ARN assures regional talent they will not be replaced by latest syndication

ARN’s Chief Commercial Officer, Peter Whitehead, has reiterated that the latest syndication of metro shows to regional markets will not replace local regional shows. 

This time last week ARN announced that it will be syndicating its most popular metro shows throughout its regional markets acquired through the Grant Broadcasters deal at the end of last year.

Kyle and Jackie O, Will and Woody, Jonesy and Amanda and The Christian O’Connell Show will be heard nationwide and expand ARN’s advertising potential to 8 million Australians.  

Speaking with Radio Today at ARN’s business update in Sydney, Whitehead explained that syndicated shows will only be replacing slots that were already occupied by external content before the Grant Broadcasters acquisition. 

“While we’ll be syndicating so many great shows, Kyle and Jackie O, Will and Woody, Christian O’Connell and Jonesy and Amanda around the country, those shows will sit in around afternoons, in drive and in evenings, but local breakfast shows around the country will remain just that – local market breakfast shows, because it’s so important,” said Whitehead. 

“I come from a regional area and I know how important it is for each market to have their own local breakfast show that’s in tune with the local community’s needs.”

“For many years most regional stations have taken a feed of some kind – a network show from a metro market prior to us rolling out our shows. On most of the Grant stations that we have acquired, they were running NOVA programming. Some of them ran Nine Radio programming, so all we are doing is we’re replacing either syndicated programming from other networks with our own, or we are replacing a music show with our own programming.”

Kyle & Jackie O’s Hour of Power show is now networked to an additional 21 regional stations, while Will & Woody’s drive show will now be broadcast across 19 additional regional stations.

GOLD’s Christian O’Connell Show and Jonesy & Amanda’s JAM Nation have been syndicated across an additional 29 and 18 regional stations respectively.

The expansion of ARN has created a lucrative opportunity for advertisers to spread their marketing campaign across the country at the push of a button and the focus is what Whitehead calls “transactional simplicity.”

“I think what this is about is all those national advertisers who just want to press a button and get their campaign out across the country can do it with ease now with ARN. Because, as opposed to having to make a number of calls to get a campaign set up and around the country – particularly, integrated into a show – we can now do that,” said Whitehead. 

“For us, it’s all about transactional simplicity. Many national clients now we’re talking to about, say, a promotion in Will and Woody, used to just sit within Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, and that now expands across all those regional stations they’re on across the country.”

When Pete was asked if Australia has gotten smaller with the syndication of metro shows in regional areas, and the opportunity for national advertisement campaigns, he said, “I think what it means now is now you’ve got two serious players in the metro and regional radio game – ourselves and Southern Cross Austereo.”

“Now advertisers have two clear choices.”