ARN is juggling troubling ratings in some markets. Another major consideration too is the perception about the company and its brands. Some companies worry about that more than others. Neglecting it altogether can cause problems.
There’s a perception now that ARN is in trouble. “Crisis” was a word used this week in The Age.
There’s been a big media focus on the strategy at ARN in the past 12 months – the abandoned play for Triple M and now the ongoing hysteria surrounding networking Kyle and Jackie O.
In a frank discussion with Mediaweek, ARN chief content officer Duncan Campbell is well aware of the issues. His years in radio have seen challenges come and go and in times like these steady hands are needed.
Duncan Campbell
ARN: What’s wrong in Melbourne
“The tall poppy syndrome is coming into play there. When we brought Christian O’Connell to Melbourne a lot of people asked, ‘Does ARN know what it is doing?’ Eighteen months later the show was a huge success.
“We were all very enthusiastic about Kyle and Jackie O, maybe too much to start with.” He admitted they had got the content mix wrong with the overtly sexual content. “Kyle has now pulled back on that quite considerably. They have stopped the graphic sexual content. The show is about relationships, so it is not going to be a sanitised show.
“The audiences do hang around to hear what Kyle is going to say next. We don’t want to lose that. If we start to take out the DNA of the show it’s going to collapse completely.
“After changing the graphic sexual content it will take time to change the perception. It’s a long game. We are in the trenches. We have a lot of ground to make up.
“I’m still convinced it can be a successful breakfast show in Melbourne.” He did add, maybe something of an understatement, “It hasn’t been a perfect launch.”
Campbell thinks the Melbourne audience in general is getting bombarded with marketing from everywhere. “Fox has a strong breakfast show, and so does Nova.”
The drop at Gold for Christian O’Connell over the past couple of surveys is linked to a pullback on the advertising spend, said Campbell. “We strategically decided not to market him as heavily this year. You could argue that wasn’t the best decision for that show. He has suffered a bit this year. I thought it would bounce back this survey, so I expect that will happen next survey.”
Campbell acknowledged the continuing strong result for the former KIIS breakfast team now at Nova – Jase and Lauren. “Momentum is a great thing and the media love affair is continuing.”
What’s wrong in Brisbane
When asked if ARN would like to be doing a little better in Brisbane, the chief content officer replied: “We’d like to be doing a lot better to be honest. It’s been a frustrating period for us.” He explained again how the format had been changed from adult contemporary to CHR. “We now compete with B105 and Nova as one of three CHR formats, a decision made for the networking we are doing.”
Jonesy and Amanda
What’s right everywhere else?
In Sydney Kyle and Jackie O are again #1 overall with WSFM the big improver with Jonesy and Amanda a clear #2 in breakfast. It was the best Jonesy and Amanda figure since 2017 and oh-so-close to the best breakfast share ever for them.
About the WSFM result, Campbell said: “It’s a strong result with some changes to the music format too. WSFM can potentially stay around that figure, although we expect that 2GB will come back a bit. If we can remain #1 and #2 FM we are very happy with that.”
Regarding the KIIS result in Sydney, Campbell said: “The audience is bolted on and they are not about to go anywhere. A lot of the Kyle and Jackie O audience has grown up with them on different shows for over 20 years and they are very loyal listeners.”
In Adelaide Mix 102.3 has returned to be #1 overall. “It’s been a great battle between Mix and Triple M this year,” said Campbell. “Our daytime numbers are really strong particularly in afternoons and weekends. Breakfast is still a challenge for us, but to be back to #1 is a real highlight for ARN this survey.”
Perth saw 96FM bolt into first place. “We did a lot of research on this music format that is appealing to listeners 45-59. It’s older and male skewed, like Triple M perhaps should be. It generates very strong TSL and the station is #1 in morning and afternoons.”
Campbell noted how both Mix and 96FM got to #1 without having #1 breakfast shows.
See also:
Complete coverage of radio ratings for Survey 6, 2024 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
Every commercial station in every market.