Demand for jobs at the Gold Coast’s third commercial radio station is running hot.
Hot Tomato, the broadcasting company that purchased the FM 102.9 licence for $26 million in August, says it can measure the response to recent advertising of all positions “by the kilo.”
Hot Tomato boss Jaan Torv says there has been a flood on enquiries from throughout
Australia for up to 40 jobs offered in newspapers and on the radioinfo jobs page.
“We’ve literally had bags of applications and they continuing to flood in daily,”
said Torv. “The applicants have been attracted by an entirely new and exciting venture in Australian broadcasting as well as the obvious appeal of the Gold Coast.”
While Hot Tomato is still accepting applications for most jobs, including on-air , administrative, IT and sales positions, it has been fast off the mark in securing some of Australia’s leading technical expertise.
David Crane, formerly from DMG’s engineering and IT section, has been appointed chief engineer and will start putting together the 102.9 hardware on the Gold Coast early in the New Year. Crane leaves Sydney’s Nova 969, which he helped build over the past two years.
JaanTorv says he is “delighted to have Crane on board.”
“In our opinion David is the best man in his field in Australia and this was a crucial appointment at this stage,” said Torv.
Crane’s experience with DMG, including setting up hub networks based in Townsville and Albury and in bringing associated regional facilities up to date, “equipped him well for both the Nova task and his new position.”
Torv says Hot Tomato’s decision not to take telephone calls for applications had resulted in an array of highly creative pitches. “We’ve had applications with tomatoes, chillis, coffee beans, jelly beans, cds, tapes, some great art work and really funny stuff. Our decisions will be tough as so many excellent, highly qualified people are applying.”
Hot Tomato plans to be broadcasting next year but has not released any information on its format. “One thing is sure, the Gold Coast radio market is in for a shakeup and we will have some of Australia’s best on-air and support people on our team,” says Torv.