Only you can’t hear hit so much
To be honest, it’s taken some time for an old radio hack like me to get my brain cell depleted head around the rebranding of what was the “Today Network” to “Today’s hit network.”
The way I understood it was that SAFM and B105 had jettisoned their heritage names and become hit107 and hit105 respectively. SCA’s Perth station that only had a frequency number for a name would add “hit” to become hit92.9. So far, so good.
Then things got a little more complex with FOX and 2Day. They both retained their heritage labels but added a “hit” plus the frequency. So we got FOXFM hit101.9 and 2DayFM hit104.1 – or at least that’s the official name that was registered in GfK surveys. But a mouthful to say on air.
Just when I thought I had this down pat, an article appeared in today’s (not the network but the chronological descriptor) Australian which, to further confuse the situation, suggests that it’s all been changed again with 2Day and FOX abandoning the “hit” moniker altogether and reverting to the original package.
While the article (subscription required) written by respected media reporter Michael Bodey is headlined “2Day returns as Southern Cross Austereo drops ‘Hit’ brand,” it’s not till you read the body copy ever so carefully that you realise (or I think I do) that he means “on air” and only on air – and only to a point.
As Today’s (not the chronological descriptor but the hit network) Head of Content Dave Cameron patiently explained to my befuddled self, “The hit network livery remains in place, and the ‘hit’ messaging remains on air around our ‘hits and old skool’ music position.”
As for what listeners are actually hearing on the radio: Dave says, “We never moved away from Fox and 2Day branding on air. We have adjusted the positioning around those brands to put more of a pure focus on just FOX and 2DayFM.
“Our stations in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth remain as hit 107, hit 105, and hit 929. The name of the network is the hit network.
“So to answer your question,” says Dave Cameron, “no we haven’t moved away from hit. The ‘hit’ mention now just moves to “hits and old skool’ music message on air, rather than before the frequency. It’s a small positioning change only. The brands of the stations have not changed.”
Now that I’ve got that straight…
Peter Saxon