I have long argued that Newcastle radio suffers from the commercial duopoly of NXFM / KOFM (one parent), and 2HD / NEWFM (one parent). To make matters worse half of the duopoly is totally ineffective and barely competes for audience or advertising share.

The result is NXFM and KOFM run away with the ratings and the bulk of the money and can afford to charge high advertising rates, while 2HD / NEWFM take what they can get.

Even worse, listeners really are left with very little quality to choose from. Lack of competition results in lack of innovation, little talent development and a general laziness. Its the same in any industry.

Steve and Kim on NXFM have been doing basically the same show for over a decade. David and Tanya have been working together for 20 years now and have done the breakfast shift on KOFM for over a decade. They’re all good people, but that is hardly an environment for innovation and excitement. Honestly, its a credit to them that they can continue to wake up early and put a show on after so long with so little competition.

Meanwhile the playlists between NEWFM & KOFM are interchangeable and half of NXFM’s music fits well with those two as well. How much 80′s rewind can we withstand?

I fear the problem is only getting worse after seeing the latest radio ratings for Newcastle. NXFM (20.8 share) has leapt out to a massive lead over stablemate KOFM (17.1), while 2HD has hit new lows (11.9) and NEWFM has dropped back down again (7.6). The disparity is alarming and bad for Newcastle.

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Brand Newcastle was unveiled yesterday and now, just a day later, the usual sniping and cynicism has surfaced.

A read through The Herald comments today would not be a fun experience for the team who created the new logo at Peach Advertising or the civic leaders who commissioned the branding. But perhaps everyone should take a breath and look at the bigger picture here.

Branding is a very subjective exercise, everyone has an opinion (after its done) and rarely do you see a rush of positive feedback on a new logo. A few weeks ago Virgin Australia launched its new branding by one of the leading Australian designer Hans Hulsbosch. Immediately the advertising and design industry dissected the work with similar bitchiness to what we’re seeing today for Brand Newcastle. I remember Qantas receiving the same treatment for their recent brand revamp.

The point is that a design team is always on a hiding to nothing with these exercises and there will always be a critical audience ready to tear anything new like this down. There were plenty of critics of the Sydney Opera House when it was first announced but today it is possibly Australia most iconic symbol.

Whether you love it or hate it, I believe that Newcastle Council and Peach should be commended for their efforts in trying to put Newcastle back on the map. A brand or logo doesn’t solve every issue in town but its a starting point, a rallying call for some civic pride and an identity beyond the Hunter.

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Popularity: unranked

The social media community is fairly vibrant and well-established in the Newcastle area now. I think its about time to highlight the great writers, photographers, sights, scenes and ideas floating around the region and put them all in one easy place for everyone to find.

This photo is here for no other reason than its of a Newcastle beach

My team and I are putting together a side project to curate the best Hunter-based content.

That’s where you come in. We’re looking for people who’d like to contribute to a well-run online magazine for Newcastle and the Hunter. Its a chance for you to raise your profile, discuss burning issues, highlight the things you love and get some additional traffic and link-love along the way.

It’s a little bit Huffington Post (without heavy politics), a little bit Daily Candy, a little bit Digital Ministry (community contribution, not the geeky content), a little bit Gridskipper.

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Popularity: unranked

The first Newcastle radio survey of 2010 has been a very good one for the ABC but costly for the commercial broadcasters.

AM talk station ABC1233 increased their Monday to Sunday share by 1.2% to claim third place overall, dislodging 2HD. Aaron Kearney’s breakfast program had the biggest gain, moving to second place with a gain of 2.3%. ABC1233′s weekend results were similarly impressive as they became the Hunter’s favourite Saturday / Sunday station with a gain of 3.9%, leaping past both NXFM and KOFM.

ABC’s national youth network, Triple J also had a great survey with a 2.4% gain overall to take it in front of  NEWFM.

The survey wasn’t a good one for Newcastle’s 4 commercial stations.

KOFM dropped 0.2% overall but lost 2 points in the crucial breakfast slot, losing their #2 position along the way.

NXFM retained their #1 position overall but dropped 4.3% in doing so. Likewise the NX breakfast had a big drop of 4.3%. In fact, NX had big drops in every slot, which must be of concern to station management.

2HD continued its long slide but the biggest issue is their breakfast show. Luke Grant was controversially sacked as 2HD breakfast announcer late last year and his replacement Brent Bultitude has seen the show fall further in the ratings to now be a distant 4th. SIDENOTE: Luke Grant is now on air in Melbourne at MTR as part of the biggest radio re-launch of 2010.

Longtime struggler NEWFM was the only commercial station to actually see gains, rising 1.5% overall and 0.9% in Breakfast. This will be encouraging for the station but the fact remains they are still a very distant 6th in this market and have a long way to go until they are competitive.

Its been a strange survey and the question seems to be: why are the commercial stations falling while ABC rises?

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Popularity: 4%

Following several rumours that ex-2HD breakfast announcer Luke Grant was about to sign with another network and was leaving Newcastle, I contacted him for official word.

Luke confirmed that he has signed a contract with Macquarie Radio Network and starts work on Monday1 March 2010 in Melbourne. He will be working directly with Steve Price on assembling a commercial talk radio station, as reported elsewhere, in direct competition with long time market leader 3AW.

Luke cannot elaborate on any other details at this stage.

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This statement just arrived via email  from Luke Grant dated 5 February 2010. I have spoken with Mr Grant to confirm that he was indeed the sender and wanted it published:

“Following what I consider my unfair dismissal from Radio 2HD after more than 4 successful years hosting the Luke Grant Show, an attempt for conciliation with Fair Work Australia to resolve my claim was yesterday unsuccessful.

Whilst I cannot reveal the details of the conciliation I can confirm that my nature is always to find compromise if possible.

I will now pursue my rights through a public hearing in the next couple of months where I will present witnesses who will help uncover the truth and clearly demonstrate the difficulties I found working in the environment of 2HD.

I strongly deny any suggestion by the management of 2HD that I have acted other than with professionalism and integrity in a high pressure role and plainly say I was effectively starved of support in my judgement.

I would again like to extend my gratitude to colleagues, listeners and advertisers of 2HD for their loyal support, encouragement and good wishes. Being dismissed a week before Christmas has made my circumstances very difficult and I will continue a strong and public campaign to be reinstated or compensated.”

No further comment will be made at this stage.

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Former 2HD breakfast announcer has finally spoken publicly about his dismissal in today’s Newcastle Herald. Grant maintains that the main reason for his dismissal was apparently for not playing some commercials, something the station has repeatedly denied. Here is the full story from The Herald:

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Following on from December’s dismissal of 2HD breakfast announcer Luke Grant, we can now reveal that Brent Bultitude will be his replacement.

Several industry insiders suggested in comments to MediaHunter that Bultitude, the former afternoon announcer on 2HD, would move into the breakfast shift, and it seems they were correct.

Brent Bultitude has just joined Twitter as @2HDBreakfast and his one message so far is, “Doing the final prep for the first show! Join Brent on the airwaves from 6am on Monday!”

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I have removed a post from this site dated 18 December after receiving a letter from solicitors representing 2HD/NEWFM. The post referred to the response of several advertisers to the dismissal of Luke Grant from radio station 2HD.

I received information from reliable sources regarding the content of this post, however the station strongly disputes the allegations. If further information comes to light about advertiser reaction to Luke Grant’s departure I will reconsider, but for now I believe the best thing is to remove the post.

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Source: The Newcastle Herald – James Joyce

Home-style cooking, home-made crimes and daggy old variety television were the flavours of the TV year in Newcastle and viewers can expect more of the same in 2010.

The official 2009 ratings survey finished at the weekend with NBN holding on to its crown as Newcastle’s No.1 station.

NBN’s nightly news bulletins, rugby league telecasts and crime drama Underbelly 2: A Tale of Two Cities made it a clear winner in its home market, capturing 32.9 per cent of prime-time viewers.

Two reunion episodes of Hey Hey It’s Saturday also boosted the Nine Network owned station. The Daryl Somers comeback shows drew more than 97,000 viewers each to most-watched programs.

But the hottest new show of the year was dished up by Southern Cross Ten. Kitchen contest MasterChef Australia helped make third-ranked Ten Newcastle’s most improved station in 2009, with a 20.3 per cent audience share (up 1.5 percentage points).

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