NEWFM ‘dreaming’ of ratings success

26Jul08

The second radio ratings results of 2008 have given the struggling NEWFM a shot in the arm, delivering the station a slight increase of 0.8 in the overall ratings.

Guy Ashford, now the apparent NEWFM manager, told the Newcastle Herald that the small increase was a "welcome boost" for the station after the station had recorded its lowest ever ratings in Survey One of just 5.6%.

Media Hunter hears that station management were very happy with themselves when the results were announced yesterday. Ashford claimed that, "It’s a sign that we’ve bounced back and the tides are changing."

He told the Newcastle Herald: "NEWFM did lose its way but it’s back on track, and it’s going to offer NXFM some serious competition. Within 24 months we’ll be on an even playing field with NX."

Pardon? Even playing field with NXFM within 2 years? In the immortal words of Daryl Kerrigan in The Castle – Tell him he’s dreaming.

NXFM is currently the Newcastle radio ratings leader with a dominant 22.5 share. Stablemate KOFM is second on 18.3. 2HD has been hanging in the race on 15.6. Meanwhile NEWFM lags behind ABC-1233 and Triple J in 6th place with near record low ratings.

With all due respect Guy, you will need a lot longer than 2 years to be on an "even playing field with NX" when it comes to audience ratings. You will need a strong roster of announcers, a tighter music playlist, a marketing budget and an unprecendented level of commitment and consistency from staff to get within kooee of NXFM. You also need NXFM to really drop the ball. This is very unlikely.

Maybe Ashford is referring to the impending switch to digital radio. The new radio format might be the "even field" that NEWFM is anticipating but somehow I don’t think that it will make much of a difference either. NEWFM operates on the even playing field of the FM band currently against NX and KO, after being the first Newcastle station on that format, and yet is miles behind. A quality product will get them closer, not a switch to digital.

NXFM is co-owned by Austereo and Macquarie Media, with the most experienced and professional management support in Australia at their disposal. They are currently raking in, with KOFM, close to 80% of the Newcastle radio advertising dollars. They aren’t about to let that slip through their hands without one hell of a fight.

Meanwhile, NEWFM is part of Bill Caralis’ Supernetwork radio group. This is the owner who has overseen Sydney 2SM’s slide into ratings oblivion, now not even able to register a ratings point and withdrawn from survey. The same owner has overseen NEWFM’s similar slide to record low ratings, massive staff turn-over, total loss of music and programming focus, and countless trips to Industrial Relations to defend himself against ex-staff claims.

NXFM and KOFM regularly team up to block programming moves by NEWFM and do so with great effect. The closest NEWFM has gotten to NXFM was earlier this decade when they reached 13.0 after two years of consistent programming, a strong breakfast team and big promotions. Then the slide started again.

The odds of them getting even that close this time around are slim at best. One of their biggest problems may be the Breakfast show, ironically now starring half of the successful team of earlier in the decade, Steve St John. NEWFM Breakfast had only a small rise of 0.5 in Survey 2, while Mornings rose 1.5 and Afternoon rose 2.3. That tells me that while the music is gaining favour the Breakfast team hasn’t made an impact yet. A move of 0.5 is basically margin of error.

Credit where its due though. I understand that Guy Ashford is a good operator and is working hard to turn the two Sandgate stations around. It is the first time in four years that they have had anything resembling a management team. NEWFM is certainly sounding better since the very quiet re-launch 2 months ago, although many industry pundits believe they are a little off target with their strategy.

At least NEWFM seems to have a plan again, and most advertisers in this market hope they can stick to it and succeed. Newcastle desperately needs a more competitve radio market to give advertisers and listeners some serious alternatives. Eighty percent of radio ad revenue going to the NX/KO combination is not healthy.

However, NEWFM need a few more rises before they get too carried away with talk of ratings success.

Newcastle Radio Neilsen Media 2/2008 Survey Results

Overall            Breakfast        Cumulative Audience
KOFM                         18.3                18.3                    161000
NXFM                         22.5                23.0                    188000
2HD                           15.6                16.3                      95000
NEWFM                        6.4                  5.9                      87000
ABC1233                      9.2                11.1                      91000
Triple J                        7.0                 5.8                       53000

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