Macquarie sports Radio revisited

I wrote previously about Macquarie Sports Radio.

They have changed recently again so I thought I might just round it off.

Firstly let us revisit what occurred to the radio network.

They had a talk format which was a bit 2GB lite. They attempted to be shock jocks without sounding like one. However  its ratings were low but respectable.
They then changed the format to a lifestyle format. Quite obviously no research went into this. At the time household debt was was going through the roof and wages were flat lining.
It went over like a lead balloon.
They then changed to an all sports format. They hoped the At sport station success in the UK would immigrate here.

It didn't. Why is this so as Julius Sumner Miller would say.

• We have a  much smaller population for a start.The niche position in radio is thus much smaller.
• To reduce costs the network went national however this really did not work in Australia. to make the obvious point which management obviously did not appreciate few people north of the Murray want to listen to Aussie Rules. Few south of the Murray want to listen to Rugby League whereas most poms love to listen to talk on football. It may well have been successful if they had different announcers in different cities. I call this the Department store disease. not enough people!
• Few of the Announcer had radio voices. When I reviewed Macquarie Sports Radio previously I on;y really liked the night program. Their only two stars Julian King and his producer Christian Jantzen were the team. both great voices and the chemistry was there for all to hear. no-one came within cooee of it. not even the great David Morrow in the Mornings.
• A sports station has to concentrate on all sports some some that aren't like horse racing or cars. People turn off when that occurs thus you get a niche within a niche.

What do they do now?
Well they sacked everybody or perhaps more accurately most. for reasons that escape me the drive team is still employed. Other announcers merely talk about sport with no feedback at all. to hear A star like Julian King merely talking about s[port without any listener feedback is a travesty.
It is beyond boring.
You listen to At sport in the UK in the mornings and reasonably early at night. Not a ratings winner me thinks
Again this appears to be a research free decision. They appear to have gambled that listeners will stay and with costs vastly cut the station will become profitable.
I very much doubt this.
As I said the format is dead boring. That and replaying past interviews is not interesting at all.

It is a great shame so little thought was  put into this concept.  I do miss the evening show not being on anymore. The intimacy that King and Jantzen had with their listeners was superb and it appeared to me the listeners at night were more insightful..