Duncan Campbell and Paul Jackson certainly think so

When radioinfo caught up with the FM content chiefs for our usual post-survey chat, in separate calls, both ARN’s Duncan Campbell and Nova Entertainment’s Paul Jackson used pretty much the same words to illustrate their thoughts on Hamish and Andy.

“I would say you are looking at a show that has peaked already,” said Jackson. 

“You could say that Hamish and and Andy have actually peaked nationally and I think those numbers would be well below SCA’s expectations,” declared Campbell. He went further, “Certainly in Sydney we don’t see Hamish and Andy as a threat at all going forward – and I don’t say that flippantly. 

“If they were going to work they would have worked by now. I think 2Day faces considerable challenges in breakfast in 2016, and we don’t see that station as a real threat at all,” said Campbell.

Naturally SCA’s hit network Head, Dave Cameron sees it differently, “All I can do is comment about the facts around Hamish and Andy. They are number one in Melbourne with daylight second. Just gone number one in Brisbane – about to go number one in Adelaide.

“Am I disappointed in the result for Hamish and Andy in Sydney? Yes. 

“Am I disappointed in the show? Not at all! There’s only so much magic you can do with a drive show when you have a breakfast show that is coming out and making changes. The problem area is at the other end of the day, not in drive,” said Cameron.

For the record, according to GfK Survey 7, the number one national Drive show on commercial FM is Nova’s Kate, Tim & Marty in both share and cume. Hamish and Andy are number tw0 and Hughesy and Kate come in third.

(L – R) Duncan Campbell, Dave Cameron, Paul Jackson

Consistency, who is and who isn’t consistent, is a recurring theme in these post survey discussions. Triple M network head, Mike Fitzpatrick, (below left) whose stations in both Sydney and Melbourne returned rock steady results, claimed the mantle for his network, “It’s consistent. Triple M is a consistent format and we deliver  consistent results. Number one 25-54 around the country.”

Dave Cameron also mentioned consistency in relation to Fox and its competitors in Melbourne with KIIS and Nova both introducing new breakfast shows next year. “There’s going to be a lot of confusion in the audience next year wanting to find out who’s on their station and where their last breakfast show went to. So, the most important thing we can do for next year is to remain consistent. We’ve got a strong breakfast show that is 20 months in and we have an incredibly strong drive show that sets us up for a huge 2016. And as anyone will tell you from any network changing breakfast shows is like doing open heart surgery on your radio station and the most important thing we can do next year is be consistent at Fox.”

When asked how he characterised the survey results for ARN’s networks, Duncan Campbell replied, “Lets start with consistency, which I’ve been talking about today a lot. And it’s consistency based on facts rather than easy one liners. We have demonstrated over the last couple of years that we do produce very consistent results and today’s numbers continue to reinforce that. 

“It doesn’t mean that we don’t have issues. Obviously KIIS in Melbourne being one of those. Perth being the other one. But the most consistent network over the last couple of years has been ARN.”

Campbell was scathing about the opposition, saying, “Despite the rhetoric from the likes of SCA around the Hit Network and MMM, they continue to fail to deliver consistent results. 

“I think that needs to be highlighted. 

“Those results for Hamish and Andy weren’t very encouraging and the MMM network weren’t able to sustain any growth that they might have had throughout the year. My belief is that we have a very strong solid strategy which we continue to execute methodically. It pays dividends and it gives the market confidence in what  ARN can deliver,” said Campbell.

One thing for sure, the game is definitely on and the competition fierce.

Paul Jackson believes it’s good for radio. “As we go around the country, competition’s very tight. We’ve got highly engaged listeners maybe flipping around a couple of stations on the dial looking for the best offering on that day. So it just drives the whole standard of everything and makes the engagement of radio in this country greater than it is in other places.”

Which has led to another consistency, the continuing year on year gains in revenue for the radio industry.

Says Jackson, “If you work in an ad agency, you are aware of the radio talk and the radio stories (in the news). If people are more aware of radio, they are going to buy it more.”