While the headlines have focused on the Sydney market concerning the disastrous decision by SCA to let Kyle and Jackie O go and replace them with a show that was under-done from the start, there’s been little written about Fifi and Dave’s success in Melbourne. Such is media.
The decision SCA made in Melbourne was not disimilar to the one they’d made in Sydney. They disbanded a 14 year heritage breakfast show on FOX FM with Matt Tilley and Jo Stanley and replaced it with Fifi Box and Dave Thornton. Two known quantities, great talents, to be sure. But Merrick Watts and Jules Lund are no slouches either.
Yet, while the 2Day Breakfast show came dead last in Sydney according to the latest GfK survey with a 2.9 share, the FOX polled a 7.4 which was enough for second place on the FM band behind SCA stable mate Triple M’s Hot Breakfast with Eddie McGuire, Mick Molloy and Luke Darcy. In the previous two surveys Fifi and Dave had held the number one position, FM.
So, given the same team of highly experienced programmers including Dave Cameron and Craig Bruce, why did the FOX show work and the 2Day show tank? Aided by hindsight, it’s easy for critics to pick apart the differences in the two shows but the main difference comes down to one thing: chemistry.
Perhaps Merrick and Jules may have made it work between them but with two extra bods, Sophie Monk and Mel B sharing the studio, genuine chemistry between the four was always going to be a tough ask.
Chemistry often takes a long time to develop but in the case Fifi and Dave, on the first occasion they were put into a studio together to be trialled with Dave Cameron (DC) listening on a speaker in another room, within minutes he had left the room beleiving that there was no point in wasting his time listening any further.
Dave Thornton recalls, “When we had our first trial, they put the mic on us and basically let us go for it. When DC finally walked in on us after about 40 minutes he told us, “10 minutes in I knew it was fine.”
I said to him, ‘So you let us waffle on for another 30 minutes?’
He said, “Yeah, you guys will be fine. You’re getting along, don’t worry about it.”
The radio teams we’ve spoken to over the years are divided on the question of whether it is important to be friends, but Fifi has no doubt as to what works for her.
“I know other radio presenters who feel differently about this. For me, personally, it is important to be friends. When you’re live on air for a three hour shift and you’re broadcasting into people’s cars and their lives while you’re putting yourself out there and you’re being real (about your life) to connect with the people listening, you really have to trust that person (opposite you in the studio). If you don’t trust them with your feelings, your thoughts, your stories, what’s going on in your life – if you don’t trust that person, you become cagey. If you become concealed and you don’t want to share, then you are producing lesser radio.”
Dave agrees, “You’re exactly right. When you’re in the trenches it feels like you’ve got someone helping you out… she never leaves me alone with her child which is something we’ve got to work through… but it is true that sometimes when you think after a show- I’m not sure about that (something you’ve done or said on air) the person you know you can trust is the person sitting across from you – if you’ve got a rapport with them.”
In an extremely competitive market, so far, the ratings have been good for Fifi and Dave. Surveys 5 & 6 saw them deliver the number one FM Breakfast spot. Survey 7 saw them slip to number two behind Triple M but their contribution still helped FOX maintain their lead on the FM band Mon-Sun in Melbourne.
Today Network Content Director, Dave Cameron, will tell you that even after seven surveys, he’s still not so much concerned about the numbers as much as how the sound of the show is developing.
Fifi says she doesn’t worry too much about the ratings either, “To be really honest I’ve been around it too long. We are loving the show that we do and when that’s reflected in ratings, of course you feel good about it.
But I’ve also been on shows that haven’t rated well. I know the ebbs and flows. I know that if you enjoy what you are doing – if you are loving it, don’t pay too much attention to the ratings. Continue to do what you are doing because I’ve seen shows resting on their laurels doing well and I’ve seen shows get depressed when they are not doing well. And you know what? Just stay in the middle and love what you do and enjoy those moments and don’t take it too seriously.”
Peter Saxon