New community radio licence for Coober Pedy, SA

The Australian Broadcasting Authority has invited applications for a new community radio broadcasting licence for the Coober Pedy area of South Australia. To view the full text of the news release, more here 28May2004

New community radio licence for Tumut, NSW

The Australian Broadcasting Authority has invited applications for a new community radio broadcasting licence for the Tumut area of New South Wales. To view the full text of the news release, more here 28May2004
 

Australian Broadcasting Authority chairman David Flint was unable to hand over all correspondence between himself and Sydney radio broadcaster Alan Jones to a Senate committee.Labor had called on Professor Flint earlier this month to hand over all letters between him and Mr Jones following revelations that the ABA chairman wrote a letter praising the broadcaster before the 1999 cash for comment inquiry. 25May2004 Full Story  

ABC director questions bias study

 ABC director Romona Koval   has questioned a move to commission monitoring of the national broadcaster's political coverage. Herald Sun article

 Rough rider
The former king of morning radio contemplates his falling ratings and says he's "open to suggestions".               FULL STORY 17May2004

Federal transport authorities say high-profile AFL commentator and celebrity fisherman Rex Hunt is "a goat" for sparking a security incident aboard a Qantas flight.Hunt was detained by police at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport on Saturday after arriving from Adelaide, where he had been calling the Adelaide-Essendon game for radio station 3AW.He had produced some metal forks during the flight that he had earlier taken from the Qantas lounge at Adelaide airport, prompting a complaint from a passenger. FULL STORY 15May2004

No role for Flint in new communications watchdog

Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) chairman David Flint, has ruled out seeking an appointment to serve in a new regulatory body announced by the Federal Government.The ABA will be merged with the Australian Communications Authority to form a new entity from July next year.Professor Flint's term at the ABA comes to an end in October.He says he will not seek to serve in the new Australian Communications and Media Authority."I certainly haven't expressed interest in serving again and I am not going to express interest in serving again," he said.Professor Flint says he can see the advantages of merging the two bodies

 Triple M in Virgin Macquarie sights
Branson and Singleton are determined to expand in radio, but how is anybody's guess. FULL STORY

Survey 3 Results. 

The  results for  radio ratings survey 3 Melbourne Sydney Adelaide Brisbane  Perth 11May2004

Ratings Highs and Lows!

No doubt you could of heard a pin drop at 2UE when they received their ratings results today. The once all powerful Sydney talk machine has taken more knocks this survey with falls in every shift. John Laws (7.3) is now 4.2 points behind 2GB's Ray Hadley (11.5). The Cage (7.4) rose 1.6 on 2MMM and realistically it needs to rise again next survey to see a birth in 2005. 2DAY FM dropped across the day whilst NOVA although dipping across the day they came up trumps winning the survey making it 3 in a row. Melbourne and SEN is on the march with a one point rise in breakfast (4.2) with the station hitting 3.0 points overall. All indications said SEN would drop away on weekends with the start of the AFL season but they have retained their ground with a slight increase of 0.1. 3AW is the leader in Melbourne (14.4) holding strong in most segments. Nova100 climbed a little this survey with an increase across the day of just under 1 point although FOX FM (14.4) is the clear winner on the FM band.

 SMH Nova Hangs onto top spot |  The Age A SENsational climb | The Australian Radio Network hit on hype

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New community radio licence for Cocos Islands, WA

The Australian Broadcasting Authority has invited applications for a new community radio broadcasting licence for the Cocos Islands, Western Australia. FULL STORY  11/05/04

FM channel for 2LM in Kyogle

The Australian Broadcasting Authority has decided to make additional channel capacity available for the existing commercial service 2LM Lismore to operate a translator in Kyogle, NSW. The translator will operate on 104.3 MHz in the FM band FULL STORY 11/05/04

Rights offer draws fire from DCL investors

Disgruntled shareholders at Data & Commerce Ltd have applied to the Takeovers Panel claiming a capital raising has the potential to position the radio and communications company as a takeover target. 10/05/04 The Age

SPIKE OVER SPAT

It will be interesting to see what impact the highly publicised Laws/Jones/Flint affair will have on tomorrow's radio ratings. When ABC-TV's Media Watch broke the story a fortnight ago there was one week left of the 10-week survey period. FM radio executives believe the huge media coverage may have given the two AM stations a last-minute audience spike. Jones's breakfast shift at 2GB is still in front with a 13.5 per cent audience share, but Nova's Merrick and Rosso and 702's Angela Catterns are fewer than two percentage points behind. Laws, in particular, could do with a ratings boost in his morning slot at 2UE. He is tying with 702's Sally Loane in fourth place, well behind Nova's Bianca Dye, 2GB's Ray Hadley and 2Day's Adam Willis. 10May2004

High radio-active

As the Nova newcomer expands its network, competition in the radio industry has never been tougher. The battle lines in the radio war have been drawn again. The purchase of FM licences in Sydney and Brisbane in April have finally given the chief executive of DMG Radio Australia, Paul Thompson, the platform to take his Nova network national. Full Story 09May2004

2UE BIG BROTHER IS LISTENING!

The ABA has  ordered 2UE to  appoint an independent monitoring company and has imposed this as a condition of its licence. View the ABA news release here 06May2004

RRR is the word

Tracee Hutchison has worked in broadcasting on radio and television, for the ABC and for commercial networks, locally, nationally and internationally. Now she says she has found her home in a slightly shabby radio station in Fitzroy. Triple R is her community. Hutchison says that the subscriber-based station is a cultural icon and intrinsic to what makes Melbourne special. As program manager since June 2002 she has received several inquiriees a day from people wanting to break into broadcasting. The programs that get noticed assert a combination of energy and passion and also pitch an idea that isn't already on air. view the complete article  06May2004

PM says Flint should regret Jones letters

Prime Minister John Howard says the head of the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA), David Flint, should regret that he did not disclose letters of praise he wrote to radio broadcaster, Alan Jones.Mr Howard says it was right for the board of the ABA to be concerned about the letters."Obviously the ABA had views and obviously he regrets very much and he should regret not having disclosed that correspondence," he said.On Friday, the board of the ABA released a statement saying it had serious concerns about the letters, which were written on ABA letterhead. It also announced Professor Flint had decided to stand aside from an inquiry into government complaints about coverage of the Iraq war by the ABC's AM program.05/05/04

2GB's Peter Frilingos Dead

9.45pm (AEST) SPORTS writer Peter Frilingos died suddenly in Sydney tonight after suffering a heart attack at work. view the whole article 03May04

 

Radio unveils its future at opening event
 

Australians will have their first opportunity to get a sneak preview of the future of radio when the latest home, in-car and portable digital radio receivers are unveiled at a special event at Harvey Norman Auburn next week. view the whole article 03May04

  

ABA chief must resign: ALP

The Federal Opposition is calling for the resignation of the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) chairman, Professor David Flint. Professor Flint has defended writing a letter of support to Sydney radio announcer Alan Jones, just four months before chairing an inquiry into cash for comment allegations.

The ABC's Media Watch program has obtained a copy of the 1999 letter in which the ABA chairman tells Mr Jones he "has an extraordinary ability and expresses the opinions of the majority". Professor Flint told the 7.30 Report, the letter was in fact part of a series. This item sourced from ABC  view the entire article 27April2004

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Harro in from the cold at Gold!

The man that gives Australian's the 'sound track of their lives' with My Generation every weekend has taken over mornings at Gold 1043FM. Peter 'Harro' Harrison who had been a floater at Gold takes over from Mark Johnson who has slipped into former PD Dave Smiths role along with Smiths mid afternoon on air slot. GOLD is looking to the future and are confident the changes will build on the ratings success the station has had this year. 'Harro' will no doubt attract a strong following across a broad spectrum of the audience. 27April2004

Triple J Jesters

Radio prank calls have long been a feature of FM radio but Triple J's new drive show has taken it to a new level. In the tradition of Norman Gunston and Ali G, the funniest moments are when the person at the other end of the line just doesn't get it. more   26April2004

Nova all Nova Australia- well maybe!
Power of one With the purchase of a new FM radio station in Brisbane last week, DMG now owns a Nova in every major market. It has triggered speculation that DMG might be planning to turn the stations into a national network with one programming stream.  view the whole article 26April2004

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Democrats call for licence revenue to help ABC, SBS

The Australian Democrats have called on the Federal Government to put money raised from the sale of commercial radio licences into a fund to support public and community broadcasting.Democrats' Senator John Cherry says the Commonwealth is expected to reap more than $260 million over the next two years from the sale of commercial radio licences, while the ABC, SBS and community broadcasting remain drastically under funded. "The Democrats are calling for a $60 million boost to the ABC, a $12 million boost to SBS, a $9 million boost to community broadcasting," he said. What we really want to do with that money is to ensure that diversity of opinion is enhanced, that Australian production is actually improved and that the radio reach of both ABC and SBS is broadened out to a lot more regional areas who currently don't get it."       23April2004

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A surreal logic concerning radio deals
THERE are some quaint elements surrounding Macquarie Radio Network's injunction application against the ABC on Monday. As is broadly known, Macquarie Radio was keen to prevent the ABC's Media Watch broadcasting details of a preliminary investigation prepared by staff at the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA).

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$80 million bid for new Brisbane commercial radio licence

Daily Mail (UK Radio 2) bid $80 million for a new commercial FM radio licence to serve Brisbane at an Australian Broadcasting Authority auction today.

“The ABA is very pleased with the result of today's auction,” said Professor David Flint, ABA Chairman. “It indicates how commercially valuable the FM band is. The level of bidding demonstrates a real depth of interest in the market and shows that the radio frequency spectrum is a public asset of great worth. When this new service goes to air, it will add to the diversity of radio services for listeners in the Brisbane market.”  view the complete article here 22April2004

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Bidding for Brisbane FM to top $100m
Fierce bidding by seven companies is expected to push the price of the new Brisbane FM radio licence above $100 million at the Australian Broadcasting Authority's auction tomorrow. view the complete article here 21April2004

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• Not over yet

Although Byner has returned to the airwaves he has not been cleared by the ABA and their investigation into the matter continues. The Adelaide Advertiser broke the story back in January and lead with the story on their front page for days as the whole story unfolded.29March2004 

• Auction FM commercial radio licences for Sydney and Brisbane

The Australian Broadcasting Authority will conduct an auction to allocate one new FM commercial radio licence for Sydney on Thursday 15 April 2004. An auction for a new FM commercial radio licence for Brisbane will be held on Thursday, 22 April 2004.  As tipped Southern Cross is in the ring for the Sydney auction.The ABA received six applications for the Sydney licence and eight applications for the Brisbane licence. Go to the whole article here 24MARCH2004

• A large show of hands, but not all!

The expressions of interest are in for the proposed Queensland FM licence due to be  auctioned late next month. As expected the usual candidates are there DMG, Austereo and APN (ARN) but so are RG Capital and Gold Coast newcomer Hot Tomato. John Singletons Macquarie group and Rural Press failed to confirm while Southern Cross ruled itself out of the Brisbane race. Industry sources are speculating this licence will fetch a record price between $70 and $195 million. The Brisbane auction will be a week apart from the  the Sydney one and the Melbourne auction is penciled in for August.23MARCH2004

• ABA proposes FM channel for 2LM in Kyogle

The Australian Broadcasting Authority is proposing to make FM channel capacity available for the Lismore commercial AM radio service, 2LM in Kyogle, NSW.The ABA’s proposal follows consideration of a request from the licensee of 2LM, Richmond River Broadcasters Pty Ltd, to enable it to resolve reception deficiencies in the region,’ said Professor David Flint, ABA Chairman.The additional FM channel capacity has been planned by the ABA under the Commercial Radio Blackspots Program. This program is an Australian Government initiative which will provide $5 million over three years to deliver new or improved commercial radio services to regional and remote communities where it has not been commercially viable for licensees to provide coverage. The program will ensure that greater access to commercial radio services is provided to a large number of people located in regional and remote Australia.In addition the ABA is proposing to make FM channel capacity available to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Lismore for a future national radio service.‘This is part of the ABA’s ongoing commitment to reserve channel capacity for the possible future provision of the full range of ABC radio services to communities or regional transmission areas with a population of 10 000 people or more,’ said Professor Flint.24MARCH2004

 

• New Community station for Gosford

The Australian Broadcasting Authority has invited applications for a new community radio broadcasting licence for the Gosford area of New South Wales. More will follow later in our A Sense of community section.22MARCH2004

• 927 to put AC Nielsen on notice ?

The search for the missing 927 audience share continues and like everyone else we are curious to know what has happened to them? Is there a pirate radio station covering the 3 racing codes, well they must be somewhere or has 927's audience been under rated, pun intended. According to a report in the Melbourne Herald-Sun, Sport 927 is contemplating legal action against AC Nielsen rating system.The station has instructed its sales staff to draw up a list of clients who may not renew ads because of poor ratings, which 927 claims are incorrect because of a flawed system.“It’s true we are considering our position most earnestly,” Sport 927 general manager Noel Crowe said. “In the last survey we lost 80 per cent, which we don’t believe is the case. We are seeking some (legal) opinions. When your figure comes back 0.6, the alarm bells go off.” 22MARCH2004

• Judge Hinch

In a fashion like never before  Derryn Hinch sunk the boots into Melbourne crime widow Wendy Pierce. Read the whole article click here

DMG has launched its 64th station in Australia,104.5 Star FM Central Coast. Boasting a potential audience of over 285,000 people Star will also base its programming around no more than 4 ads in a row. With DMG sinking in excess of $20million into the set up of this station it is keen to carve a local identity and all programming is being pitched as non networked. Station staff as far as on on air talent include Todd Widdicombe, Meshel Laurie, Saxon (AKA Daniel Small) of Big Brother fame all in breakfast. In the Star news room former Southern Cross newsreader Kathy Kouzsas will cover all the big stories along with former 2GB sports nut Ben Damon 16MARCH2004

 

The federal government will spend $850,000 on improving radio reception in regional areas.

Communications Minister Daryl Williams said 31 regional and remote communities across Australia would benefit from the funding, provided under the Commercial Radio Blackspots Program.

"Regional communities in Queensland, NSW, Tasmania and Western Australia have been granted funding to assist commercial radio broadcasters with costs related to equipment, installation, site establishment and licence fees," he said.

Mr Williams said projects to provide services to more communities were being considered for funding.16MARCH2004

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• APN REPORTS RECORD RESULTS

APN News and Media (ARN) have announced  a record net profit for the 12 months to the end of December 2003 of a massive $103.5 million, showing a 20% increase on the previous year. In their radio division the result was just as sweet in terms of audience growth and profit turnaround. The bonus of profit being up displayed the ledger with a 13% increase in revenue up to $213 million.

Company debt still sits at over $825 million with a program in place to slice this dramatically.

Towards the end of 2003 ARN was showing good market share gains in agency advertising. They knew at the end of 2003 the target demographic was being reached in most markets (25-54 year olds) and tasted the first fruits of their labours recently when survey 1 for 2004 was released. with the number one FM station in Melbourne, number 2 in Adelaide and number 3 in the all important Sydney market.02MARCH

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• Headliner links

• 27 of Feb 2004 Talk giants profits rise Southern Cross

• 27 of Feb 2004 Ratings not fair dinkum Sport 927

• 24 of Feb 2004 Ratings SURVEY 1 2004 Ratings

• 23 of Feb 2004 FM licences for Sydney and Brisbane

• 22 Feb 2004 SEN Olympic Games on 1116 SEN

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• ABA commences formal investigation into Five AA

The Australian Broadcasting Authority has decided to commence a formal investigation into whether certain commercial arrangements between Mr Leon Byner, a radio presenter with Five AA in Adelaide, and a number of third parties should have been disclosed under the Broadcasting Services (Commercial Radio Current Affairs Disclosure) Standard 2000.On 23 January 2004, the Advertiser newspaper in Adelaide published allegations about Mr Byner and his proposal to enter into third party arrangements with the Adelaide Lord Mayor and the Adelaide City Council. The ABA made preliminary inquiries of Five AA, seeking more information. Five AA suspended Mr Byner from duty and initiated its own investigation. Following this investigation, Five AA provided a significant amount of material to the ABA. “While Five AA has been co-operative in providing information to the ABA in relation to Mr Byner's arrangements, the material raises unresolved questions as to whether those arrangements fall within the regulatory regime of the Disclosure Standard,” said Ms Lyn Maddock, Acting Chair of the ABA. “A formal investigation will enable the ABA to consider all relevant material and reach a concluded view on whether any of these arrangements should have been disclosed as required by the Disclosure Standard.” The ABA will develop terms of reference for the investigation and will seek further information from Five AA and Mr Byner before finalising a report. 19FEB2004

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• PART TIME SPORTS!

Sport 927 have come out with guns blazing, triumphantly laying claim to being the sports news breakers and shakers. With its new Breakfast program Prime Time Sports (already being dubbed Part Time Sports) said to be at the forefront of tackling the big sport stories everyday. We find it strange that Simon O'Donnell has put his boot firmly in his mouth with these following quotes taken from The Herald Sun radio active column. "We want the big names and we get them, but only when it is a relevant story. "I mean we virtually didn't touch footy until last week when we had new AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson on to explain the new Wizard Cup rules, because footy was not relevant until then." Could someone please explain to Simon he is living and broadcasting in Melbourne and Footy is always relevant regardless of what time of the year it is. 18FEB2004

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• "He want' it, He Got it!"

Multi millionaire retailer Gerry Harvey on Tuesday picked up another easy million dollars in the space of a telephone conversation as investors backed his judgment in fledgling media group Worldaudio Ltd.17FEB2004 MORE

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Metropolitan advertising revenue for Australian commercial radio was up by 19 per cent in January to $36 million, according to figures .PricewaterhouseCoopers Radio Revenue figures showed advertising revenue was up from $30 million in January last year. Commercial Radio Australia chief executive Joan Warner said the numbers showed a strong start to the year for commercial radio nationwide. "These figures augur well for a stronger year for commercial radio and follow a solid performance in 2003 where revenue for the full calendar year increased by about six per cent to around $485 million," Ms Warner said. She said all states had experienced an increase in revenue for the month with 34 per cent growth recorded in Brisbane, 25 per cent in Melbourne and 16 per cent in Sydney compared to the previous year. This growth also compares well with many international markets which recorded flatter growth in radio revenue last year and are expecting 2004 to remain weak," Ms Warner said. Analysts have predicted growth of less than four per cent in international markets this year. Ms Warner said 2004 looked set to be a very exciting year for radio Australia-wide with radio stations throughout the nation optimistic about growth prospects for the year. "I believe radio's reliability and cost-effectiveness will again prove its strongest assets in terms of attracting the advertising dollar in 2004," she said. Ms Warner said all eyes in the radio industry would be focused on the results of the first radio ratings survey of the year, due to be released next week.17FEB2004

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• BYNER SCANDAL CONTINUES

Regular visitors to this site will be aware of our continued coverage of this issue from day one. The fallout from Leon Byner scandal continues and an industry source believes he will not return to FIVEAA.

The story was first broken in The Adelaide Advertiser claiming he was involved in 'cash for comment' with the Adelaide Lord Mayor. He was quickly suspended from on air duties ( see press release more ) by FIVEAA. Byner then went to ground. Since then there have been reports from other organizations with similar claims. The case has been subject to an internal FIVEAA investigation and has now been forwarded to the ABA.  More       ABC Media Watch has now put their spin on it. 17 FEB 2004 More

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•  DCL IN CASH BURN

"Informed Insider" observes: Has the bleeding stopped? No way - more bandages please - and in a hurry! DCL had negative cashflow of $183,000 for January they were losing $10,000 a day last year; now down to $5900 a day (without 3AK)- and they they said all the loss-making was gone. Only have $237,000 cash left, with no credit standby arrangements At current rate of loss, that's 40 days and 40 nights
D-Day March 11 - beware the Ides of March! Sourced John Blackman's Official Website

ASX REPORT HERE

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• Radio host faces fresh 'cash' probe!

With very little comment coming from 5AA and none from Leon Byner the ABA will meet on the 19th of February. It is expected the ABA will make a decision on whether Byner will be the subject of an enquiry.  More  14 FEB 2004

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• Graham Kennedy: Part 1 Nicky spots a star!

Can you imagine over 53 years ago when radio announcers modelled themselves on their BBC counterparts, sounding all very formal and dressing much the same way. Cast your mind back to your mothers or grandmothers kitchen, all very primitive now with its early Kooka and speckled 'modern' laminex table with matching chairs. Mum's in the kitchen peeling spuds for that nights tea and up on the mantle piece the bakerlite Astor is tuned into 3UZ.. The program is  naturally Nicky Nicholls and his cheeky young  panel operator Graham Kennedy. Nicky had long been a form of release with his over the 'fence style' all very Melbourne and all very addictive, with Nicky commanding over 70% of the listening audience, something we will never see again.

The cheeky young panel operator had arrived at 3UZ after a brief period as a messenger for Radio Australia joining 3UZ as an assistant in the Music library.  Graham was soon learning more than just the panel all quite by accident the story goes yet fate sometimes plays a strange hand. It was during the first week the  veteran Nicky noticed a quality in the young bloke that was waiting to be harnessed. What followed was a magical on air relationship, not a partnership because clearly Nicky steered this ship and it was here where Graham Kennedy the entertainer was born. Nicky encouraged Graham to push the boundary often astonished just how far he would go 14 FEB 2004

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• DMG: BIG SPEND IN UK COULD SELL NETWORK

Paul Thompson has been a man on a mission for the last few years, the mission to build a radio network like no other across Australia. So far they have made their competitors sit up and take notice. Austereo have turned their Adelaide SAFM and MMM inside out in anticipation of the arrival of Nova ! Thompson has so far bought 5 FM  licences and not spared a cent in doing so. Their will be 3 more capital city auctions this year and he wants them to, Sydney and Brisbane in April, Melbourne possibly September. The facts are he does want them, DMG's parent company wants something as well, and boy is that dear. Data Mail & General Trust, DMGT are chasing a big fish, a colossus weighing in at $1.2 Billion in the form of the UK's most conservative newspaper Hollinger Inc Daily Telegraph. Paul Thompson has dismissed DMGT's  big want as having no impact on their Australian ambitions but this is far from the truth. If crunch comes to crunch and DMGT hook their colossus, then the dollars are needed to land the deal expect a swift sale and a changed face of  FM radio in late 2004 EARLY 2005. 10 FEB 2004