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CDs Engineer MBO at the Zu Song Zu's founders, Les and Margaret Gock have sold their interest in the studios after 26 years. The new owners are all Song Zu employees. The management buy-out was co-ordinated through long-term Song Zu partner Mark Rivett. All of the management buy-out partners have had extensive involvement in Song Zu's business, creative output and success over the past 10 years. They are:
Digital Radio Trials Will-A-Be Starting Soon Digital radio trials should begin in Sydney by the end of the year, following Willoughby Council's decision to approve the installation of a digital radio antenna on Willoughby Tower. Commercial Radio Australia says the new antenna should be installed later this month and field-testing will begin soon afterwards. "This is exciting news as this is the trigger for digital radio broadcasts on VHF Band III to be heard Sydney-wide by the end of the year," says CRA chief executive officer Joan Warner. Ms Warner says the trial will be the most comprehensive listener and advertiser driven test of this new technology undertaken anywhere in the world. Initially 100 radio listeners will be selected to take part in the consumer trials, based on age, sex, demographics, geographic location, listening patterns and entertainment related technology use. As receivers with greater functionality become available, a trial of 500 listeners is planned. The Federal Government has granted broadcasters the use in Sydney of Channel 9A on VHF Band III to conduct the trials. AAV Producer Takes Flight to Rowlands As an engineer, Tim Symons is much more comfortable being a producer and placing his confidence in others behind the desk. The Pater-award winning (bet that takes you back!) triple globetrotter recently left AAV's In-Flight division to join Rowland Productions. Tim's career in engineering began as a cart-boy at 5DN in Adelaide when he was 16. By 1983 he was production manager at the brand new SAFM as part of Thommo's 11 (Paul, not Jeff) and in 1985 he won his Pater for 'best technical production.' After various jobs at studios, radio stations and Channel 10 he found himself at 3MMM when the Austereo-Triple M merger happened. He left radio for good and started at AAV with Flagstaff Productions. "I really wanted to leave sitting behind a desk." Tim was asked to do Flagstaff's pitch for the Ansett in-flight audio and when they won the job, he applied for the job of producer for the in-flight division. "I really wanted to leave sitting behind a desk. I wanted to be a producer in the real sense of the word - be a producer from an audio background... understanding the whole scope of what audio is about. "I love music and doing music, and I started programming and we picked up a few more clients. I was at the in-flight division until two or three weeks ago." AAV in-flight audio produced 25 different formats on a monthly basis including classical, jazz, comedy, kids, rock, gold, and spoken word. Tim also got involved with movie houses through buying music themes. "It was great. I think I went around the world three times and it didn't cost me a cent. "Plus I was learning to do business overseas and deal with clients overseas, really learning to be a producer/manager: programming, dealing with talent, co-coordinating people and I really loved it." ...From audio to visual after the Ansett collapse... When Ansett collapsed Tim worked part-time on the in-flight audio and supplemented with freelance engineering work, then went back to AAV full-time producing the video in-flight. Another hard gig. "I was watching movies, buying rights to movies, negotiating rights and organising schedules.then up came this job." He said he decided to move to Rowlands after his long association with AAV because he liked their view of what a producer should be. "They felt my background and everything really would suit me well for producing here, especially the audio background because it's a bit unusual." He's not about to rush back into engineering, but he's thinking about it. "...I can get on their level and speak the same language..." "I really never, out of all the experience and the goals I had and where I got to, felt comfortable engineering... never felt comfortable behind a desk.. and yet in a production role I have a lot more confidence about the work and other people's work." Tim says. "What helps me is that I know what I'm saying. From an engineer's point of view I can get on their level and speak the same language and that's very important. I can sit there and say 'try 8k rather than 10' rather than just sit there and say 'yeah it's good but let's just have one more' and the engineer thinks, 'well if it's good, you don't need another one.' "And I feel comfortable when I need to defend the engineers. I can say well you've MP3'd it around the country and sent it to the television station, of course it's going to sound bad by the time it gets there!" "And I think I can be a bit of a bouncing board too for the engineers. They feel more confident about me handing the job on because they understand me and believe that I can see potential problems that might crop up in the studio... and can handle issues that sort of haven't been managed by a producer before."
More Radio Spots in Finals for AWARDs Three studios from three different cities have made the finals in more than one radio category for the AWARDs later this year. Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney studios are all in the running for more than one AWARD. GAS Melbourne, Best FX and Stellar Sound are all finalists in the Over 30 seconds category (Best FX has two spots in the finals); Best FX is also a finalist for Best Radio Campaign; GAS is also a finalist in the Under 30 seconds category and Stellar is also a finalist for Production in Radio. Perth studio Braine Storm is also a finalist in the over 30 seconds radio category. This year there are 50% more finalists in radio, with 253 finalists in total. Click here for the total list. AWARD has also announced changes to its membership structure so sound engineers, producers, and others involved in creative aspects of advertising can become members. There will be a three-tiered structure of Bronze, Silver and Gold Membership but only Gold Members will have voting and judging rights. Basically bronze membership is for students in advertising, design and communications, and silver memberships are for those who can't qualify for a bronze or gold membership. More details available here. Nova Wins on TV and Radio at AFA Awards Some interesting twists for Nova at the recent Advertising Effectiveness Awards in Sydney. Nova picked up several gongs for its own publicity, including Most Effective Television Campaign. It was also involved in the winning entry for Most Effective Radio Campaign. DMGRadio's 'Sounds Different' campaign for the Nova radio stations was outright winner in the Most Effective Use of Television category. The same campaign was also the winner of the 'Most Original Thinking' category and won a silver award overall. For the first time this year, there was an award for Most Effective Radio Campaign which was won by Australian Unity's 'Smart Start' spots - broadcast on Nova100 in Melbourne. The spots, produced at Risk Sound, led to a 44% increase in sales in the six months after the launch and 4,000 new members in 2002. Radio CREAMed in Queensland Radio may have done well at the national advertising effectiveness awards, but in Queensland, radio was the only major media category that failed to attract a gold winning entry at the CREAM Awards. Although there was no gold award in the radio category, both the Advertising Federation of Australia and Commercial Radio Australia (which sponsored the category) were full of praise for the Silver Award Winning "Working Wonders' Campaign for the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane. The campaign, created by Clemenger BBDO Brisbane, featured burns victim Jandamarra O'Shane talking about his experiences and how the hospital had 'worked wonders' for him. The radio component of the campaign led to a 23 per cent increase in donations to the hospital. Queensland AFA Chairman, Paul Cornwell, said the 'Working Wonders" campaign was an excellent illustration of the power of advertising in the social causes area. "There is more to advertising than increasing sales or getting customers through your doors. A well executed advertising campaign can help raise the profile of charities like the Royal Children's Hospital and help them educate the public about the services they provide," Mr Cornwell said. Full winners available here. NY Fests Bundles Broadcast Competitions There are two major changes to the New York Festivals competitions now underway: radio no longer has a competition of its own, and broadcast entries can be uploaded via the new website. The Radio Advertising section of the York Festivals has been rolled into the Television and Cinema Advertising competition from 2004. According to the organisers "it is the NYf intention to turn the awards event into a real media festival with broader networking opportunities." There are 54 radio categories this year. Finalists will be announced in December and Grand Trophies, Gold, Silver and Bronze world medallists will be announced on January 30th next year. The Festivals' website has been upgraded to provide on-line access for entrants and judges. Radio entries for uploading should be in standard MP3 format in stereo or mono 44.1kHZ 16 bits. Unfortunately the bit rate to use was not specified, but it was suggested that a 3 minute piece of audio would be about 1.4 MEG in size. This would suggest a bit rate of 64 kbs, (lower quality.than we would have expected). You can check it all out on the new website. Deadline is September 15th. The Mobius Awards are still open, click here. Deadline is October 1st. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Australia's newest commercial radio station started broadcasting earlier this month on the Gold Coast. Senior producer Steve Hunt describes Hot Tomato as the 'most modern radio station in the world.' According to Steve the radio station is winning accolades from listeners because it's not just based on a format, it's also about philosophy and family. Hot Tomato is the first new radio station on the Gold Coast for 14 years and Steve says they've tried to make sure there are several points of difference: lots of new music, only two ads in a row, no automation, no national competitions and no smut. "...fantastic group of people..." "We've built a radio station that's run on the Gold Coast by Gold Coast people for the Gold Coast." The station has been staffed from all over Australia with most of the national networks represented. "We've put together a fantastic group of people and the key people have had a lot of major market cap city experience. So even though we've come to what's called a provincial market, I believe this radio station would be competitive in any capital city in Australia," Steve says. The production team comprises Steve doing imaging and promos, and Lisa Lloyd producing commercials. Jan Turner from Sea FM/Gold 95.5 is doing traffic. Steve says the record companies are really keen to be involved because Hot Tomato is picking up a lot of new product that's not played anywhere else in Australia. "...we haven't even put Khe San into the record library..." "Obviously we're trying to support local talent as well, young and up and coming acts out of Brisbane or Queensland. There's a guy from Brisbane called Duncan James.we're his new single Speed Of Life, and Tex Perkins has got a new single out called Lucid. We're the only radio station in Australia playing that. "Because we're playing Tex, Tex came into the radio station and did three unplugged versions of songs off his current album. He brought his whole band in and it just sounded fantastic, so we chucked those into the mix. One minute we might play his album version and then we might play the version that we recorded ourselves live at the Hot Tomato studios... "And the listeners love it. It's fresh, it's very 2003 and we haven't even put Khe San into the music library." Steve says the response from listeners has been great, gauging from the calls they're getting at the station. "We've had people ringing from 40 minutes north of Brisbane saying they're getting us loud and clear and they love it.the same from down in Byron Bay. "...a lot of the instinct has gone out of radio..." "People say 'you're so different.' We're playing new tracks from here and new tracks from there and it's all very modern and cool and hip ...it's what people are into and what people want, they are sick of being force-fed Cold Chisel every two and half hours." Steve says the philosophy of being different, fresh and new has been a key driver from the day he joined the station. "Radio has become so researched and so homogenised because of these huge conglomerate networks owning everything.and a lot of the instinct has gone out of radio. "The days of 'gee that's a great song let's play it' are gone. It's more like ' that might be a good song, let's test it on 400 people and see how many like it.' "We say that's a good song, let's chuck it on. "...a Hot Tomato family..." "We come up with wild and weird ideas for sweepers and stuff and sometimes what looks fantastic on paper falls over in the studio, and the other way around. Sometimes you're not sure if it will work and you take it into the studio and it comes out flying like an F-18." Other weird and wild ideas include using out-takes in some of the promos and kookaburras in the news theme (remember the old Movietone newsreels?) Steve says the family aspect of the station has also been important from the beginning. "Part of the whole hiring process was not only could the person do the job but would they fit the family ..and we have a Hot Tomato family here. "We really wanted to have fun and make it a fun radio station to be in. So they've built this magnificent environment for us, as good as you'd see anywhere in the world and we've put together a bunch of people that really click." The magnificent environment Steve refers to includes two production studios, both with the latest pro-tools. "This radio station technically would be something you could put into New York. This is the most modern radio station in the world and it has the latest and greatest of all the technical equipment that is available today so we have everything at our fingertips to make it as good as we possibly can." As Steve says though, the best description of Hot Tomato is its name. "Hot Tomato is such a great name. Who would call a radio station Hot Tomato? Obviously people who do things differently." Fast Facts
Nova Nearly Takes a Hat-Trick in Key Ratings Demographic Survey #5 for 2003 saw DMG's Nova stations make inroads into Austereo's previous dominance of the much sought after 18-39year old radio listeners. Two out of the three Novas are number one in this age group. Perth: The two Austereo stations have fought a strategic action against Nova, sacrificing some listeners from 94.5 to give 92.9 a stronger number two position and slicing 10 points off Nova's 18-24 demographics. Last survey, Nova had 25.2% share in the 18-24 demographic - this survey they have 14.9%. Half of the Nova loss was picked up by 92.9FM. The demographic loss sees Nova drop from fourth overall to fifth overall. The first four places are held by 94.5FM, 92.9, 96FM and 6PR. Sydney: 2DAY is still king of the kids (10-17) and top of the heap with a 1.2 rise to be 12.6, followed in second place by 2GB on 11.1 up 0.2. Nova dropped 0.2 to hold third spot on 10.3, while maintaining dominance of the 18-39's. GB are still in a position to make a killing from second place with the number one share of breakfast and grocery buyers. Melbourne: The Footy season and an unbeatable brekky show has been a winner for 3AW- despite dropping 1.8 they're still in front on 14.1, clear of the Fox by exactly 2 points who inched up to 0.1 to 12.1. The ABC's 774 stormed back into a podium finish with a 1.7 rise to 12.3 at third spot, leaving some media buyers flummoxed because they're now the most listened-to station by Melbourne's grocery buyers. Nova may have slipped to fourth over all, but increased its lead in the lucrative 18-39 demo. Adelaide: SAFM still dominates at number 1 with 21.1 despite nearly a 3 point drop. 5AA edged into second place with a gain of 0.4 taking them to 14.7, followed by MMM who slipped one place to third after a 1.1 drop to 13.5. The key 18-39 demo is SAFM number one, daylight second. Adelaide seems to be screaming for a Nova with Triple J and Other FM climbing into second and third places respectively in that demographic. Brisbane: B105 is virtually unmoved at number one on 17.9. The new 97.3 dropped half a point but still held second spot due to third place MMM's loss of 1.3 to 12.9. The 18-39 demo sees B105 on top followed by stablemate MMM and 97.3. Your Bits - Studio News
They use their own blend of coffee, have a good variety of alcohol on offer, and a menu that runs from breakfast, through snacks, to steaks and hearty meals. David says the first three weeks have been hectic and he's looking forward to the warmer weather to make more use of the outside tables. AudioNET® Thought For The Day "Live out of your imagination, not your history." ...Stephen Covey, management lecturer, author and motivational speaker.
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Killer Bits: August 2003
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