Perth has been described as the most competitive radio market in Australia. It's also an extremely buoyant and creative marketplace, which experienced a big shake up two years ago when DMG Radio threw its Nova format into the mix.
The FM radio landscape shifted as Nova tried to make room for itself alongside Austereo's strong market leader Mix 94.5, its younger audience-focused 92.9, and Southern Cross Radio's 96FM. Now all four stations are slogging it out to hold onto their audience share and grab the desirable 18 to 39-year-old demographic. While Mix 94.5 continues to dominate the market as the stand-out number one radio station in Perth, the big winner at the moment is 96FM, which has secured second place in the last two Nielsen Media Research radio survey's. 96FM's success has been largely at the expense of Austereo's 92.9, which has dropped to third place, and Nova. 96FM general manager Declan Kelly attributes the station's hugely successful year to its demographic shift. Kelly says the station had been competing with the two Austereo stations for audience share and decided to shift its target audience when Nova launched into the market. "We were targeting the 10 to 24-year-olds and we were competing with 92.9 and Mix which both dominated the market at that time. Ahead of Nova's arrival we decided to shift our target and go after the 25 to 39-year-olds," says Kelly. The shift meant Nova slotted into the place that 96FM had vacated and 96FM could, "give Mix some competition" in the 25 to 39 demographic. The outcome was that Nova picked up the younger market, and 96FM managed to attract the younger end of Mix's audience as well as the older end of Nova's audience. This has been a source of steady growth for 96FM, which is currently number one among 25 to 39-year-olds. The station is also number two in 18 to 24-year-olds - Nova is number one - after a massive 7.7 point increase to 20.8% audience share ahead of 92.9 which dropped 2.2 points. "We have squeezed in beautifully between Nova and Mix. The market has always been very competitive but it's started to find its position over the last 12 months," says Kelly. Austereo general manager Linda Wayman believes this squeeze is the biggest challenge facing 92.9 and the station is working hard "not to be squeezed between 96FM and Nova" as the battle for audience share kicks off. Wayman says that while Nova has "never really taken off here in Perth", 96FM's increase in audience share has been at 92.9's expense, after 96FM launched a "very aggressive" advertising campaign and changed its positioning to a rock music format which attracted a strong male audience. "96FM's growth has been with males, they've also spent up to $2 million in advertising. They've leapt over Nova and 92.9 to get the older end of the demo but they've gone after a much more male audience," says Wayman. While 92.9FM is currently the strong number one with females aged 18 to 39, Austereo plans to broaden its target to attract males in this demographic as well. The move pits 92.9 directly against 96FM and Wayman is confident that 92.9 will take some of 96FM's audience. "We will peg that back," she says. 96FM and 92.9 are not the only stations going after this demographic, with Nova also squaring up for the challenge. Nova MD Gary Roberts believes the station is in a very strong position to win. "In terms of revenue we are very healthy and we are the strongest we've been since launch," says Roberts. Nova 93.7 has maintained its number one position in the 18 to 24-year-old demographic with the exception of "one of two surveys" and remains a strong number two in the 18 to 39 demographic. Roberts says Nova's breakfast program is also number one with under 40s, "We are travelling along very well". Like 92.9 and 96FM, Nova plans to be number one in the 18 to 39-year-old demographic and Roberts believes this position is not far away for Nova. "We've dominated 18 to 24s and won most books since we launched. We are also very strong in 18 to 30-year-olds and very happy with our performance. Ultimately number one in 18 to 39-year-olds is where we want to sit in the market place."
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.