The drivetime slot is proving interesting, but Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) head of content Craig Bruce has said its Sydney station is “missing a piece of the puzzle” until Hamish and Andy start their national drive show for Today's Hit network in July.
Bruce spoke to AdNews following the latest GfK radio ratings which saw its recently installed Sydney breakfast team of Dan and Maz fail to gain traction for the second ratings period in a row, slipping 0.2 percentage points to reach only 2.8% audience share.
“The reality with 2DayFM is that you can't really judge the plan for it until it's complete and right now there is a fairly large piece of that puzzle starting in July: Hamish and Andy,” Bruce said.
The pair start their national drive show for SCA on 13 July, but Australian Radio Network (ARN) national content director Duncan Campbell said the rival network is putting “all of its eggs in one basket.”
In the last survey Nova's national drive show of Kate, Tim and Marty was on 11.5% audience share in the Sydney market after a boost of 0.6 percentage points, with ARN's Kiis network national drive show of Hughesy and Kate clipping at its heels, finishing on 10.0% audience share after gaining 0.8.
Campbell said at the moment, the drive contest is between Nova and ARN.
“The Nova drive show is very solid and Hughesy and Kate are building audiences every survey, so it's not going to be a walk in the park for SCA,” Campbell said.
“They've put a lot of their eggs in the Hamish and Andy basket and they're going onto those stations with a much lower share than they would have liked.”
“I think the Nova and Hughesy and Kate drive battle will be the interesting one, so drive is very much the focus.”
Nova Entertainment group program director Paul Jackson said the network isn't worried about either Hughesy and Kate or Hamish and Andy, noting that it is “continuing to be part of the fabric in the markets” in which it operates.
“We're not concerned about anybody in drive in Sydney,” Jackson said. “We're really proud of what Kate, Tim and Marty have been able to do in that timeslot.
While Bruce said drive shows don't usually drive an overall audience result for stations, he believes the famous duo are “an exception to many rules.”
He said given the broad spectrum appeal Hamish and Andy have, he expects a boost in the ratings on their return to ripple throughout the country and to lift its Sydney network in particular.
“We're doing an interim job until they do start,” Bruce said. “I think that we'll certainly get some Hamish and Andy fans that are currently on Nova or Kiis and it's a good chance they'll come back and look at us in drive, and then sample our breakfast shows.”
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