When it comes to powerhouse breakfast radio shows, it’s hard to go past Nova 93.7 Perth’s Nathan, Nat, and Shaun. With the trio of Nathan Morris, Natalie Locke, and Shaun McManus, the show brought in a share of 17.3% in the most recent radio ratings survey.
See Also: “I’ve done some amazing things”: Nova 93.7’s Nathan Morris marks 20 years behind the mic
Mediaweek spoke to David McClung, head of programming for Nova 93.7 and Nova 100, about just what makes the show so popular in Perth.
David McClung
MW: Nova is hugely successful in Perth, with the brekkie team leading the charge. What do you think it is that really resonates with people?
DM: “The thing about Nova 93.7 is that it’s an incredibly consistent product, it really hasn’t changed that much in the last five or so years. It’s incredibly local, Nathan, Nat and Shaun have been there for a very long time, people know them incredibly well, and I think they relate to them very well. There’s probably not a person in the street in Perth that wouldn’t know Nathan, Nat and Shaun.
“It’s become the default station for a lot of people, and we’re very focused on providing a very local Perth product. It’s very feel-good, it’s easy to listen to, and I genuinely think that’s a big part of its success.
MW: I imagine that stability in an industry with such high turnover must make an impact.
DM: “It was only when I sat down to think about this the other day that I realised – with them being on air for 20 years, I don’t think they had their first number one until they were 13 or 14 years into it.
“Sometimes in radio, it’s just about being good and doing it for long enough. I think because they’ve been on air for so long, people really feel like they know Nathan, Nat and Shaun. They’re friends. Having that stability in radio is so incredibly rare, but it just shows when you’re around for a long time and get to know these people, these are the sort of results that occur.”
MW: What do you have to consider programming-wise in Perth, that you might not have to consider when working elsewhere?
DM: “More than any other market, Perth is very parochial – definitely more than any of the East Coast stations. They love to talk about Perth, and I know that’s stating the obvious I feel like an idiot saying it! But they love to talk about Perth, and so we do have to take that into consideration.
“Covid was a funny thing for Perth people in particular, and the way we handled it was probably quite different to a lot of other stations. A lot of media outlets went quite serious with it, and at first, we were probably quite heavy-handed with it.
“Eventually, we made a conscious effort to be an escape for everyone with Nathan, Nat and Shaun. There was still some serious chat, but there was a focus on having a bit of fun, being a bit light-hearted with everything, not focusing on the awful things going on, and not focusing on the border being shut. We wanted to be that point of difference, and that was one of the major turning points in the last few years for us.”
MW: It’s been a couple of years since all the lockdowns now. What do you do with that momentum? How do you keep it rolling forward?
DM: “One thing that guys did last year was they got out and about more than we ever had before – we did something like eight outside broadcasts, which we’d never done before in a year. We hadn’t been able to do it in previous years, and it felt right to actually get back out and see people.
“We did something called Show from the Suburbs, it was around the school holidays and we had thousands of people turn up to this radio outside broadcasts, which is kind of unheard of these days. think that was a huge part of why we had such a successful 2022.”
MW: You’re also head of programming for Melbourne’s Nova 100. How have the first few months of Ben, Liam and Belle been?
DM: “They’re incredible. Three surveys in, we are absolutely wrapped with how things are going with them – they’re producing some great content, and they’re doing well on the socials as well.
“They have settled into Melbourne absolutely beautifully. I feel that these first six months of the year have set us up with a really great base to finish off 2023. Melbourne is probably one of the toughest radio markets, in fact, I probably think it is the toughest radio market in the country, so for us to perform so well in the first three surveys and remain pretty much consistent, we’re absolutely wrapped with.”