy to forget that every Triple M station in every market enjoyed a healthy gain, cementing an undeniable positive trend that has brought the once moribund network back into real contention.

That fact, of course, was not lost on SCA’s Head of Content, Craig Bruce.

“Triple M’s in great shape,” he says, “I just got off the phone with Eddie McGuire a moment ago and what were doing with that show in Melbourne,  and certainly with the Grill Team in Sydney and the Grill Team in Brisbane – all three stations are being really well programmed . We’ve got a clear position  in the market  and I think there’s still growth to come – that’s the exciting thing. It feels like there’s some momentum on our side.

“I should acknowledge Jamie Angel and Mike Fitzpatrick out of Melbourne who have done a brilliant job of executing the strategy for the eastern seaboard where we have taken the Triple M music position a little younger as well as NRL into 2Triple M for the first  time. Jamie has done a fantastic job bringing that all together.

craigbruce_0_277“The scary thing for 3Triple M is that football is still to come for Melbourne over the next two or three books. So with a 7.5 share we think that there is still potentially some growth on our side.

“Its been a long time coming. I think three and four years ago, we were in the twos and threes. These things take a while to turn around and to  get the trust of the audience but it feels like we’ve done that and we are certainly really excited with the numbers,” says Craig Bruce.

In Sydney, Triple M scores 0.5 higher Monday – Friday. Bruce sees an opportunity for growth on the weekends with the station’s expanded NRL coverage yet to show in the ratings.

Among all the Triple M euphoria, at some point 2Day’s fall from glory must be addressed. They’ve been beaten by just 0.1 on share by WS-FM and on another front, by Nova 969, on cumes.

“It’s a great result for WS which is a great radio station. You know we have had 50 odd books in a row at number one FM for 2Day, and so well done to Duncan (Campbell) and the team at WS they’ve done a great job to knock us off today. And Jonesy and Amanda are a fantastic breakfast show,” Bruce graciously concedes.

“But we are still number one in breakfast. It’s close – we are not getting smashed. I’m confident particularly with Kyle and Jack. I know we’ve had some cume losses today. I don’t think that there’s anything there that’s trending for Kyle and Jack in a negative way, so we think that 2Day can bounce back.

“The markets tighter – there’s a better Triple M in the market and there’s a better WS too. Also Nova have had a good result today. So there’s real competition in the Sydney market, as there is in Melbourne. It’s very tight there too,” says Bruce.  

With the resurgent Triple M, could 2Day be bleeding some of it’s losses in their direction? Bruce ponders that for a few seconds and says, “That may have been the case historically, where we have shared audience over the years. Formats have sounded similar at times – and by that  I mean 15- 20 years from the ‘90s and into the early 2000’s.

“Now, I think that both brands are genuinely different. One is overtly male. On Triple M we have 25 hours of live football on weekends and the Grill Team is a completely different offering to Kyle and Jack. Merrick is a completely different offering to Fifi and Jules.

“The demos are probably more similar now then they were a couple of years ago and I know that  we’ve historically shared some audience between the two stations but I don’t think that’s the reason for 2Day’s losses. That will settle over time and I expect 2Day to find its natural ranking at number one at some point over the next couple of books,” says Craig Bruce.

 

For our other stories about Survey 2 see: results, spin cycle, analysis.