Handpicked highlights.

Our 2013 Year in Review continues. See part one, the highlights from the first three months of the year here, and scroll down to review the top stories from April to September.
 

APRIL

Did you hug a newsreader today?
Today, 4th April, is international Hug a Newsreader Day.
Radio and tv colleagues around the country and the world took a moment out today to give their newsreaders a big hug.
And on such a day, what better time to list ARN’s Sydney/Brisbane News Director job in our job ads page.
Hear Brad Wood’s effort at power FM Ballarat. And how Sam Wilkinson felt the love at Star FM Bendigo, even though it was a day late.
 
Monetising the next generation of car radio
Radio broadcasters should be salivating at the revenue opportunities in the next generation of car radio.
As the car becomes more interactive, the current approach of legacy broadcasters is looking very much like search engines before Google.  Rather than being a gateway to content on the dashboard, old school broadcasters are trying to own it.
Right now no one is reinventing radio.  There are new services like Pandora and Spotify who call themselves ‘radio’ but are more like a mixed CD.  Old school radio broadcasters are looking at the success of these services in awe, but rather than creating something new to compete with these services they are repackaging and streaming what they already have and adding nothing new.

Courts perplexed over hydra headed internet
In the week that Derryn Hinch rejoins the radio industry, as a regular commentator for 2GB (see other story), he is in trouble again with the courts.
Hinch has been charged with contempt of court for publishing supressed material in his online Friday Thoughtseditorial. The material has now been blanked out and replaced with a notice saying: “This material has been suppressed by order of the Victorian Supreme Court.”
In the same editorial he also published the name and photo of the ‘prominent Australian entertainer’ who was arrested in relation to the Jimmy Savile case in the UK. This is potentially a defamation matter.
The significance of both publications centres around the law and the internet. For better or worse, old legal rules concerning supression, contempt and defamation are being rendered obsolete by blogging and citizen journalism on the internet.
 
Survey 2 2013: Analysis
Networks and city by city analysis. WSFM has overtaken 2Day to become Sydney’s number one FM station, third place overall, behind AM stations 2GB and ABC702. Market leaders 3AW, 97.3, Mix 102.3 and Mix 94.5 have dropped, but still retain their number one positions in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. New breakfast leader in Brisbane.
 
‘Cume is the big indicator’ says dmg’s Paul Jackson
On cumes, Nova is #1 outright in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
Unsurprisingly, the people at 2Day, 97.3 and Mix 94.5 don’t share Jackson’s enthusiasm for cume as the predominant yardstick.
Publicist for Mix 94.5 FM in Perth, Gemma Clark, toldradioinfo: “While Nova 93.7 may claim to be number one in Perth due to its CUME results, Mix 94.5 came out as the clear winner across the board.”  In share, that is, which has been the acknowledged benchmark in Australia since Nielsen surveys began.
But according to dmg Group Program Director Paul Jackson, “Across the world most stations in Europe, the UK and in America, all rely on cume as being the  big indicator. And we’ve had some record cumes across all our stations.

Triple M at sixes and sevens and Craig Bruce is loving it
Bad news makes for better headlines than good. “2Day Loses Number One Spot” will always win out over “Triple M Network Gains Ground.” So on ratings day, with most media attention on WS-FM knocking 2Day off its perch, it was easy to forget that every Triple M station in every market enjoyed a healthy gain, cementing an undeniable positive trend that has brought the once moribund network back into real contention.
That fact, of course, was not lost on SCA’s Head of Content,Craig Bruce.
“Triple M’s in great shape,” he says, “I just got off the phone with Eddie McGuire a moment ago and what were doing with that show in Melbourne,  and certainly with the Grill Team in Sydney and the Grill Team in Brisbane – all three stations are being really well programmed . We’ve got a clear position  in the market  and I think there’s still growth to come – that’s the exciting thing. It feels like there’s some momentum on our side.
 
The Couch perhaps not Wippa’s best moment
Wippa’s new tv show aired today. The audience laughed and applauded enthusiastically, but what was the verdict?
Nova’s own website labelled Wippa’s debut into the tv talk show world as ‘a massive fail.’
Wippa became obsessed with the idea of a tv show since doing a promo for TAFE WSI. He was joined on his first show today byFitzy, Josh Groban & Olly Murs.

triple j’s One Night Stand stood the test in Dubbo
Each year triple j’s One Night Stand series brings a big live concert experience to regional towns that would normally miss out on big live music events. This year it was Dubbo’s turn. 18,000 locals turned up – about half the town’s total population – along with hundreds of thousands more listening live on the radio. And for the first time live on TV.
In a first for the ABC, triple j not only broadcast the concert live on ABC2 but also provided a second screen experience, giving viewers unprecedented access to backstage at the event. Plus the entire concert was broadcast live around the country ontriple j radio, accompanied by videos, blogs and photo galleries on the triple j website and social media – as they happened.

Marto’s emotional farewell to his foster daughter
Brisbane listeners discover another side to Triple M Grill Team guy.
Four years agoTriple M’s Marto and his wife Kath along with their two children Hilary and Harry took on a foster child, a little girl who became part of their family and their life – their foster daughter and sister.
She came into the Martin family a scared little girl and, last week, she a confident young lady ready to take on the world, reunited with her father. 

Alan Jones, you’ve done it again!
It’s been a while since Alan Jones has made the headlines for his intemperate comments about the cause of Julia Gillard’s father’s death. But today’s performance is likely to break the drought and put him back in the news.
In Boston, authorities are sifting through the rubble and the body parts to piece together fragmented clues in the hope of tracking down the perpetrator/s. It could be days. It could be months or never.
Meanwhile, here on the flip side of the planet, Alan Jones, from his cosy studio at 2GB already knows who to blame – or at least smear. “I wouldn’t be surprised,” he told the audience on Channel 7’s Sunrise, “if this was a conspiracy amongst students, left-wing radical students in Boston.”

Funny friends make Mamamia Today
The Today Network wasn’t the first to discover there was a market for a niche program designed to reach women between 3 pm – 4 pm when many would be in their cars picking up kids from school and running other household errands and likely listening to radio. In fact when Mamamia Today first launched in August last year it was put into an early evening timeslot. But within a month it was moved to afternoons pitting it against the ARN Mix Network’s 3pm Pick-Up with Chrissie Swan and Jane Hall.
Em and Dave are both long time SC Austereo employees. She’s done breakfast on Perth’s 92.9 and then SA FM as well as TV stints on The Circle and The Project. He’s been in Brisbane at B105 and worked with her at SA FM where they struck up an  enduring friendship.
When we caught up with them at Fox in Melbourne they were both busy with comedy festival commitments in various states. It’s the first day in two weeks that Dave has actually been in Melbourne having been in Adelaide for the past two weeks and on his way to Brisbane for another week away.

Survey 1: Big Sea on the Gold Coast
Sea FM has snatched the number one position in the first Gold Coast survey for this year. Sea FM jumped 3.7 share points to 16.3% overall.
Gold FM rose slightly, up 0.2 to 15.1%, retaining its second place position.
Hot Tomato slipped, dropping into third position with a fall of 0.7 share points taking it to 14.0%.
Triple j was placed fourth, steady at 8.9% and local ABC station ABC91.7 was fifth, gaining 1.1 share points to rise to 5.9%.

Paying tribute to a radio mate who, at 28, left us too soon
I met Jared when I was 17 years old and were instantly bound by our interest in radio.
Working at community radio station Hitz FM as young guys, we were keen for any opportunity in radio. The assistant Program Director of Triple M Melbourne at the time, Mike Fitzpatrick gave us our first commercial radio job. (We still think to this day Mike gave us both a job because he got us confused and he thought there was only 1 Jared, we were grateful for the opportunity and still are never the less.)
Once it was determined that Triple M actually employed both of us, we worked some crazy hours at Triple M. Panelling late nights & breakfast while doing on air mid dawn shifts. We named the building at 180 St Kilda Road “Hotel Austereo” It was great, we could work our double shift and strange hours radio has to offer and we didn’t have to catch a train home.
 
Mel Grieg will appear at Inquest
Mel Grieg’s lawyers have issued a statement revealing that she will appear at the Jacintha Saldanha inquest.
The statement, issued today by Slater & Gordon, says:
“Ms Saldanha’s suicide was a devastating tragedy and Ms Greig’s thoughts have been with the family ever since.

How to get your song played on the radio
Matty White certainly knows what he’s not. “Let me make it clear I’m not a musician… I’m a radio programmer… I don’t know the correct terminology for every part of a song but I know what radio programmers are looking for.” He should, with over 100,000 hours of radio programming at SCA, dmg and ARN behind him, he’s one of Australia’s leading music directors and is known as a “radio gun”.
Matty hears a lot of songs – and although he loves it when he can tell musicians their songs will go to air, more often than not he’s the bearer of bad news. It’s for that reason he decided to start helping artists develop their songs for radio, before they’re assessed by the networks.

To see all our stories from April 2013, click here

MAY

The only time I hear from Kyle is when we’re doing well: Brendan Jones
It was a day to schmooze the paparazzi and tell them yet again that WS-FM is now the number one FM station in Sydney in case they missed the news after Survey Two. Or as the station’s Content Director Charlie Fox (below left) told the hand-picked crowd of scribes, record company execs and ad agency types,“We’re the number two commercial station in Sydney after 2GB, but that doesn’t matter because their audience is so old.
“However we don’t get a lot of attention from media because we don’t have shock jocks – we‘re not saying awful things about the boat people- we’re not saying awful things about 14 year old girls or upsetting anybody. It’s a family friendly station,” said Charlie as he introduced the station’s amiable breakfast duo, Jonesy and Amanda.

Gotye fights for community radio
International music sensation Gotye has called on the Federal Government to ensure a future for digital community radio services in Australia by committing adequate funding in next week’s Federal Budget.
In a letter to Minister for Communications, Stephen Conroy, Wally de Backer, better known as Gotye, urged Minister Conroy to rectify the current $1.4 million per annum funding shortfall which, unless addressed, will mean digital community radio services across the country will be switched off.
 
Nothing but the Sound of Silence on SYN as station protests by going dark
They said they’d do it. And they have. SYN Media has switched off both their analogue and digital radio services to demonstrate the future of community broadcasting if the Federal Government does not address the shortfall in digital community radio funding.
From 4pm SYN replaced all regular programming with a repeating message that explains why the future of community radio is under threat.
The switch off comes after a full day of campaigning online and in the streets of Melbourne. 
 
‘A relationship other than with the Licensee could get messy’ Chris Chapman
Most people in radio know The ACMA as the disciplinary watchdog that minds what presenters do and say. If that’s all you think they do, then you might be surprised to learn that The ACMA employs some 660 people to do it at a cost of around $160 million a year. Of course, given their powers shock jocks who would normally decry it as a shocking waste of tax payer money, have generally stayed mum.
The reality is that while the ATO is by far the single largest revenue source for the government, The ACMA is ranked about fourth. Last year alone it payed its own way by raking in $646.375 million from broadcasting, radiocommunications and telecommunications taxes, charges and licence fees as well as the income from spectrum auctions.
Only accountants could get excited about that, but the meaty stuff, the stuff that makes the headlines, is all about the regulation and enforcement side of the ‘business.’ And although he hasn’t said it, one gets the feeling that, given his background in law, it is also this side of the business that floats The ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman’s boat.
 
“Trust me, I’m acutely aware,” it takes too long to make a ruling: ACMA Chairman
Chapman: There’s nearly 6.5 million hours of radio and television broadcast in Australia each year. There are only about 4,000 complaints a year to commercial television and radio. I don’t have the public broadcasting figures nor the community.
In order of magnitude – of those 4,000 that goes to the commercial broadcasters, probably 300 investigations a year come to us.
So, 6.5 million hours broadcast. 4,000ish go to broadcasters and then about 300 translate into formal investigations. That suggests to me that the system ain’t broke.

No joy for digital community radio in budget, better news for ABC and SBS
SBS and ABC Radio have received small increases in funding for digital radio transmission, while money for the community sector is nowhere to be found in tonight’s federal budget.
CBAA President Adrian Basso says the government has “jeopardised” the future of community digital radio: “This is a disappointing outcome for all the communities who rely on community radio to provide the information, opinion and music commercial stations and the national broadcasters can’t or don’t.”
The community sector will now consult with its members and is seriously contemplating turning off services or networking nationally. While some in the sector will think this is a good lobbying tactic, other major stations already on digital will be less than happy with the idea of giving up their right to spectrum or backing one nationally networked feed. Competitors in the other sectors may however be happy if community radio switches off, because it will leave more space for them on the new transmission platform.

Authentic personalities, great content wins audiences
There are people who have the ability to tell a great story; those who can spin a great yarn and hold an audience.
What is it about their story telling technique that grabs your attention and makes you want to listen to what they have to say? 
What is it about them, and what they say, that allows them to easily engage others?
Clearly the subject matter has to be of interest but even if it is not, some people can engage you even if you have little or no interest in the topic.

Smooth is turning 1
One year ago, smoothfm rose from the ashes of Vega and Classic Rock. Today, it’s found a programming groove that focuses on feel rather than format.
DMG Group PD  Paul Jackson spoke last year to radioinfo, telling Peter Saxon:
The whole thing’s been a plan that we’ve been rolling out and we spent a lot of last year looking at what our options were and what was the right thing, not wanting to get it wrong.

Is this the face of evil or just a shameless self-promoter
Last Wednesday a rally for some cause or other was held in Sydney, attended by all of 350 people. Despite the seemingly miniscule support for it, they managed to disrupt peak hour traffic and inconvenience thousands by insisting they march through the main arteries of the CBD.
A spokesperson for the activists who spoke to 2UE’s Jason Morrison, justified the mayhem saying he was confident ‘people won’t be angered, if they caused traffic gridlock.’ Who’s he kidding?
Whether it is this group or the cyclists of Critical Mass who are fond of blocking the Harbour Bridge, no one sitting in their car, late to pick up a child or see their mother in the nursing home, or just busting for a pee is going to feel any warmer or fuzzier about whatever cause, no matter how noble, as a result of being inconvenienced.

Adam Spencer calls time at ABC
With no concrete plans as to what he’ll do after his final show on December 6, Adam Spencer announced this morning that he’d be stepping down from the 702 ABC Breakfast show, citing the need for a change.
“It’s been an absolute thrill, an incredible ride and a privilege to host the 702 Breakfast Show,” the top-rating presenter said.
“You’re always going to miss it when it is gone but now feels right.”
“I’m also going to miss the audience and my colleagues but I’m looking forward to new opportunities, and life outside the ABC including spending more time with family, friends, and other community interests.”
 
Analysis: survey giveth and survey taketh away
ARN
The survey giveth and the survey taketh away. We doubt that folk at WS-FM will be too amused by this mangled old line, but it must be frustrating to have basked in the glow of being the number 1 FM station in Sydney for just one survey before dropping back down the ranks by a hefty 1.5 share points. Still it was better news for MIX 106.5 which managed to put on 1.3 with good gains in Breakfast and in Drive.
Melbourne was a much better and more consistent story (programmers love consistency) with both GOLD and Mix 101.1 consolidating their positions. Also consolidating its position was 97.3FM in Brisbane which put on another 0.9 at #1 spot outright. ARN is also blessed with ownership of the leading station in Adelaide, MIX 102.3 as well as a handy AM station, Cruise 1323.

Pressure on 40+ demos is proving an issue for us: ARN’s Duncan Campbell
ARN’s content supremo mulls over his network’s latest survey results
“We’re happy. It’s a solid result. The context for me is the fact that we probably haven’t seen as aggressive an approach to tactical marketing, or marketing in general, from SCA or DMG for a long time. So, for us to emerge with a very solid result is encouraging,” says ARN National Content Director, Duncan Campbell.
What he’s particularly pleased about is, “growth for Mix in Sydney and Melbourne  and Mix placed as the number one network, 25-54 cume.  To be a whole number one in Brisbane and Adelaide is also a good result for us, We’re very, very happy overall.”
 
25 of the best from Craig Bruce
To celebrate 25 years at SCA, Head of Content Craig Bruce is sharing 25 things he’s learnt in the radio industry on his brand spanking new Twitter account (@cb_bruce).
Lesson 25
One day you’ll be me. 
Seems like yesterday when I was the 18 year-old mid-dawner with no clue.
Create your own lessons and write your own rule book.
Lesson 24
Understand that you’re creating a personal brand. 
Your brand is a promise, it’s an expectation of an experience. 
What do your peers and potential managers expect from you?

Get into radio the Tom Ballard way!
Craig Bruce has proved a hit with his 25 radio tips on Twitter, and now one half of triple j Breakfast, Tom Ballard, has followed suit with a post on his personal website entitled ‘Radio Advice Stuff Things’, where he gives advice on how to get into radio. Here are a couple of exerpts.
 
Radio In Dublin… How’s the Craic?
Dave Smith has just returned from a year as a content director in Ireland. He gives radioinfo readers an insight into the radio market in Dublin.
 
 ‘I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore Toto!’
This was my first response to working in Irish Radio.
Let me explain. Dublin is a vibrant, social city of around 1 million people, and very little gets in the way of a good time, which is appropriately always synchronised with several pints of the black stuff.

Mike Carlton accuses the late Stan Zemanek of fraud
BUT GETS IT WRONG: Comment from Peter Saxon. Lucky forMike Carlton that Stan Zamanek is dead. Otherwise it is likely he’d sue for defamation.
In his Saturday column in the SMH, Carlton dropped the bombshell: Zemanek had defrauded 2UE of more than $200,000 in advertising revenue. It was money he owed the station for the sale of commercials in his show but had never paid.
The comment was near the end of an article that was ostensibly the last word in a stoush that had been running all week in the Fairfax and News Ltd Press between long time foes Ray Hadley, in the News corner, and Mike Carlton, aligned with Fairfax.
 
Radio Sales people could learn from industries who’ve evolved faster than ours
Let’s face facts. The business owners that we contact daily are contacted by every known advertising media there is and there are plenty. I recently counted well over 1000 direct media representatives in Sydney alone.  Not to mention the fact that many business owners are better educated and know more about media than ever before. So why should they take your call, meet with you and then commit to a radio campaign?
I work with many radio sales people across Australia and every day I hear that it is getting harder and harder to prospect new clients, do as many appointments as I used to be able to do, and then there’s the competition.  Then I hear these excuses… business owners don’t have the budgets they used to have, they’ve seen it all before, they won’t commit for 12 months, they want me to email the proposal, they can get a better deal on another station, they prefer on-line, the timings not right, they’ve already spent their budget for the year and so on…

Eddie in trouble for racist comments: issues apology
Just days after a 13 year old girl was thrown out of a football stadium for racist remarks against AFL footballer Adam Goodes, and a couple of weeks after David Morrow was suspended for racist comments, Eddie McGuire got himself into similar trouble this morning on Triple M Melbourne.
Following on from comments by Hot Breakfast Show team member Luke Darcy promoting King Kong The Musical, McGuire said:
“Get Adam Goodes down for it, d’you reckon?”

Some of the dumbest contestants ever heard on radio
The Brits certainly love their quizzes on radio. Here is a collection of some of the dumbest contestants’ answers to quiz questions you’ll ever hear.
UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2)
Jeremy Paxman:
What is another name for ‘cherrypickers’ and ‘cheesemongers’?
Contestant:
Homosexuals.
Jeremy Paxman:
No. They’re regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you.

To see all our stories from May 2013, click here.

JUNE

Win your way to Florida USA to cover the NAB RadioShow
Would you like to be radioinfo’s reporter at the NAB Radio Show in Florida this year? One radioinfo reader will receive a week’s trip to the USA to attend the NAB RadioShow. In return you will file some stories, tweet some comments and take some photos for us.
The Radio Show is American Radio’s premier annual event where industry professionals from every market and business sector come together to get content and revenue-generating ideas, network with business partners and enjoy special events.
The three-day conference is attended by radio’s top CEOs and thought leaders and is a must-attend event for anyone who is interested in the future of radio as well as their own future in radio.

If I’m not living the dream just yet, I’m very close
Peter Saxon talks to the man with the plan. He is the Tsar of Twitter, the Pharaoh of Facebook – trending #1 in the world so often he’s lost count. He is arguably Nova FM’s best performed talent – number one under 40 in every metro market whereSmallzy’s Surgery is heard Mon-Fri, 7 –10pm.
In this first part of our chat, Smallzy gives us an insight into how he uses social media to drive audience to his show from across the planet. How he gets interviews with the biggest stars, the thrill of being a star himself and the girls he meets along the way. And why Australia could use a Molly Meldrum for a new generation and who he thinks could fit that bill.
Born Kent Small in Sydney’s far western suburbs, my guess was that he was dubbed Smallzy during his early school years. But I was wrong, “My nicknames at school were all variations of Kent … you can join your own dots,” says Smallzy – who, when he was 12, was voted Most Opinionated Person.
 
Commercial radio operators should listen to the ABC
Opinion from John Patkin. In the light of the Eddie McGuire controversy, John Patkin explains how diversity and inclusion are challenges for even the best of broadcasters.
Broadcasting regulations vary around the world but mission statements for public broadcasters share the common aim of serving all sectors of a society, especially minorities. If my critical ear serves me well, I’d say ABC Local Radio is living up to its mandate. But it’s still a challenge.
Take 15 minutes from an ABC Local Radio program this week when the host was interviewing an artist who was also identified as having epilepsy and that’s where things seemed to sound difficult. The interviewee opened up about being labeled as disabled instead of an artist. Fair point.

Young girls should not be made to feel needlessly insecure
A change.org campaign against Le Tan has resulted in the company’s radio ads being pulled off air.
Petitioner Georgina Bitcon began a campaign on the petition website after hearing a radio ad for the sun tanning product, which she says needlessly makes girls feel insecure:
The Le Tan ads directly exploit women’s insecurities to attempt to make profit.
The ad contains a man saying that a woman ‘looks hot’ and then shudders away when she takes of her jacket to reveal her ‘PWS’ (AKA Pasty White Skin), a term coined by the cosmetics company to infer that to have pale skin is akin to a disorder or condition.
 
“A collective problem we need to solve”
The second of today’s ACMA Citizen Conversations Series forums delved into the topic of ‘decency’ and the concerns a simple word can raise in broadcasting. One such issue was ‘how should regulatory bodies and broadcasters define socially acceptable standards when morals and values are, characteristically, a personal and subjective set of beliefs?’ 
Journalist and broadcaster Gretel Killeen believes broadcasters receive ‘mixed messages’ when it comes to decency and standards. She openly admitted that during her extensive media career she was never advised on acceptable standards and suggested this is the also the norm for other broadcasters.
According to Killeen, this shows “there are no rules anymore” when it comes to standards in broadcasting. She used the example of Kyle Sandilands, saying he “is paid millions of dollars each year to be loud and over the top, but then he suddenly is told he oversteps the mark. What is the line though?”

triple j reveals the Hottest 100 of the past 20 years
It’s been 20 years since the first of triple j’s Hottest 100 annual countdowns. So what is the Hottest 100 of 20 years of Hottest 100s? More than 940,000 votes were cast, over 20 days, by triple j listeners, who for the most part grew up with the music on of the past 20 years and knew little before that.
The retrospective data of a poll spanning 20 years also reveals which songs are considered true classics, songs that may have initially been overlooked and then become cult favourites, and more recent songs which are already considered masters. The earliest track to make the cut was Nirvana’s 1993 classic ‘Heart Shaped Box’, while the most recent song is Of Monsters & Men’s 2012 instant hit ‘Little Talks’.

Jock passes out on air
3SR FM breakfast host passes out during live broadcast of blood donation. In a first for the Shepparton Blood Donor Centre, local breakfast radio hosts Wally and Kel last Thursday decided to give “synchronised donations” whilst on air.
The broadcast and donation aimed to encourage the local community to give blood as Australian Red Cross Blood Service calls for nearly 250 more Shepparton and Goulburn Valley residents to donate over the next four weeks.
However, during the commercial break, Wally become unresponsive and one of the nurses told staff that he had passed out for a short period of time.

6PR’s Howard Sattler suspended for inappropriate questions to PM
Tim’s gay isn’t he?” Sattler asks Prime Minister.
6PR drive announcer Howard Sattler went a step too far in his interview with a “disrespectful and irrelevent” line of questioning to PM Julia Gillard, asking her several times if her partner, Tim Mathieson, is gay. “That’s absurd,” she replied.
“He’s a hairdresser isn’t he?” Sattler put to a speechless Gillard in a line of questioning he said was “testing myths.”

Howard’s big mistake. And it wasn’t the interview
0pinion from Peter Saxon. When they cancelled my father’s drivers licence, he was devastated. It was his last vestige of freedom. He felt as if his very manhood had been rent from him and that his family had conspired against him. We had, of course. But something had to be done.
In truth, it wasn’t us so much as his advanced age combined with the early stages of dementia that had conspired to make him a danger to himself, my mother who usually occupied the passenger seat and every other road user. He thought that the constant honking of horns around him was simply a sign of how impolite motorists had become in the 60 years since he’d first got his licence.

Sport consumption habits changing
U.S. study shows increase in mobile sport consumption habits but no good news for radio.
On June 17 the Sporting News Media company released its third survey into U.S. sport media consumption habits. Each year, the company releases figures on how Americans are viewing and consuming sport. The survey was conducted in February of this year with over 1000 American adult (18+) participants recording responses. It is estimated that there is over 170 million sports fans in the U.S.
 
What Radio has that an iPhone could never compete with
What is radio’s secret…  The answer is simple, writes Ray Kington in this USA RadioShow Trip entry.
Radio has been under attack for many years from changes occuring accross the media landscape, and yet, like a cockroach hiding under a rock after a nuclear mushroom cloud, it has lurched upwards. Radio continues to grow and continues to innovate.
Radio has survived for more than 80 years and I think it will keep on flourishing.
 
Purveyors of the next new media trend continue to write off radio time and time again. Radio is often seen as an old fashioned medium that cannot compete with new iOS and Android apps, or even the popularity of You Tube.
 
Gold Siren winner claims Radio Grand Prix at Cannes Lions
The “Dumb Ways to Die” campaign, featuring the 2013 Gold Siren winning ad “Set Fire to Your Hair”, has continued its domination at the Cannes Lions by claiming the Radio Grand Prix.
Written by John Mescall and Pat Baron of McCann Melbourne, the hugely successful campaign for Metro Trains, which started as a radio ad, has claimed the top gong across several categories, adding the Radio Grand Prix to the list overnight.
Cannes judges responsible for choosing winners in the radio category said despite the rise in social media, radio should be viewed by both advertisers and their agencies to connect with consumers. 

When Radio is in the blood
The story of a radio stalwart. Peter Saxon speaks with 3AW’s Darren James
Few careers get into your blood like radio. You can make much more money selling real estate or finance. Yet, despite long hours, low wages, having to travel from city to city or town to town, most of us can’t think of anything they’d rather do.
Even those few who’ve made fortunes from radio, like John Laws, are willing to work for just about nothing long after retirement age, just because it is in their blood.
For 3AW’s Darren James the blood has coursed through the veins of three generations of his family. His fatherPeter, who passed away in 2009, was a popular Melbourne radio identity, mostly working at 3AW. And Darren’s sonMichael works at 3AW today in production. 

Should 15 year old Rhys stay at school or get a job in radio?
At 15, Townsville boy, Rhys Messenger had been on air for three years already at a local community station and reckons he’s ready for a full time, paid, radio job.
He writes: “I’m currently in year 10 at school, and not going through much of a good time at school – so would like to finish at the end of this year, and either get a full time job, and if that’s not possible, I’d reel myself into doing a course. I’m prepared to move wherever (even so young) wherever radio takes me.”
It’s not for lack of trying. He’s been sending out air-checks and demos of his imaging work straight out of his home built sound proof studio. Channel 7 even featured him in their news.

Hinch to Plead Not Guilty to Contempt
Former Radio Broadcaster Derryn Hinch says he will plead not guilty to contempt of court charges which were laid against him in Melbourne yesterday.
“I have been charged over alleged breaches of suppression orders in editorials and tweets concerning Adrian Bayley’s trial for the rape and murder of Jill Meagher,” says Hinch.
“I fervently believe I am not guilty of contempt of court and will contest the case when it comes up in the Supreme Court on July 16.”

The Light and Shade of Radio Political Commentary
Australian radio airwaves were predictably full of reaction, analysis and comment this morning following last night’s leadership spill.
The content covered a broad spectrum of opinion, and included both serious commentary and various attempts at humour.
3AW’s Neil Mitchell was cynical in his observations, including the following:

So there Ros Reines: Craig Bruce’s top 5 female announcers
In the next instalment of tweets from Craig Bruce, today he listed his top 5 young up and coming female announcers.
Ros Reines “obviously hasn’t heard about” these announcers yet, says Craig Bruce, hitting back at the newspaper columnist who earlier this week criticised female breakfast hosts in a Daily Telegraph column.
Reines wrote:
Sophie Monk is unfortunately an extreme example of the way in which most women on FM radio are simply content to be there as ditsy foils for the men.
 

To see all our stories from June 2013, click here.

JULY

 
Radio Needs to be Data-Driven not Data-After
 
Innovation and the ability to turn data into targeted consumer offerings is how smart radio businesses will create a competitive edge, according to PwC’s Entertainment and Media Outlook released today.
While the report revealed very few surprises about specific radio trends to inform those already in the industry, it did highlight the need for radio professionals to be data-driven.
PwC’s Technology, Infocoms, Communications and Entertainment Leader David Wiadrowski says, “With data, where the sector needs to step up is in understanding how to structure and use the data to develop new, more agile business models.”

2Day and ACMA to argue over constitutional matters on September 19
2DayFM is accusing the Australian Communications and Media Authority of breaching the Australian Constitution by investigating its licence breach, as we reported earlier onradioinfo. The ACMA’s formal investigation into the broadcast by 2DayFM of a prank call to King Edward VII’s Hospital in London is being challenged by the radio station in the Federal Court.

The court has now set a start date for the hearing of September 19.
The investigation will focus on the compliance of the licensee, Today FM Sydney Pty Ltd, with its licence conditions and the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice.


 
Survey 4 Analysis: Nova new leader in Brisbane
Southern Cross Austereo
A steady survey for Australia’s largest network in Sydney and Melbourne. Both the Triple M and Today networks put in solid performances in both markets – the latter’s Hot Breakfast show powering ahead to a 9.5 with Eddie McGuire at the helm.
But everywhere else proved difficult for both brands. In Brisbane both Triple M and B105 lost ground by 0.7 and 1.6 respectively. Triple M is now number three in the market behind new leader, NOVA 106.9 while B105 has slipped to number four and out of double figures.
SAFM dropped 0.9 in Adelaide while Triple M shed a massive 2.0, putting the stations into fifth and sixth place respectively

Albo gets communications portfolio
Anthony Albanese has been given the role of Communications Minister in the Ministerial reshuffle announced today by returned PM Kevin Rudd. He replaces Stephen Conroy, who felt that he could not work with Kevin Rudd – resigning on the night of the bloodletting.
Albanese is one of Rudd’s strongest supporters, and his movement into Communications demonstrates that Rudd believes he is a strong salesman. This is because Labor will see broadband as a weakness for the Coalition, and will be wanting the new minister to hammer home the case for the NBN.
 
2UE’s saddest insult is its irrelevance: Michael Smith
Michael Smith has taken a shot at his former employer after the most recent survey.
Referring to the former vice-president of the AWU featured in Michael Smith’s ‘conspiracy’ videos, Smith begins his blog post with this swipe:
“2UE backed Gillard’s interests over Bob Kernohan’s. Shareholders must be thrilled with management’s wisdom.”

Radio’s cordless power threat increases sharply in 2012
Radio networks have experienced a sharp rise in online competition over the past year in Australia with a 70 per cent rise in the number of consumers cutting off the home phone line and using mobile devices only.
19 percent of the Australian population were mobile-only users by the end of 2012 with almost 3.3 million people replacing their fixed-line home phone with a mobile.
And those figures are already out of date just seven months later, with many more predicted to have cut the cord in the interim period.

Public trust in commercial radio at an all time low: Does anybody care?
Opinion from Peter Saxon. Last week Crikey published an opinion poll from Essential Research that found that 30% of respondents had a positive level of trust in commercial ‘talkback’ radio. Commercial radio ‘news and current affairs’ fared somewhat better with 42% saying they had a lot or some trust in the sector.
Is that good? Well, compared to other electronic media listed in the chart below, no, it’s not. And compared to how commercial radio scored three years ago, it’s not good either. In fact, in the matter of ‘trust’, radio’s going backwards.

Gap Year Asia wins its timeslot
Radio greats Hamish and Andy continue to enjoy success on television, with the premiere of their new Gap Year Asia series attracting huge audience figures last night.
The pair won their timeslot comfortably with a five city audience of 1.566 million, ahead of Border Security on Seven with 839,000 and Master Chef on Ten with 737,000.
Blake and Lee were also back on air with their new radio timeslot of 3pm weekdays for the Happy Hour.

Bec’s intimate confession cuts deep with K-ROCK’s female listeners
 When K-ROCK 95.5 Geelong’s PD Leigh Kuhlmann advisedBecs Lee from his Drive team to reveal a little more about her personal history on air, he couldn’t have anticipated the result. Becs made a risky decision to put aside her usual acerbically humorous persona to speak about something so intimate and emotionally charged she wasn’t sure if she was throwing away her career.
What followed was an on air confession that connected so deeply with her female listeners, the phones didn’t stop ringing. No trolls appeared, no negative tweets, just messages of support and encouragement from both the women and the blokes.
Most of those who called were too upset and embarrassed to go to air with their stories, but that didn’t matter because the reaction confirmed for Becs that she’d made the right choice to speak about something she’d never shared with anyone else in her life.
 
Online traffic reporting offers real time competition
The radio industry’s biggest supplier of traffic reports is now a major online competitor.
The Australian Traffic Network has launched its real time live national traffic website GetTraffic.com.au and smartphone users will now have a significant alternative method of finding traffic snarls in their city.
The Australian Traffic Network (ATN) Managing Director Bill Pezzimenti says the Get Traffic website will provide welcome relief to the millions of Australians who battle to and from work each day.
 
Ray Hadley to be sued for alleged bullying and false imprisonment
If Ray Hadley thought that the fallout from his February tirade against 2GB’s internet content manager, Richard Palmer, had gone away, he would have woken to a rude shock when, last Friday, a statement of claim was lodged in the District Court of NSW against him. It is understood that his lawyer has been served papers
According to a report by Jonathan Swan in the SMH, the claim alleges that Hadley deliberately inflicted psychological harm on Palmer. Fairfax media also reports that It is understood Hadley is facing allegations of “false imprisonment” because a colleague guarded the exit to Hadley’s office while the top rating morning presenter verbally abused Mr Palmer.

The Secrets to Surviving Your First Year in Sales (or How Not to Become a Statistic)
Great Sales advice in this RadioShow Trip Entry, written by Stephen Pead.
Identify with this picture? You have been appointed a sales person at radio station XYZ, the future looks bright, you excitedly anticipate your new career with plenty of hopes and dreams of success.
Unfortunately the reality is often the opposite – the hopes and dreams quickly shatter.
Here’s the thing. Around 30-40% of radio sales people don’t survive their first year. That’s scary!! Too many potentially great sales people quickly leave the industry, disillusioned, frustrated and angry at their lack of progress and it’s not a recent phenomenon.

Self-indulgence, the enemy of localism: RadioShow competition entry
They say all politics is local and the same should be said for radio, writes Stephen Cenatiempo – 981 2NM presenter and recent AFTRS graduate.
As regional broadcasters in talk formats, our daily struggle is to produce compelling content of relevance to our listeners.
Often we can fall into one of two traps; the first, a belief that unless it happens within the boundaries of our primary listening area it’s not local and the second is lazily retreating to the comfort of self-indulgent content when we can’t find something “local” to talk about. 

It’s a bird, it’s a plane… it’s a kitchen utensil that spies traffic
Peter Saxon goes flying high with Vic Lorusso in the ATN traffic chopper.
Climbing aboard a contraption only slightly bigger than an actual eggbeater, I squeeze my portly frame into the cockpit, next to Pilot Pete. Curiously, his joystick seems far less impressive than the one attached to my grandson’s X-Box. Yet, Pete assures me, this is a seriously hi-tech piece of kit – at least as complex as an X-Box.
It’s not that I’m a nervous flyer but today I’ve worn my brown corduroys. And if I had’ve watched 60 Minutes the previous Sunday night, I may not have turned up at all. But that’s another story.

Community station votes to expel a member
Sydney community station Hawkesbury Radio has begun the formal process of expelling a member, but it has divided the station and made the process very public.
In an email message, copied widely to local members and political party leaders, a supporter of the member being expelled argues that the process denies natural justice.
This Tuesday, a special general meeting will vote on whetherJohn Bryant should be expelled from the station. Another member, John Kearnes, in his email, asks the question “what crimes has he committed?”

Where did my station go?
If there’s a station out there targeting John Patkin, he reckons they must be bad shots 
I was 15 in 1980 when 5SSAFM started broadcasting in stereo. As a country kid attending boarding school, I listened to the station with a group of other teenage boys in our dormitory mostly in the mornings. We had listened to Bazz and Pilko for the previous two years when we started our secondary education, but the lure of The Police booming through in clear stereo won out. Lights out at 9:30, I’d covertly listen to Jeff Medwell talk people through their problems on 5DN. Now in my late forties and a wider range of stations to choose from that supposedly target my age group, I can’t find anything that fits.

So you wanna get into Radio? Tim Blackwell tells a young fan how
Unlike his co-hosts Meshel Laurie and Marty Sheargold on Nova’s national Drive show, Tim Blackwell didn’t get his start in radio by doing stand-up. Tim did it the hard way working his way up through the ranks of community radio At 17 he was on air at Chatswood Sydney 2SNB FM. Audio below.
Tim’s always been passionate about a radio, travelling around the country till he finally landed metro night shift with Nova, Melbourne when it launched  in 2001.
In 2002 he moved to Perth to host Nova 937’s local Drive show. Tim was the first voice on air when Nova 937 launched in Perth with a Red Hot Chilli Peppers interview. Two years later he moved to Sydney to host Nova 969’s local Drive show.

Dealing with Government, particularly if you are a Radio Manager
Some great inside advice on dealing with regulators in this RadioShow competition entry.
If you are in the radio business long enough, sooner or later you will get some attention (usually unwanted) from the government.
Are you prepared or will they blindside you when they turn up on your doorstep?
Here are some points to consider before they arrive:
1. Complaint handling. Do you have a form letter to respond to members of the public with? Will it still happen if you are away from the station (who is then responsible?).

Complaints and legal threats for Hawkesbury Radio after expelling member
 
A dispute inside Hawkesbury Radio resulted in the expulsion of member John Bryant this week. But that may not be the end of it.
ACMA is conducting an investigation and legal action is threatened.
An ACMA spokesperson has confirmed that a number of complaints were received about the station, but they were all dismissed. There is one more current complaint under investigation:

Penny knows her listeners – she’s met most of them
When Penny Terry was asked to take on a revamped afternoon program for ABC Northern Tasmania she took hold of the opportunity with both hands and quickly hit the road.
She’s chalked up more than 50 outside broadcasts in the past 18 months and even when she’s back in the studio she’s replaying a fair chunk of material she’s collected in the field.
“The ‘Your Afternoon’ team takes its tour of Tasmania seriously,” says Penny.

Radioshow Entry: How Passionate Are You?
The following entry is written by Peter Finch, who is self employed and operates narrowcast radio stations in Queensland.
We know that radio is a passionate medium, you have a passion for it and everything you do with it is done passionately. 
Diana Abdel-Rahman is passionate about many things, her Islamic faith, her family and her cat. And radio.
This year marks Ms Abdel-Rahman’s 20^th year of broadcasting to Canberra’s Islamic community during the holy month of Ramadan.

There is both a You and an I in ‘Community’ Radio
 
Strictly speaking, this headline is true if you’re playing anagrams – but only if single letter words are allowed. Perhaps it comes from the same source that coined the platitude, “there’s no I in Team.” Its message sort of fits in the same space. At any rate, whatever the message, it seems lost on the community station that dominated radioinfo’s home page all last week, Hawkesbury Radio 89.9FM.
The three articles we ran covering the events that culminated in the ousting of one of the station’s members, John Bryant, certainly drew much heated comment from our readers – or at least, those readers connected with Hawkesbury Radio.
It’s not my intention to choose sides on this matter. I can’t say whether Mr Bryant was hard done by or not. But I will say that, in my opinion, this whole episode has done no favours to the reputation of this station or the Community Radio sector in general.

Keith Fowler on The Beach in Hawaii
Keith Fowler tells radioinfo all about Resonate Broadcasting’s newest station in Hawaii.
Resonate Broadcasting, an Aussie radio company owned by Guy Dobson and Rex Morris, has expanded further into Hawaii with the acquisition of a second licence, The Beach.
As we reported on 4^th July, Keith Fowler has moved to Hawaii to run the Resonate stations, after many years of programming and managing stations in India and China.

Peter Moon – Wendy Harmer and I had toxic chemistry
Peter Moon has spoken to Triple M’s The Grill Teamhas revealed the toxic chemistry between himself and co-host Wendy Harmer on their iconic 2Day FM breakfast show, and the anxieties between them that led to comedy… plus his regret for not sticking around to knock off Alan Jones.
Matty Johns:
Now Moony, it’s amazing how time flies, back in the day you had a young guy punching your buttons by the name of Jamie Angel, and these days Jamie Angel is actually our boss, can I ask you back then was he addicted to cocaine and heroin, because he’s really made a mess of himself these days.
Peter Moon:
Oh has he, no I don’t think people could afford it back then, because Wendy (Harmer) was getting paid too much, he was actually a nice bloke, there weren’t many nice blokes in the radio business, if he was using pharmaceuticals that might explain how he did it.

ABC to help out its commercial rivals
ABC Managing Director Mark Scott has announced that the public broadcaster will provide content and links back to commercial rivals to help strengthen the nation’s struggling media sector.
He says he believes the ABC needs to work co-operatively with the rest of the Australian media and will not “pull up the ladder” once it implements innovation.
Scott talked about his strategy with ABC 702’s Richard Glover

Drex is back
Remember when Drex was sacked for his MILF question to the Canadian Premier. He’s back…
Drex made headlines and was fired at the start of the year for asking Canadian B.C. Premier Christy Clark how she felt to be a MILF. Read how we covered it back then.
After his sacking he was given another chance with a freelance gig at CFOX.

Killing Fairfax reveals board room plans for Fairfax Radio
It was the deal Kirk needed but he was overruled by the board…
A new book by Pamela Williams investigates the decline of the Fairfax company. Killing Fairfax is mostly about the significant structural changes in newspapers and the board room and ownership politics behind the company’s attempts to come to grips with that change in recent years.
Excerpts from the book have been published in Fairfax Media’s rival News Limited newspapers.
While most of the book concentrates on the newspaper business, one excerpt sheds light into the beginnings of the long running take over dance between John Singleton’s Macquarie Radio Network and Fairfax Radio Network.

Election date factors: Grand Finals and Justin Bieber Tour
Political strategists know that election dates must be planned to avoid big events.
In Australia, only the Prime Minister has the power to name an election date, although there are many factors a PM must consider when making a decision. PM Kevin Rudd and his close advisors will be doing their calculations daily as the political winds shift constantly.
Factors in the equation include election law, which mandates that the date for a federal election is at the discretion of the Governor-General on advice from the Prime Minister. Taking into account the issuing of writs, nominations and a range of technical factors, the latest date a House of Representatives election must be called is no later than three years and three months after the previous election.
 
Hi, my name’s Kristie and I work in radio
RadioShow Comp entry from Kristie Mercer
I love so much about dinner parties. It’s not just the way the host slaves for hours preparing a meal that I could never be stuffed attempting. It’s not just the fact that it’s the prefect excuse to gorge on dessert because ‘it’d be rude not to right?’ And it’s not even the free wine that’s the best part of the dinner party…okay so maybe the free wine comes close to the best part.  In actual fact, it’s the small talk that I love most about dinner parties. And it’s small talk between somebody I’ve never met before that’s even better.
When it comes to small talk, there’s a standard protocol we all follow, especially when meeting someone for the first time. It’s in our DNA as humans. It’s as though we’re programmed to know to act in a certain way, to ask certain questions. Just as innate as eating, sleeping and breathing, the human race knows to fill an awkward silence with one single sentence – “So…what do you do with yourself?”

The reality of dating a radio announcer
Matt Ambrose can’t keep a girlfriend.
Did you read the story about dating an airline pilot?
Well I stole that concept and focused on our wonderful industry.
From an outsiders point of view it might appear exciting and fun to date a radio announcer. I can tell you from the perspective of my ex-girlfriends – all two of them – it isn’t!
This might have more to do with me being a massive jerk than a proper insight into the industry but I thought I’d run through some things you can expect when dating a radio person.

AWA’s 100th Birthday
David Rogerson attended the 100^th birthday celebration of one of Australia’s most influential radio companies with his fatherBruce Rogerson.
He shares reminiscences of AWA with radioinfo readers in this report.
In July 1913, AWA Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Limited was established with exclusive rights throughout Australasia to patents, ‘present and future” of both British Marconi and Telefunken.   With the establishment of AWA, it effectively settled a patent dispute between Telefunken an, British Marconi and the Australian.  

To see all our stories from July 2013, click here.

AUGUST

 
Gold Coast Survey 2
The second Gold Coast survey has been released. Check out all the Nielsen figures. And see our other station reports here and here.
Gold FM regained top station status, jumping 1.1 share points to 16.2%, followed by Sea FM, down 0.2, on 16.1%.
Third placed Hot Tomato scored 12.3%, down by 1.7 share points overall. ABC local station 91.7 gained 0.7 to 6.6%.

Caralis Settles Software copyright lawsuit out of court
True to form, Bill Caralis has settled out of court rather than allow software giants Microsoft and Adobe to take the their alleged piracy suit against him to trial.
At the heart of the matter was accusations by the Business Software Alliance (BSA, representing the software copyright holders) that there was systematic illegal copying of software throughout the Super Network. Having found smoking guns at Caralis stations in both Dubbo and Young that lead them to allege that unlicensed copies of their applications were being used, BSA suggested to the Federal Court that it was a reasonable assumption that what was happening at Dubbo and Young, was happening across the entire network.

A reminder for politicians: Glenn Daniel
Glenn Daniel speaks to radioinfo about the David Bradburyinterview.
Glenn Daniel has seen politicians come and go through his newsroom and has seen all the tricks. During an election campaign radio journos need to be even more vigilent about accuracy and be aware of political tactics.

A fine result: Radio lends a helping hand
Success for Neil Mitchell’s speed camera campaign.
A radio campaign led by 3AW’s Neil Mitchell to return fines and lost demerit points to almost 1000 Melbourne drivers, because of a speed camera bungle, has been successful.
Victoria’s speed camera watchdog has today ruled against the Victoria Police, recommending 987 Melbourne drivers have their fines repaid and their demerit points and licences restored.

Music tastes are changing all the time: Nova music director
Insights of a “gifted music manager with a natural ear.”
Nova 106.9FM Brisbane has formally appointed Georgina Ingham-Myers to the position of Music and Operations Manager. She speaks to radioinfo about picking music for a station like Nova
Ingham-Myers has been filling in for long-serving Nova 106.9FM Music Director, Kate Casey, while Casey has been on maternity leave. She will now replace Kate Casey permanently, as Casey has made the decision to return to work on a part-time basis.

The ex-con and the community radio station
A little community station on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is facing a bitter Annual General Meeting at the end of this month with an internal dispute and financial mismanagement accusations threatening the stability of the community organisation.
Sunshine FM in Buderim changed its programming, resulting in a number of shows being taken off air. But at least one presenter feels there is more behind the changes than just programming decisions.
Allan Quinn has told radioinfo he was taken off air for supporting a former staff member who resigned and took court action for unpaid wages. She won the case. The station refutes this claim, saying there were other reasons Quinn’s program, Saturday Night Gold, was axed.

Licenced to print money no more
In 2007, when Rob Gamble (pictured) sold his two Sunshine Coast stations to Prime Media for $33.5 million, he was a happy man. He could be the last person ever to make a profit from the sale of a radio licence.
At the time, the Gamble family’s FM stations, Zinc 96.1 and Hot 91.1 when added to Prime’s other radio assets in Gladstone / Rockhampton, Cairns, Mackay and Townsville, brought the value of the company’s radio division to around $77 million.
Now, in 2013, after a protracted negotiation, they sold the lot to the Cameron family’s Grant Broadcasters for just $24.525 million – a third of its value just six years ago. It’s true that negotiators don’t come much tougher than the Camerons. They don’t like to overpay for anything which is probably why they tend not to win licence auctions when there are other interested parties to outbid them.

Radio industry opens new Gold Standard software accreditation
Advertising Agencies will be able to choose the radio ratings software they want to use.
Earlier this year radioinfo reported on the biggest changes to radio surveys, as discussed by Commerical Radio Australia’sJoan Warner at this year’s Radio Asia conference. Soon advertising agencies and radio stations will no longer be tied to a single radio analysis software package wth CRA announcing that it has started the process for Gold Standard Accreditation of radio audience measurement software.
From 1 January 2014, when audience measurement provider, GfK, commences the new contract for radio audience survey measurement in Australia, subscribers will be able to access a range of Gold Standard accredited software packages for use with radio survey data.

Radio has had a stellar half: Michael Miller
APN, the ARN’s parent company, reports strong growth and profit in its half year financial results.
APN News and Media has today released its financial results for the six months ending June 30 2013. Revenue was up 5% to $426.5 milllion and Earnings Before Interest Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) before exceptionsl items was down 4% to $65 million. Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) before exceptional items was up $1 million to to $16.2 million.
During the half, the comapny has reduced net debt by $17 million and is on track to deliver on its commitment to reduce debt by $40 to $50 million by the end of 2013. Cost savings across APN’s publishing divisions are ahead of plan with teh original target of $25 million already secured.

USA RadioShow competition winner
It’s been a difficult job to decide the winner of our RadioShow competition.
Thanks to everyone who wrote an article for our competition,radioinfo readers have enjoyed them all.
Our judging panel individually rated each story and sent us their results, which were then pooled and counted. This final round of the competition was judged on content, quality of writing and engagement.

Radio resilient in an eventful year: Rhys Holleran
Radio was the star of the show at today’s Southern Cross Austereo results briefing. While the company’s regional television business did not perform as well as expected due to its affiliation with the poorly rating channel ten, its radio business was described as resilient.
“Local advertising is strong, radio is resilient,” said CEO Rhys Holleran, reporting a year where overall revenue declined, but profits remained stable.
The company reported a net profit after tax of $96 million and continued to reduce debt and pay consistent dividends (see our earlier story for full results).

Radio to pay royalties on streamed music: High Court
Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) has lost its long running legal battle with the music industry to exempt programs streamed over the internet from paying royalties to the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA).
Over a period spanning four years CRA has consistently argued that a program simulcast online was effectively the same program as that broadcast on-air and should not attract a separate fee.
The PPCA insisted that the internet was a separate platform and should be subject to a separate licensing agreement and fee.

Survey 5: Spin Cycle
All the latest from the stations’ PR departments.
 
See the full Survey results from each city here.
 
Our survey analysis is here.
 
Halliwell to host on Today network
Former Spice Girl turns radio DJ to bring listeners oldschool tunes.
Current Australia’s Got Talent judge and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is set to join her co-judge and 2Day FM breakfast announcer Kyle Sandilands as a regular co-host on the Kyle and Jackie O Show in Sydney. Halliwell is also set to take up residence behind the mic across the Today Network, bringing back the oldschool tunes to radio starting today, Monday 19 August, in her own timeslot.
Halliwell is one of four Australia’s Got Talent judges alongside Kyle, Timomatic and Dawn French. On Today Network radio stations she’ll take listener on a trip back in time with oldschool specials on the networks major metropolitan stations. She is set to have listeners reminiscing as she spins her favourite oldschool tracks and adds personal stories about everyone from Oasis to George Michael and Robin Thicke.

Greens promise more money to community radio if elected
The Greens will commit an additional $27 million per annum to community broadcasting if elected. The election promise has paved the way for other political parties to reveal their plans for growth in the community broadcasting sector.
CBAA President Adrian Basso has called on all political parties to release a policy for community broadcasting before the election.
“The Greens have thrown down the gauntlet. It’s time for other political parties to show how they plan to support community broadcasters if they win the election.
 
The Four Wise Men of FM
Nielsen Survey 5 was a strange one in many ways, particularly for the FM band. Of the 24 commercial FM stations in the five major markets only five went up, the other 19 all  lost share. But triple j had a blinder, going up in all five major markets. In the process it marked an unprecedented milestone. For the first time in history, it took outright first place – not number one FM or #1 non-commercial station – but numero uno in an entire market: Perth.
triple j manager, Chris Scaddan was, of course, delighted with the result telling radioinfo, “It’s the first time we’ve been number one in a metro market.. It’s not that rare an occurrence for us to top 18-24s, which is, after all, our target audience. But it’s very rare (to be top overall)… well, it hasn’t happened before.”
While the 2.2 share gain that catapulted triple j’s western outlet into the lead in Perth may turn out to be an aberration, the fact that all the metro outlets in all states went up with more modest gains, is more likely a confirmation of a longer term trend.

2UE responds to low morale claims
Yesterday radioinfo received an email from a staff member at 2UE. The email is highly critical of the programming direction the station has taken since the beginning of this year. An edited version appears below.
2UE General Manager, Chris Parker has issued the following response…
I have difficulty accepting that this letter is indeed from one of our staff. Could it, in fact, be from an ex-staffer or a close relative of a disgruntled staffer?
 
Community station takes on Nova over copyright
2NSB bills Nova for use of copyrighted audio material.
The Nova network got more than it bargained for when yesterday on its nationally syndicated drive program withMeshel, Tim and Marty, the team aired tapes of host Tim Blackwell’s old breakfast and drive programs from his time at Sydney community station 2NSB 99.3, during the late 90s.
Acting station manager James Brechney, has sent DMG Radio Australia a bill for the use of the copyrighted material, adding up to nearly $30,000.

How a narrow target attracts a broader audience to triple j
Jays’ manager Chris Scaddan chats with Peter Saxon about the youth network’s unprecedented success.
On ratings day last week when I spoke to the Content/Program Directors of the three major commercial FM networks, it was less than smiles all ‘round. Of the 24 commercial FM stations in the five major markets only five went up, the other 19 all lost share. Only DMG’s Paul Jackson seemed pleased with the result – Nova had gone up in both Sydney and Melbourne.
These three radio mavens, ARN’s Duncan Campbell, SCA’s Craig Bruce and the aforementioned Paul Jackson offered various explanations for the  apparent listener exodus from the FM band. Most popular theory was that the coming election was driving people to the traditional news stations on the AM band. And while there was general consensus that competition between them had never been tighter, not one them mentioned the incredible survey results for triple j.

In a field of opals Keith McGowan finds a rough diamond
Coober Pedy describes itself as “The Opal Capital Of The World.” And it most likely is. The mining town is located  846ks from Adelaide and 685ks south of Alice Springs. It’s fair to say it’s out of the way.
Coober Pedy is  also home to maybe 3,250 to 4,000 people. Nobody knows for sure exactly how many.  What is known is that 59 nationalities are represented with a large number of Greeks, who put on their now famous, and looked forward to, Greek Bar-B-Que every Thursday night at the Greek Club. All welcome.

Do announcers really like the songs they play?
When it comes to the newest Jason Derulo single, Star FM’s Tommy has his say.
Tommy Jackett, one half of the Tommy and Candy breakfast show on 96.9 Star FM Shepparton has told radioInfo how he really feels about the newest single from pop and R&B singerJason Derulo:
“You may know him as the guy who sings his name at the start of all his songs, the guy who had to cancel his 2012 Australian tour due to a broken neck or the guy who is keen for you to “talk dirty to me”.

Not long until Perth’s newest station goes live
As the clock ticks down to next week’s launch of Triple M in Perth, the station is running its soon-to-be on the air promos.
As radioInfo reported earlier this month, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has announced that the Triple M network will be extending to Perth, with the new station set to air on digital radio beginning this Monday 2nd September. 
SCA is marketing the station as ‘Perth’s newest real music alternative’ and promoting heavily Triple M’s exclusive football calling rights as offering a ‘genuine alternative to tired, old AM football coverage’.

Rolf Harris charged in London
Australian radio and tv entertainer Rolf Harris has been charged with a range of sexual offences against two under-age girls and another child.
London’s Metropolitan Police last night charged the 83 year old Harris with six counts of indecent assault of a girl, 15, in 1980-81 and three counts of indecent assault of a girl, 14, in 1986.

Friends of ABC question Coalition’s public broadcasting credentials
The Institute of Public Affairs and the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party support privatising the ABC, and despite Tony Abbott hosing down any suggestions that this would occur under an incoming coalition government, the Friends of the ABC are not convinced. 
The Liberals have form in this area. In 1996, on election night, Senator Richard Alston promised that Keating’s ABC funding model would be retained in real terms, and yet to fill the ‘Beazley Black Hole’ John Howard cut $11 million when taking office and another $55 million for the rest of his first term. 
Given the Coalition’s strong position on returning to surplus and their rhetoric of a ‘budget emergency’, it is possible some cuts in undetailed areas of policy are coming. The opposition’s statement this week, which gave some detail as to where $31 billion of savings would found quarantined certain areas of public policy – including health and education. However, no such guarantee was made on media policy.

To see all our stories from August 2013, click here.

SEPTEMBER

Leading breakfast host forgets lunch in the nude with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Pope.
Peter Saxon nabs a rare interview with 3AW’s Ross Stevenson. In it, he talks about Alan Jones, why Steve Priceand MTR didn’t succeed. What he thinks of 2UE’s Dicko andSarah and how his show with on-air partner John Burnssounds like “two pissed uncles.”
Many of those who work on-air, like others in the public eye, are shameless self-promoters – which is probably how they got there in the first place. But Australia’s top ranking breakfast announcer, Ross Stevenson is publicity shy. He dislikes giving interviews, his peers tell me. The last time he did one? “I couldn’t tell you- it would be years ago,” he says. Then in an attempt at modest self deprecation, which  he invokes at regular intervals during our chat, he adds, “Not many people ask.”

Clive Palmer and Radio: A Love Story?
Has Clive Palmer’s resourceful use of radio during the election been effective? And why does his involvement with Jackie O’s hermit crab, Herpe, smell so fishy?
The AirCheck™ website’s ‘Did You Know?’ section contains three fascinating graphs on the frequency of paid political advertising in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney radio stations.
There are some surprises. Most importantly, the Palmer United Party has clearly spent the most on radio advertising. The reasons behind this are fairly obvious – Clive Palmer has the capacity to splash around money, and he needs to, given how ambitious his campaign is (he has fielded candidates in almost every seat).

Abbott and Rudd play YES or NO with Kyle & Jackie O – and FAIL
This morning Kyle & Jackie O managed to fool the PM and the PM-to-be to both be on-air together on separate phone lines for what is likey to be the final head to head between the two leaders prior to tomorrow’s election. 
Most of it could be described as polite bickering. Then when it got to the Yes or No game both candidates proved that it is impossible to ask a politician a simple question and get a simple answer.
Below is a transcript. Below that is the audio.

Brig & Lehmo talk to Saxon
Brig & Lehmo open up to Peter Saxon about the day they stepped into Grubby and Dee Dee’s jobs at GOLD. All the people they’d like to beat and who they’d listen to if they weren’t on air themselves.
The great thing about interviewing radio teams is that you can ask a question addressed to either or both and they’ll instinctively know who should answer first. They know not to talk over each other. Brig & Lehmo do it better than most. Such is the chemistry between them.
And when not out and out funny, they are both very, very humorous. But they didn’t start out that way.

Shock Announcement: Hughesy and Kate quit Nova
After 12 years of waking up Melbourne, Nova 100’s Hughesy & Kate today announced they have made the difficult decision that this will be their final year of breakfast radio together.
Hughesy & Kate were the first voices that launched the station in December 2001. Since then, they have shared everything with their listeners and this morning, that meant sharing the news that they made the incredibly hard choice not to take up Nova 100’s offer of another contract to host the breakfast show.

Community, digital, and ABC radio: Where do the parties stand?
Labor and the Greens have released detailed policies, and just hours before the final poll the Liberals have ruled out cutting ABC funding. 
Policies directly affecting the radio industry announced this election cover transmission, AMRAP, digital radio, community radio funding, ABC funding, and content innovcation.
The Labor Party’s response to the CBAA campaign, ‘Community Broadcasting Association of Australia’, is the most extensive in terms of outlining community radio funding.

All commercial stations fall in latest Canberra survey
All of Canberra’s commercial stations fell in the most recent survey, which was held during the election period. FM104.7 drops over 5 points. ABC666 moves to second place.
ABC stations, especially triple j, benefitted from Canberrans’ obsession with politics, as listeners went to the national broadcaster for election news.

Radio revenue won’t crumble: Warner responds to Venture’s forecasts
A report in The Australian, quoting forecasts by Venture Consulting, says radio revenue will crumble in the next few years. CRA’s Joan Warner questions that assumption and tellsradioinfo the industry is confident of its future.
The report said radio “faced a [revenue] fall from 8.2% to 6.8%… That was a much bleaker outlook than the widely used forecasts by PwC, which has predicted… a 0.2% drop for radio to 9%. In dollar terms, Venture said ad revenue for FTA TV would fall from $3.45 billion last year to $3.02bn and for radio from $1.01bn to $893 million.”
Warner disagrees, saying online streaming “can’t reliably and robustly replicate or replace the extensive reach of free to air broadcast radio live to large audiences.”

Days numbered for copyright collecting agencies?
At this year’s Radio and Internet Summit in Orlando Florida, panelists discussed a range of new models for artists and recording labels to cut out the copyright collecting societies and introduce new revenue models for artists to make money from online radio and music streaming services.
Speaking on a panel titled Streaming Music Trends, consultantTed Cohen explored new models for online radio and music streaming services to pay artists. One of the suggestions was to cut out the copyright collecting societies because the government mandated payment model is out of date.
Several panelists agreed with Cohen, saying some music streaming services are now doing direct licencing deals with record labels because they have more flexibility in negotiations and are not bound by outdated government copyright laws that were written before the internet was invented.

Will you still have a job in radio a year from now?
Last week, the alarm bells rang for radio yet again. This time rung by a firm called Venture Consulting who forecast that radio revenue will crumble in the next few years. According to them, radio will lose about 17% of it’s current share of advertising revenue. Ouch!
The first par of the full Venture report obtained by radioinfo states: In the past four years we have witnessed newspaper publishers, once the giants of media, falling to their knees. We believe that free-to-air (FTA) and radio are at risk of digital-driven structural changes over the next four years, with a significant adverse impact on their advertising revenue. So, the speed at which media consumption and advertising has shifted for newspapers should be alarming for these other traditional media segments.
Naturally, CRA’s Joan Warner came out in defence of our industry dismissing the Venture report and citing a number of different indicators that suggest that Radio is, in fact, in good shape. “Throughout the global economic crisis and the recent uncertain economic conditions the radio industry has been able to maintain a strong revenue base and is confident of doing so in the future,” she said.

Three good ideas for radio apps from RAIN Summit USA
At today’s Radio and Internet Summit in Florida, a range of speakers shared good ideas for radio stations to make their Apps better.
Apps are growing fast as a way for stations to get into new devices and back into the pockets of listeners.
Where people used to carry a portable radio in their pocket, these days they carry a mobile phone and listen to radio on that. With this comes new functionality, which a range of speakers at today’s summit suggested radio stations could take more advantage of.

Tap into your star power and build your brand: NAB RadioShow
As an announcer, you’re constantly being asked – who are you? What are you about? What sets you apart from everyone else?
They’re some of the hardest questions to answer simply because nobody can answer but you. The hardest decisions to make are those you have to make alone.
But at the NAB RadioShow, a few experts have given us the bricks and a bag of concrete to pave the way to finding your own brand – 

The art of storytelling: NAB RadioShow report
The great ones make it looks so easy, but effective storytelling is no easy matter.
It’s both a craft and an art form and these experts explained how at this week’s RadioShow.
Valerie Geller – President, Geller Media & author Beyond Powerful Radio
Phil Hendrie – the syndicated Phil Hendrie Show 
Turi Ryder – anchor on the America Weekend

Radio… it’s on!
Radio Advertising Bureau President and CEO Erica Farberopened the 2013 RadioShow this week, saying the industry is healthy. Here are some of the highlights of her speech.
I’ve been at the RAB for a little more than a year and a half and during this time I have seen the impact of positive energy across the industry. Radio continues to be a healthy industry at $17.6 billion. Interestingly enough, it is still greater than some of the newer area of business like Online Video at $2.1 billion and Mobile at $2.9 billion. And unlike some other media, radio has taken an aggressive stand and taken advantage of technology to deliver content listeners want, in whatever format they want and when they want it. And advertisers recognize the importance of delivering their ad messages across all of radio’s platforms including radio’s fastest growing segment – Digital.
Reaching a high of $767 million in 2012, Digital grew thirteen percent to $401 million by the first-half of this year – that’s over eighty percent higher than the first half of 2009.

Half a world away, but the AFTRS connection is still strong
A surprise set of circumstances reunited two AFTRS students across the miles this week.
Alex Louran is presenting The Bump on the Southern Cross Austereo network all this week.
Nick Karkazis does bits of correspondence for SCA from Ireland.

I‘ve never known a cost to authenticity: Jules Lund
Even Julian Assange would find it difficult to uncover the secrets of Jules Lund. There don’t seem to be any. He leaves nothing of himself at home. Every day on radio and on social media he shares his private life with his national Drive Time audience on the Today Network. “If people know too much about my life, well that’s fine,” he says. “It doesn’t really come at any cost. I mean what do we keep private? Fuck all!”
When I caught up with Jules, a self-confessed phubber (more on that later) at SCA’s Melbourne bunker, his on air partner, Fifi Boxwas at home – the home from where she now works, following the recent birth of her first child. 
12 years ago, Jules won FOX FM’s “15 Minutes of Fame” presented by Matt Tilley and Tracy Bartram. SCA Head of Content Craig Bruce recalls, “I was working at Fox and we sort of connected. Jules is a personal friend and is one of my favourite people in this industry. He is just an amazing guy – so good for our culture – such a brilliant person to have around the corridors.” 

How to make your Social Media more Social
Latest from Kristie Mercer at NAB Radioshow.
Gone are the days of radio shows just being radio shows. There was a time where once the microphone was switched off after the show, so too did the interaction with the audience. Those days are long gone! Social media allows fans 24/7 access to the shows they love.
Steve Reynolds from The Reynolds Group coaches eight top morning shows in the US on how to better interact with their online audience and I found out exactly how every station in Australia can do the same… 

Survey 6 results: Smooth gains ground in Sydney and Melbourne
The Nielsen Survey 6 results are out.
Refresh this page regularly see see the latest updates, and also read our Analysis and Spin Cycle reports.
Click on the pictures to view larger charts.
The survey was conducted for Commercial Radio Australia between July 7 and September 14, 2013.

The rise and rise of DMG
Keen observers of our Spin Cycle and the guff that emanates from network PR departments after each survey, had their interest piqued by a footnote in DMG’s media release trumpeting the claim that NOVA had become Australia’s number one radio network.
NOVA Network – 9.1% share
Today Network – 8.7% share
Triple M Network – 7.8% share
Of course, any such claim always carries an asterisk or two in the fine print at the bottom.
 
End of financial year salary wrap up
As the ASX repoting season ends for media companies, it makes for an interesting discussion to read how much comapny exectuives were paid over the last financial year. 
As part of being publically listed, certain media companies were made to report or make public the renumeration amounts given to executives. Such networks include Southern Cross Media, Fairfax Media, Pacific Star and the Macquarie Radio Network.

More Australians now live in a regional market
Good news for regional braodcasters.
Commercial Radio Australia  has recently released the 2011 Census Figures based on the ACMA’s licensed radio coverage areas. In 2006 the total Regional population was 8.6 million people. The most recent 2011 Census now shows that the total regional population is 10.6 million, a massive 24% increase.
The Radio Sales Network (TRSN), covers all areas of regional Australia and now has a population reach of over 8 million people, an increase from almost 5 million. This now includes stations and markets in North Qld new to TRSN and recently acquired by Grant Broadcasters.
 

To see all our stories from September 2013, click here.