Seeing Kyle shake in fear is appealing to the audience: Derek Bargwanna

The 2Day-FM content director, Derek Bargwanna (DB as insiders know him) knows what he’s talking about. Kyle’s audience loves to see him both dish it out and suck it up. “The thing that ticks the boxes for us with The Amazing Race is that it gets Kyle and Jack into situations that they’re just not used to. And the audience loves it,” says DB. As importantly, as an advertiser Channel 7 loves it too, as do the TV network’s programming people. But don’t dare suggest to DB that his station’s involvement amounts to little more than a very long radio ad for the Amazing Race and the network that screens it.

He won’t deny that the 7 Network is a major advertiser and openly boasts that “First in Entertainment Media Solutions is what our company, SCA, prides itself on with our clients.” Yet he insists that content and not promotion is the driver. “Its actually a bigger content play than an ad for Channel 7. It’s a content/integration play,” he says.

“Its great radio content for us, with the guys talking about it for the last week. It’s great online content. Great social media play. And it provides network 7 with great content too because they’ll be screening an extended sneak peek during Wednesday night’s Amazing Race,” says DB.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Kyle is a judge on the 7 Network’s Australia’s Got Talent either. As the lines between TV and Radio fade with each new technology that takes over our lives, cross platform penetration for media brands through their highest profile talent becomes essential.

Equally, a bunch of Seven’s stars have been competing in the radio leg of the Amazing Race.

To the purists, the brave new world of integration may be the death knell for radio’s unique position as the Theatre of the Mind. But Bargwanna is not that old or that sentimental, “It’s still theatre of the mind when you’re stuck in traffic listening to the guys talk, but I think in this day and age with the technology, the impression that social media has on us and websites, it’s just a given now. Anyone who’s not doing it, isn’t doing what their audience demands.”

To him it’s all about the content and maximum exposure of the 2Day brand – which means maximum exposure of his breakfast team. And the added media platforms not only mean more exposure but a different type of exposure.

DB explains, “Kyle’s obviously a very confident man on the air. He’s honest and relates to our audience, but seeing him hanging off the side of the Novatel, 20 stories high and seeing him shake in fear is kind of appealing to the audience. It takes him out of his comfort zone and the audience gets to see that.

“The Sneak Peek 90 second clip we have on the website will be the most hit thing on 2dayfm.com.au. We have a hugely successful website but this will go above and beyond what a normal day’s traffic would be. It’ll be bigger and better than last year and last year was magnificent,” says DB.

See our earlier story.