Smoothfm
File:Vega-95.3fm-brand.png File:Vega-91.5fm-brand.png | |
| Broadcast area |  Sydney, Australia Melbourne, Australia |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Sydney: 95.3 MHz FM Melbourne: 91.5 MHz FM |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult hits |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | DMG Radio Australia |
| History | |
First air date | Sydney: 1 August 2005 Melbourne: 5 September 2005 |
| Technical information | |
| ERP | Sydney: 150 kw Melbourne: 56 kw |
| Links | |
| Website | Sydney: www.vega953.com.au Melbourne: www.vega915.com.au |
Vega FM is a name for two Australian commercial radio stations operated by DMG Radio Australia, one in Sydney, the other Melbourne. In contrast to DMG's other Australian radio network, Nova, Vega was originally positioned to target the baby boomer market of listeners in the 40 to 60 age bracket, with a mix of talk and music from the 1960s to the 2000s. The two stations were also initially heavily networked for programming, however both stations are now independent with no shared content.
The majority of music played on the station is Adult hits. Their current positioner is "Vega variety, the 70s, 80s and the best new songs", and is aiming at the 25-54 age group.
Frequencies
Vega FM is broadcast on the following frequencies:
- 95.3 MHz (Vega 95.3)(call sign 2PTV), Sydney – launched on 1 August 2005
- 91.5 MHz (call sign 3PTV), Melbourne – launched on 5 September 2005
Presenters
Each of the two stations run a local breakfast program on weekdays: former 702 ABC Sydney breakfast host Angela Catterns with Tony Squires, Rebecca Wilson and Mikey Robins in Sydney; and Shaun Micallef, Denise Scott, Dave O'Neil and Beverley O'Connor in Melbourne. Vega revamped its style throughout the network due to low ratings making both city based, to try and boost the ratings, currently there are no networked programs.
Melbourne weekday presenters include Joe Bovalino, Mike Perso, Wilbur Wilde, Sally Rope and Nights with Alice Cooper
Sydney weekday presenters include Jason Staveley, Jen Oldershaw, Nathan Hardy , Trevor Sinclair and Nights with Alice Cooper
Overnight and on weekends, a mostly presenter-less music format is played, with Trevor Sinclar presenting on Saturday mornings.
On 2006-03-03, Vega announced that its original morning host, Wendy Harmer, had left the station. She has been replaced in the time slot by various presenters including Mike Perso and Jen Oldershaw in the interim.
Sydney News presenters include Monique Dews, Marnie Procter, Anthony Clark, Adam Hemmings and Deborah Clay.
Melbourne News presenters include Nikole Gunn, Belinda Batty, Patrina Jones, Honor Elliott and Rick Wall.
Early survey results
During its first ACNielsen ratings survey (No. 8, 2005, covering mid-September to November of that year), Vega's stations had failed to attract a significant audience. The Sydney station reached a 1.8 percent audience share, and the Melbourne station gained a 1.2 percent share, placing it second last (ahead only of ABC NewsRadio) and last out of surveyed stations in each market, respectively. However, station management state that the slow take-up was to be expected, claiming the target audience will be slower than some audience groups to try a new station. In June 2006[1] the Sydney and Melbourne stations stopped sharing programs. Both stations dropped its "40 years of music" slogan and moved drive-time hosts Rebecca Wilson and Tony Squires to share the breakfast slot with Angela Catterns for its Sydney station. The changes have been slow to grow market share, with the Sydney audience falling to 1.7% in Sydney (No. 6, 2006, but climbing slowly to 1.8% in Melbourne, which, at the time, was their highest audience share to date in Melbourne.
By the end of 2006, Vega had reached their ratings peak, to date, in both cities. The Sydney station reached 2.8%, while the Melbourne station reached 3%.
In January 2007, Vega expanded its "Vega Variety" positioner to include "the 70s, 80s and the best new songs", and also put out advertisements in the form of billboards and on the side of buses, based around that expanded positioner. It is hoped that it would get more listeners to sample the station.
In the first radio survey of 2007, Vega in Sydney and Melbourne both had small increases, with the Sydney station reaching 3% and the Melbourne station reaching 3.3%. The station's best demographic performer on both stations in that survey, is the 25-39 age group.
By the 4th radio survey of 2007, Vega in Sydney and Melbourne have gone over the 4% mark, with the Sydney station rating 4.6% and the Melbourne station rating 4.4%. In the 40-54 age group, Vega in Sydney was the second highest rating FM station in that age group after classic hits station WS-FM, who, traditionally, have been the highest rating FM station in that age group.
References
- Nielsen Media Research (2005-12-06). Survey Results: Sydney, Survey No. 8, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-02-17.
- Nielsen Media Research (2005-12-06). Survey Results: Melbourne, Survey No. 8, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-02-17.
External links
