Radio Ratings June 18, 2025

Dave Cameron on the overhaul of 2DayFM: “Let’s face it, we had nothing to lose”

Sarah Patterson

Reporter

“Hopefully fortune favours the brave eventually, but it does take time.”

SCA’s Chief Content Officer Dave Cameron is reflecting on the results of GfK Survey 3, the first full book since Sydney’s 2Day FM undertook its biggest format change in decades.

In his post-survey interview with Radioinfo’s Steve Ahern, Cameron is forthright in his views on how listeners are responding to the station’s younger format and ‘new music forward’ approach, which promises ‘The hits, before they hit.’

“We’re certainly not losing any audience,” says Cameron. “What we are (doing) is gaining some more interest in the under-forty demographic.”

“Let’s be clear – this isn’t a youth format. What this is, is a new music format for adults. We call it a new music format for twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings.”

And in this latest survey, Cameron says that’s exactly who they’ve appealed to.

His feeling is that sometimes, we tend to get caught up in the survey-by-survey data, smaller demographics and audience shifts, without looking at the bigger picture.

“At the end of the day, we take a very long view of audience trends and about the products that we’re creating for real long-term value for us as a company.”

Cameron says at times, the numbers don’t necessarily reflect the instant success of decisions that have been made.

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“Whether it’s completely new shows or whether it’s new talent into existing shows, we do feel like we’re probably the only company that is investing in new shows, new voices and new talent at the moment.”

“I think that’s not only good for us, that’s good for the industry. And that’s good for audiences keeping radio robust.”

Cameron says 2Day’s format is fresher and more contemporary than other stations in the market.

“Most importantly, we’re supporting new music, and we’re supporting new Australian music by playing twice as much as other competitors.”

And he’s excited to see signs of growth this survey.

“It gives us confidence that we’ve put 2Day FM on a different track, that’s delivering a point of difference in the market.”

“Let’s face it, we had nothing to lose … so we really did take the plunge.”

“And full credit to the 2Day FM product team. You know, we’ve done this without any kind of external consultants or guidance that would have just put us off track again. We’ve done all of this internally with a team that is hungry to do something different for the market.”

Cameron is also immensely proud of the cheeky marketing campaign that’s been designed around the station.

He says the ‘Today AF’ tagline has driven curiosity in the market.

“Look, different people have different people opinions of it,” he says “But … it’s a talking point. People are talking about it.” He had to explain to Steve that it means ‘Today as F**k.’ Steve is clearly out of the target demographic 🙂

At the end of the day, Cameron says it all boils down to monetising the audience that matters.

“If your shows aren’t profitable, it doesn’t matter what they rate, it’s all about what they write, to be brutally honest.”

1019 The Fox

The Breakfast share rise of The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick in this book comes as no surprise to Cameron.

A juggernaut brand, Cameron says The Fox continues to generate truly meaningful content.

“What The Fox does is connect with the audience through emotive content better than any other Breakfast show in Australia. And I stand by that,” he says.

“Hearing some of the things that have been rolling out in the last couple of months (and) now into another round of The Underdogs, which just brings you to tears … it’s incredible. And it connects with local audiences, and moves them.”

Triple M Sydney and Melbourne

Despite being in the middle of footy season, both Triple M’s Sydney and Melbourne Breakfast shows went down in share this survey.

Cameron says “To be honest, the results for Triple M Sydney and Melbourne, I don’t think necessarily reflect, you know, how good the shows are sounding.”

“Both are brand new shows, and I think sometimes we have to remember that, although survey results are six weeks’ worth of data, it’s actually genuinely six months’ worth of audience sentiment. People don’t chop and change around surveys like we think they do.”

Now, with show anchor Cat Lynch having officially joined front-facing on-air line up on Triple M Sydney Breakfast, Cameron reiterates that new shows need time to build momentum in the market.

“We’re really happy with Beau, Cat and Woodsy in Sydney and I couldn’t be happier with Mick’s show in Melbourne as well. They’re both tapping into local communities. They’re both tapping into the excitement of the NRL and AFL seasons.”

“I’ll say to you, let’s have this conversation in two or three surveys’ time, and I think we’ll be having a different conversation about the survey results.”