Winding up 2021 with the number one commercial FM station in four of the five metro markets, it’s been a big year for ARN.
Mediaweek spoke to ARN’s chief content officer Duncan Campbell, who said that it’s a great end to what has been a year full of uncertainty for so many people.
“We’ve had a fantastic year revenue wise, we’ve had a great year ratings wise – that’s built off the back of the momentum which we had coming into the year. The Covid coverage for us has been extremely challenging, but we’ve managed to navigate it well and hold audiences as well. To achieve number one 25-54, which is the key buying demo has also been a great highlight for us. So it’s been a very successful year.
“It’s taken 10 years to build the network to this point, but we’re now benefiting from the momentum which has been slowly but surely building up over time.”
When asked what he was most pleased about with this year’s results, Campbell said there were two main highlights.
“I’m happy that the breakfast shows are by and large all performing very well, particularly in Sydney with Kyle and Jackie O and Jonesy and Amanda.
“For WSFM to end the year as the number one station on FM in Sydney is great given the fact that Smooth has always been such a strong competitor. We’ve managed to shake Smooth off in the last six months of this year.
WSFM’s Jonesy and Amanda
“The other highlight would have to be Gold and its ongoing success in Melbourne as the dominant FM station down there. Sue Carter, the content director, got the ACRA for best content director metropolitan this year, which is just fantastic.”
On the flip side of the coin, there are two areas that ARN will be working to improve on in the new year
“The missing piece of the puzzle is really KIIS 101.1 in Melbourne. A lot of work is going on behind the scenes down there to make sure we’re set for 2022 with Jase and Lauren. Lauren [Phillips] is a great talent, I think she’s a great discovery in radio and she’s got a fantastic future as well. We’ve just got to shape that show for the secondary audiences who don’t listen to it all the time, and make sure that the content is digestible for them.
“There’s a bit of work to do on Adelaide breakfast as well, I think that should be performing a bit better than it is.”
Podcast to Broadcast
2022 will see ARN really get the time to focus on its new podcast to broadcast strategy.
“I’m very excited about our podcast to broadcast strategy. It doesn’t mean all our talent will come from podcasting, but there’s a pool of talent out there, which I think is important that we start to mine and see what’s there.
“We’ll be taking some podcast shows and giving them a radio show next to it, and I expect that will probably expand over time as well.
“We don’t see podcasting as a competitor to radio, we see it as complementary to radio. The similarities are there. They both tell great stories on different platforms, in different ways. I think if I was a futurist, I would probably say that at some point, there’ll be a convergence of both radio and podcasting in some form.”
Kyle and Jackie O
One of the biggest radio stories of the year was when Kyle and Jackie O pulled off a major coup by snagging the title of top breakfast show in Sydney in survey four. Campbell says he definitely believes the pair can do it again.
“That show has got a very high level of habitual listening, and that habit is a hard habit to break. A lot of Sydney has grown up with these two, first on the Hot30, and then in Breakfast. So they are very ingrained
“What gets missed sometimes is just how good they really are. They make it seem so easy, but there’s a deep understanding of the medium with both of them. They know how to work an audience.”
Kyle and Jackie O
Grant Broadcasters
In November, ARN’s parent company HT&E announced its acquisition of Grant Broadcasters. The acquisition includes radio and digital operations across 46 Grants stations and will combine with ARN’s existing 13 stations.
“Grants is a very well run, very efficient regional radio network. For us, it’s really a revenue play allowing ARN to access that national revenue which we don’t necessarily get because we don’t have a regional network.
“I don’t think there will be many changes from a content perspective. There will be some syndication of shows, which will swap out with the existing shows. There will be a focus on iHeartRadio in the regions as well, and a focus on boosting their podcast slate. But we’re not about to change things. We very much believe in live and local. Having Grants as part of ARN next year will make us a much bigger network which will be great for advertisers and the reach that we can give them for their brands.”