ARN is planning the biggest overhaul of commercial FM radio in 25 years. Yet until that happens, it is business as usual for the network.
Helping guide Mediaweek through how the company’s stations performed in Survey 2, 2024 is chief content officer Duncan Campbell.
Keeping Kyle and Jackie O #1
The Sydney hosts of the KIIS 106.5 breakfast show racked up their 42nd consecutive radio ratings victory last week. The show has the biggest audience in one market of any Australian radio show – 834,000. And they want to grow it bigger.
Ahead of their Melbourne launch on 29 April, ARN is not about to leave anything to chance.
Campbell told Mediaweek they are not taking anything for granted when it comes to K&J’s second city. “We are researching the market and that has identified the issues in Melbourne. There is a perceptual issue based on people who aren’t listeners. From a marketing point of view we need to change perceptions of the show.”
ARN’s KIIS and Gold networks have a lot more to offer than just Kyle and Jackie.
See also: Australia’s best radio ratings coverage: Every market, every network, every station
National drive with Will and Woody
The KIIS national drive team Will and Woody are currently #1 overall in Sydney and Adelaide and have a national drive share of 10%. “They have done very well and in a way are our quiet achievers,” said Campbell.
“Will and Woody stepped up just over two years ago when they became more commercially friendly and worked closely with the sales teams. They get involved in client meetings and take sales campaigns very seriously.
“They also found their rhythm from a content perspective. As audiences got to know them over time, they have built up a loyal fan base.”
Campbell recalled the day of his clandestine first meeting with the announcers. “From that day we first met them in Perth, at a secret location, we talked about giving them a national platform. In the years since, they have achieved considerable success.”
Success of a drive show is often linked to the strength of the breakfast show. Campbell noted what Kyle and Jackie O do in Sydney is provide the drive show with cume. “Will and Woody have to convert those listeners. There is no such thing as an automatic listen.
“If Kyle and Jackie O do well in Melbourne that will provide more cume for Will and Woody and if they can convert them, they should improve there as well.
“Drive can also help breakfast when people get out of their car with KIIS on the radio. It’s a two-way street with both dayparts feeding audience to the station.”
Clairsy and Lisa, Max and Ali, Robin and Kip
Top: Kyle and Jackie, Will and Woody
Brisbane with Robin and Kip
Campbell said earlier this year ARN focused on three stations – WSFM, 97.3 and Mix 102.3. All of them did well in this survey.
The breakfast share for Robin and Kip lifted. “We had a bit of a reset and went for a back-to-basics approach for them. The show lifted a little this survey and we think that improvement can continue. Some of the basic principles of radio can be overlooked at times. We looked at that and the team responded which is great.”
Adelaide with Max and Ali
“We reset the strategy in Adelaide at the beginning of the year,” said Campbell about Mix 102.5. “We changed the dynamic of the show for the audience to better understand the two hosts. Max Burford has transformed the way he works which was the right move. Ali Clarke has always been a great broadcaster and together now they are producing some great results. Both the station and breakfast went up, so we are very happy with Adelaide.”
Perth with Clairsy and Lisa
96FM is sold to advertisers as part of the KIIS network, but its music means it also attracts some of the same sort of audience as Gold and WSFM. Hosting breakfast are long-time Perth presenters Lisa Shaw and Dean Clairs.
“The result this survey was flat. But that was a good outcome given the dip the station took in Survey 1. It is now well positioned to have an increase next survey. It would be good to get it back to being #2 in Perth.”
ARN hopes to acquire the Triple M network from SCA soon. What could that mean for 96FM, we asked Campbell. “We wouldn’t reposition the station,” Campbell said. “It would be crazy to reposition what is close to the #2 station in Perth.”
Jonesy and Amanda, Christian O’Connell
Gold… But not in all dayparts
The Melbourne FM leader had another good survey. Afternoon with Toni Tenaglia is #1 overall in the market. So is drive with Higgo. Yet Christian O’Connell at breakfast was unable to steal back top FM spot from Fox. “The Melbourne market is about to really heat up. It’s always been very competitive. Fox has consistently been stronger in the back half of 2023 and this year. Smooth too had a good book which has put a bit of pressure on Gold breakfast.
“Christian was in this position last year and he will bounce back. There is a strong content plan in place in addition to a strong marketing strategy. Gold is a very strong station, it just didn’t continue like we thought it would after Survey 1.”
WSFM with Jonesy and Amanda
Another good survey at the Sydney station shows how much breakfast with Jonesy and Amanda fluctuates in the survey results. Campbell explained why.
“They share some of the audience with Smooth which is a very strong station in Sydney. It’s a marketing-driven AC format. To keep it top of mind you need to continually market it. WSFM is vulnerable to that when we don’t market the station as strongly as Smooth. It did recover well this survey thanks in part to some great content on WSFM breakfast.”
Former KIIS hosts Jase and Lauren in their new Nova home
Nova 100 with Jase and Lauren
No, this isn’t an ARN acquisition in the big radio shakeup. But as a former ARN property that was put together by Campbell, we asked about Jase and Lauren’s initial Nova survey result.
“I don’t want to sound unfair when I say this, but the survey only had three weeks of them in it. It’s a little premature to allocate the whole result to them. What it does show is that there is a fair bit of churn around at the moment.”