Smooth (radio network)

For the United Kingdom based station, see Smooth Radio.
smoothfm
City Sydney & Melbourne
Broadcast area Australia
Slogan Your easy place to relax
Frequency Variable
First air date Sydney:
August 1, 2005 (2005-08-01) (Vega)
May 21, 2012 (2012-05-21) (smoothfm)
Melbourne:
September 5, 2005 (2005-09-05) (as Vega)
May 21, 2012 (2012-05-21) (smoothfm)
Format Easy Listening, adult contemporary
Language(s) English
ERP Sydney: 150 kW
Melbourne: 56 kW
Affiliations Nova FM
Owner NOVA Entertainment
Website Network: smoothfm
Sydney: smoothfm 95.3
Melbourne: smoothfm 91.5

smoothfm is a network of two Australian commercial radio stations operated by NOVA Entertainment in Sydney and Melbourne. The format is focused on providing 'more music and less talk' along with an eclectic easy-listening playlist, usually featuring ballads. In February 2013, smoothfm extended broadcasting nationally on DAB+ to Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Vega first launched in August 2005 in Sydney and September 2005 in Melbourne where the format was aimed at baby boomers including a mix of news and talk. In March 2010, it was rebranded under the name Classic Rock after failing to gain a significant audience under the name Vega. In March 2011, the network was quietly rebranded again as Sydney 95.3FM and Melbourne 91.5FM until smoothfm was launched in May 2012.

History

Vega

Vega launched in 2005 to target the baby boomer market of listeners in the 40 to 60 age bracket, with a mix of talk and music from the 1960s to the 2000s.

Survey results

During its first ACNielsen ratings survey (No. 8, 2005, covering mid-September to November of that year), Vega's stations had failed to attract a significant audience. The Sydney station reached a 1.8 percent audience share, and the Melbourne station gained a 1.2 percent share, placing it second last (ahead only of ABC NewsRadio) and last out of surveyed stations in each market, respectively. However, station management state that the slow take-up was to be expected, claiming the target audience will be slower than some audience groups to try a new station. In June 2006 the Sydney and Melbourne stations stopped sharing programmes. Both stations dropped their "40 years of music" slogan and moved drive-time hosts Rebecca Wilson and Tony Squires to share the Sydney breakfast slot with former host Angela Catterns. The changes have been slow to grow market share, with the Sydney audience falling to 1.7% in Sydney (No. 6, 2006, but climbing slowly to 1.8% in Melbourne, which, at the time, was their highest audience share to date in Melbourne.

By the end of 2006, Vega had increased their ratings share in both cities. The Sydney station reached 2.8%, while the Melbourne station reached 3%.

In January 2007, Vega expanded its "Vega Variety" positioner to include "the 70s, 80s and the best new songs", and also put out advertisements in the form of billboards and on the side of buses, based around that expanded positioner. It was hoped that this would encourage more listeners to sample the station.

In the first radio survey of 2007, Vega in Sydney and Melbourne again both had small increases, with the Sydney station reaching 3% and the Melbourne station reaching 3.3%. The station's best demographic performer on both stations in that survey, is the 25–39 age group.

By the 4th radio survey of 2007, Vega in Sydney and Melbourne had gone over the 4% mark, with the Sydney station rating 4.6% and the Melbourne station rating 4.4%. In the 40–54 age group, Vega in Sydney was the second highest rating FM station in that age group after classic hits station WS-FM, who, traditionally, have been the highest rating FM station in that age group.

In the 5th radio survey of 2008, Vega in Sydney had surpassed the 5% mark for the first time, rating very closely behind main rival FM stations Triple M & WS-FM. The station also became the highest rating FM station in the 40–54 age group, knocking WS-FM off that position.

Classic Rock

Consistently low ratings led to DMG's decision to rebrand Vega as 'Classic Rock' and relaunch it on Friday 12 March 2010 as a competitor to similar stations Gold 104.3/101.7 WSFM and Triple M.

Sackings and low ratings

Melbourne newspaper The Age reported on July 22, 2010 that "Following last week’s sacking of breakfast hosts Ian ‘‘Dicko’’ Dickson and Dave O'Neil, Classic Rock now has the dubious distinction of being the only commercial FM station without any programs.

Sure, it broadcasts the externally produced Cover to Cover with Barry Bissell and the American Nights with Alice Cooper — both of which are music-oriented — but it has no talk-based breakfast or drive show and no announcers in the morning, afternoon or night shifts. Instead, listeners will get wall-to-wall classic rock songs with news, weather and sport updates."[1]

Stations

Name City Frequency
smoothfm 95.3 (2PTV) Sydney 95.3 FM
smoothfm 91.5 (3PTV) Melbourne 91.5 FM
smoothfm Brisbane Brisbane DAB+
smoothfm Adelaide Adelaide DAB+
smoothfm Perth Perth DAB+

Announcers

Weekdays

Mike Perso & Jennifer Hansen (More Music Breakfast Show – smoothfm 91.5)

Bogart Torelli (More Music Breakfast Show – smoothfm 95.3)

Ty Frost (Mornings – smoothfm 91.5 and 95.3)

Simon Diaz (Afternoons – smoothfm 91.5 and 95.3)

Byron Webb (Drive – smoothfm 91.5 and 95.3)

Cameron Daddo (Nights – smoothfm 91.5 and 95.3)

Weekends

Melissa Doyle (Breakfast – smoothfm 91.5 and 95.3)

Richard Wilkins (Mornings – smoothfm 91.5 and 95.3)

David Campbell (Afternoons – smoothfm 91.5 and 95.3)

Cameron Daddo (Nights, Sunday – smoothfm 91.5 and 95.3)

TV Channel

Main article: Smooth (TV channel)

Smooth is a 24-hour Australian pay television music channel available via Foxtel satellite and cable services. It launched on 3 December 2013, dedicated to easy listening adult contemporary music.[2][3]

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ "Why Classic Rock radio failed". Melbourne: Theage.com.au. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  2. ↑ Knox, David (1 November 2013). "Foxtel refreshes music channels". TV Tonight. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Summer Channel Changes". Foxtel. Retrieved 1 November 2013.

External links

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