Craig Bruce on 2Day, Twitter and Triple M. Survey day could not have been much better for SCA’s Head of Content, Craig Bruce. Not only did 2Day-FM snatch back it’s top FM status from rival WS-FM but more importantly, the Triple M brand went up everywhere, edging ever closer to regaining its former glory.
“The rise and rise of Triple M is very exciting for all of us working on it,” says Craig Bruce. “We went after a slightly younger strategy for 2, 3 and 4Triple M this year with that 25-39 focus and those numbers are starting to come through for us.
“Merrick and The Highway Patrol has grown in Sydney and Brisbane. It’s just in a – and I hate to call it that – but it’s in a Sweet Spot.
“As you know, everyone works really hard on their own shows and their own radio stations and sometimes you see results and other times you don’t and it is always really exciting when you have that reward for effort. And that’s certainly the case with Triple M.
“I guess that the other reason that we are happy is that FOX and 2Day are both back at number one and there’s been some good growth at both stations. Both Sydney and Melbourne are incredibly tight from an FM perspective. There are lots of good FM stations in both markets and for us to be number one in both markets with a strong Triple M in Sydney and Melbourne is obviously very exciting for us and we are really pleased that we have managed to see that happen,” says Craig Bruce.
How important is it for SCA to be number one?
Craig spends zero time thinking about his answer and says, “It is certainly really important for us to and, I hate to sound naff, but 2Day has been number one for many years now and we never ever, ever take it for granted.
“We stop down at the end of every book and if we are lucky to be number one we certainly acknowledge the effort and work that’s gone into it. And it’s a harder thing to do. We have a really strong sister station in Sydney now. Jonesy and Amanda are an outstanding show. Fitzy and Wippa are a very, very strong show and clearly Duncan’s (Campbell) getting some improving numbers into Mix as well and the smoothfm success story is there for everyone to see. So its bloody hard to win even one result and I am really proud of everyone who makes that effort every book.”
Triple M in Brisbane and Sydney spent a lot of money securing NRL rights and as well as the stations have gone there seems to be little evidence that the football has made much of a contribution.
“Look, it’s a slow grow. We have had football as one of the pillars of our format in Melbourne and Adelaide for 15 years and we see growth in the Monday to Sunday figures as the season progresses. We tend to see those numbers come through towards the middle end of the year versus the start. So I would still expect to see some listenership growth through Monday to Sunday in 2Triple M and 4Triple M as the NRL takes hold.”
Meanwhile Craig Bruce has been setting the twitterverse alight with his 25 Tips that he’s learnt in 25 years of Radio.
“It’s a funny one. I did a presentation using that idea at the AFTRS course a couple of weeks ago and I was reticent to use twitter. I didn’t I feel like I had anything really important to say, and I wasn’t going to waste people’s time with anything that I thought was naff or boring.
“Hopefully there is some interest there for people who are in radio, and it is always exciting to appear in front of young people and talk to them about a career in radio. I still think that it’s an amazing industry and one that, if you can give someone a leg up in the early stages, that’s always exciting.”