An interesting item from the Sydney Morning Herald: as the Australian political scene heats up, Sydney radio listeners are massively setting their ears to AM signals.
“In a clear victory for the older spectrum in times of political upheaval, all of the commercial AM stations except 2UE recorded gains in their audience,” notes Herald entertainment writer Giles Hardie, “while on FM, every commercial station except Nova 96.9 experienced a loss.”
Australia faces a crucial election on September 7, with its Liberal and Labor parties furiously debating the issue of asylum seekers from the around the world (including Syria) showing up on Australia’s shores. “Stop the boats!” is the political battle cry. No surprise that this issue and leadership divisions within the Labor Party have offered rich material for AM talk.
Meanwhile Sydney FM hegemons like 2Day 104.1 FM have lost some audience. 2Day is the home of popular and/or notorious morning show host Kyle Sandilands, aka #vilekyle to his detractors. After calling a journalist a “fat slag,” Sandilands was the subject of a change.org petition to toss him off the air.
Looks like AM radio is taking more wind out of his sails than that bid. It will be interesting to see if this AM uptick lasts beyond the Ides of September.
