Time is running out on Jones contract as new owners take control of 2GB
12 May 2019 · News
Comment from Peter Saxon
I was listening to George and Paul on 2GB one recent Saturday morning and was surprised to hear Sydney Morning Herald Political and International Editor, Peter Hartcher in ...
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Tags: Peter Saxon Comment
Excellent piece, Peter. In my previous full time working life, my employer was the ATO. To work there, I was obliged to sign and adhere to a secrecy oath, which applies for the rest of my life. I cannot breach it in respect of taxpayers’ affairs and other issues deemed covered by that oath by the ATO, irrespective of any perceived injustices I see now or saw in my 37 years there. The parallels to both these men are clear. Be passionate in your beliefs by all means but there is a line you cannot cross.
I will not go into the discussion of who will be a potential successor to Alan Jones should Alan Jones leave 2GB.
Whenever Alan Jones was absent, other 2GB presenters have filled in and maintained the breakfast ratings for the 0530-0900 shift. I believe that high ratings during Alan Jones' absence was likely due to the goodwill built into the Alan Jones program.
Though the other presenters rate well in their own shifts, does not mean that they will maintain the high ratings for the breakfast shift. To illustrate, one former 2GB presenter was rating highly during his stint filling in for Alan Jones. The 2GB presenter went to 2UE presenting the breakfast competing with Alan Jones and the drive program. Despite high ratings when filling for Alan Jones on 2GB, the presenter did not rate as well on 2UE breakfast.
It follows that It is not just because a fill in presenter for the Alan Jones program who rated well that they will continue to rate well in the 0530-0900 shift if Alan Jones leaves.
Consequently, the problem with 'personality' radio is how management will have a succession plan. A succession plan starts the moment a 'personality' is signed and ready to air. 'Personalities' are mortals. The Jack Daveys, Ormsby Wilkinses and the Eric Baumes("...this I believe...") of yesterday have not been been replicated. If they were replicated, would their style, narrative and structure of presentation last today? That is a moot point.
What we do know about the Alan Jones program is that there is structure. We know what to expect at a particular time: 0530-0600, greetings, news of the day, a few opinions including people he was talking to, what's on the show, sporting news. 0600-0630, an opinion, talkback calls, occasionally some 'guests'. 0630-0700, selected readings from letters to the editor (newspapers), some finance, news from London, sports discussion. 0700-0730, editorial comment, discussion with a guest possibly extending to 0740. 0730-0800, another guest, sports, finance. 0800-0830, editorial, guest or promotion for a musical or book or cause, news from the US. 0830-0900, talkback calls. It is consistent and well-organized. So part of the success is structure, structure and structure.
We also know that Alan discusses the contemporary issues concerning households such as energy prices, petrol prices, the population issue and the future source of despatchable and reliable energy generation.
Then what forms Alan Jones' opinion? His childhood background on a farm, being an English teacher, a sports coach and an advisor to The Right Hon. Mr Malcolm Fraser, PM (RIP) being an advisor to an employers' group and his extensive network of influencers?
Agree or disagree with him, he is consistent in delivering an opinion and whatever is discussed is backed by research.
Alan may have been 'over the top' in regards to influencing policy such as the promotion a horse race on the Opera House's sails when it was not Opera House policy. That could have been dealt on air more tactfully.
Importantly the NSW government did not have to listen to Alan. I know a current Liberal member of parliament who told me a few years ago, that the first thing in the morning is that they listened to 2GB and read "The Telegraph" for a source of what people were thinking. Given that news is 'temporal', the government could have 'ducked for cover' for the next few days until the issue of promoting a horse race on the Opera House went away.
Despite this, governments do not follow every issue that Alan discusses on his program. Many of the issues discussed on Alan's show are what resonates with people: high electricity prices, petrol prices, the size of the population, directing water from North Queensland to drought areas and the issue of supplying reliable and despatchable coal-fired electricity generation when renewables despite being cheaper than coal supply a very small proportion of electricity.
It demonstrates that governments don't listen to Alan Jones and his audiences' concerns about those issues.
The real test of whether 2GB loses audience if Alan Jones leaves is if Alan goes to a station that does not subscribe to the Gfk Sydney Radio Ratings, then that station should re-subscribe. This would test whether Alan Jones' audience would move with him to the new station.
For 2GB management, the lesson is to have a succession plan as soon as a new 'personality' signs with 2GB. The presenter reflect the causes reflecting the target audience's views. That should have been done when Alan Jones was signed up in 2002. The same holds for the management of the new station if Alan signs with a new station.
Regards
Anthony of exciting Belfield
I guess the calculation for 2GB is whether Alan is good for another reinvention, and where he would go. There have been suggestions that the 2SM Super Network would pick him up. Would he take his audience there? Even John Laws, who'd done the same trick between GB and UE as Jones did, couldn't achieve that -- although his career was already in decline at that stage. Jones's ratings are still very high, but his audience is as old or older than him, and his ideas don't have a lot of currency with Gen X, let alone the younger generations. But, to a great extent, that's true of Hadley too. I think GB/Nine management will be waiting for the federal election to "take the temperature" of the nation. If the right and far-right parties do well, then there's an audience for Jones, Hadley etc. and maybe their current strategy is worth hanging on to for a few more years.