Now that September has rolled around, Macquarie Media has less than a month to finalise its required sale of 2CH.
radioinfo readers will recall that Macquarie Media got a 6-month extension on the sale process from regulator ACMA which is required because they currently own three stations in the Sydney market, which is one more than is allowed in the two to a market rule.
Those close to upper management at MML were adamant they would comply with the law but were just as keen to hang on to 2CH and the other two stations if they could.
The only way they could do that would be if the law changes to allow three stations in one market.
Who will buy it is anyone’s guess.
The Council of Churches used to own sister station 2GB and are widely speculated to be interested in owning a radio station again.
2CH commenced broadcasting on 15 February 1932 on 1210 kHz.
The NSW Council of Churches was its licence holder until it was sold to John Singleton in April 1994.
The CH stands for “Churches” and it is understood The Council continues to have a significant input into the format of the station
Janet Cameron‘s Grant Broadcasters or Kevin Blyton‘s Capital Radio Network could also be possible bidders, as could other smaller radio groups such as Rowley Patterson‘s Ace Network or Glenn Wheatley‘s Eon Media Group.
No-one has confirmed their interest publicly, but Macquarie is on record saying it has been discussing the sale with a number of possible buyers. Larger networks would be locked out of ownership by the same ‘two to a market’ rule that has forced Macquarie to sell…
Contacted last week, MML COO, Adam Lang would not hint at who the likely buyers might be but assured radioinfo that the September 30 deadline would be met.
Who will buy radio 2CH?
Tags: 2CH | Ace Network | Capital Radio Network | EON Media Group | Grant Broadcasters
It was Cherie Romaro in the Sydney Morning Herald ( 4-10 April 2011) who wrote: "when things got a bit stressful, I used to turn to 2CH. Yes I was a 2CH closet listener, AM signal and all, because the station's music immediately transported me to another era" ( "Make it easy again, 2CH"). The column then goes on to talk about the change in format to play old music - but any old music - not that easy smooth ballad music that stirs your feelings and recognises that life is difficult ( Smooth FM does a bit of this now - although they seem to have recorded night time announcers that pretend to be live). The customer service at 2CH also went bad - with some staff treating listeners very poorly ( not answering emails, not attending to music requests etc.). I hope no one will make changes to the Christian flavour of the station ( including the excellent Sunday night Kel Richards talkback program),
I hope it is sold to a company totally separate from MML and does not take any programming from MML.