Radio Giant Opens Fire on Uni Station
Author: Neale Prior | Source: The West Australian | Date: 21-11-03
A DAVID and Goliath-style battle for the ears of Perth's hippest radio listeners could be decided by a group of middle-aged bureaucrats in Sydney.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority is investigating complaints made by Perth's newest commercial radio station, Nova 93.7, against the community station Groove 101.7FM.
Nova, owned by British conglomerate DMG Radio Australia, which paid $25 million for Perth's fourth commercial FM licence, is up against a group of university students and music lovers operating under the banner Youth Media Association of Western Australia Inc. Nova claims Groove is running a mainstream format despite having a free community radio licence. Groove has aimed its product at the youth market, where DMG has so successfully pitched its Nova formula in the Eastern States.
No ratings figures are available for Groove but figures for Nova show it suffered a big slide in its target 18-24 age-group market in July, with a rating of about 14.9 per cent. It recovered marginally in the latest survey.
Groove's mix of dance music, R&B and hip-hop on Friday was mixed with advertisements for dance shows, one of which was to be hosted by Groove's regular crew of disc jockeys.
Nova has gathered private ratings information on Groove, which it is refusing to release, and has conducted a seven-day monitoring of Groove that allegedly revealed 75 per cent of the music played was also on Perth commercial stations. Groove's chief executive officer is 25-year-old marketing graduate Raf Niesten, who was quoted in a Murdoch University student publication in May as saying he got inspiration from a book by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson.
An Australian Broadcasting Authority spokesman refused to give details of the matters his agency was investigating. But the terms of reference for the inquiry include whether Youth Media was complying with regulations covering the broadcasting of advertisements. The investigation is also examining whether Groove continued to represent the community interests that it originally represented and did not operate for profit or as part of a profit-making organisation. DMG managing director Kathy O'Connor said Nova's complaint to the ABA was not about Nova but about Australia's radio laws and their requirement that community radio stations service their audiences. Youth Media had gained its licence after promising to provide about 20 per cent WA content and about 20 per cent of other Australian content in its programming. Ms O'Connor said research by Nova had indicated Groove's total Australian content was in the range of 3 to 4 per cent. Nova claimed its study showed Groove had failed to comply with promises in its ABA application to provide a blend of music, talkback and issues discussion