In the latest Sydney ratings, the ‘Other FM’ category showed a significant increase, jumping from 9.1% to 11.2%. Newly launched high power youth community station FBi could well account for the increase, according to FBi General Manager Christina Alvarez.
“We’re the only thing that has changed significantly in the Other FM category since the last survey,” says Alvarez, “so it could be us.”
With this sort of figure, if Other FM was a single station, it would be in second place in the Sydney market, behind 2GB and ahead of Nova.
In the 10-17 demographic Other FM scores 12.0%; while in 18-24s it is 11.5%; and in 25-39s is 11.0%.
Other FM includes stations that can be heard in the Sydney service area, but are not officially counted in the survey. Commercial stations such as ARN’s The Edge, C91.3 Campbelltown, Sea/2GO Gosford, and all community stations fall into this category.
Industry sources estimate that The Edge probably has about 3% of this figure, with the other adjacent commercial stations having another 3% between them, leaving another 5% which is probably made up of high powered community stations such as 2SER, 2MBS and FBi. Koori Radio will soon be on air and potentially may also have an impact on this market segment.
FBi, which has a primary audience target of 18-24s, “has been very pleased with the response so far.”
” It was not a complete shock to see the change in the
figures, especially in the younger listener range. We have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback and goodwill FBi has received from the first day we went to air.
“Having said this, FBi is not driven by ratings and never will be – its only one of many factors we take into consideration when evaluating what goes on-air. Our main objective is to provide Sydney with a station that is dedicated to music, arts and culture – and I think we are delivering this.
“It’s also our aim to make the station as open as possible to people who
want to be part of it – whether that’s getting involved at the station in some way or by tuning in.
“The clear news is that people, especially younger listeners, are liking what
they hear on Other FM. We look forward to seeing the listenership to the
Other FM category grow as listeners look for something different,
interesting and fresh on their radio dial.” says Alvarez.
FBi recently conducted a survey of its 5000 email subscribers and got a 50% response rate from its “enthusiastic listeners.” The email survey showed that half the listeners who responded are under 24 years of age, while 90% are under 35.
While Alvarez won’t give away income figures at this stage, she says the station is being well supported by the music industry and by the “arts and cultural industries” through paid sponsorships.
“The majority of our income at this stage is from sponsorship, but we are working to balance that with membership subscriptions, so the figures at this early stage are not really useful in judging our long term business model,” says Alvarez.
While Alvarez is willing to discuss income and ratings when asked, her main focus is on the programming: “It all goes back to the programming… the good response so far is all due to our alternative format and our 100 brilliant broadcasters and the work they put in.”
radioinfo asked about the most popular songs played on the station, but Alvarez explained that FBi doesn’t think like that, saying: “FBi plays 50% Australian music, with half of that coming from Sydney musicians, and the rest is the best from around the world. Asking for an overview of the station’s signature bands or performers is like asking a parent to name their favourite child. We love it all for different reasons.