EON performing ‘strongly’

Staff Writer

Oceania Capital Partners, the majority owner of EON Broadcasting who operate Sea FM and Mix FM on the Sunshine Coast, has held their Annual General Meeting today in Sydney.

EON Broadcasting is owned jointly by Oceania Capital and Glenn Wheatley (left) and acquired the stations in March this year from Southern Cross Austereo. Oceania confirmed that they have been looking at other potential acquisitions in the radio sector.

Oceania's Chairman Ian Tsicalasis (below) was positive about the company's foray into radio, and the potential of the stations;

 

Our newest business, being the FM radio stations operating on the Sunshine Coast owned by our 95% subsidiary EON Broadcasting, shows the positives of exposure to a growing area in regional Australia.

The business is showing respectable revenue growth year on year, with advertising at both a local (Sunshine Coast) level and a national level holding up as compared to the previous year.

As has been the case in prior years, there appears to be a short term pause in advertising levels pending resolution of a date for the Federal election and ultimately an outcome from that election. The local radio ad revenue is driven by business confidence and initiative and elections tend to put small to medium sized businesses (the lifeblood of regional radio) into a hiatus.

The Sunshine Coast is in some ways a reasonably self contained region with one of the stronger growth profiles of any region in Australia.

It is not a wealthy area and while its median age is well above the national average the Queensland government has some very specific initiatives to promote migration to the Sunshine Coast and retention of its youth. These characteristics provide stability and growth into this market and our radio stations would seem to be reflection of this overall positive outlook.

Oceania's Managing Director, Robert Moran, commented further on the radio investment;

 

While still very early days, the first quarter trading of EON has been strong and to expectation.

The business is responding well to the new ownership while maintaining the strong ‘family’ relationship with the Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) networks. The Program Supply Agreement, under which SCA continues to provide most of the non-locally produced content to both stations, is an important part of the overall offering of the stations.

92.7 MixFM has continued its strong market position in its demographic and really is the gold standard in the market.

At 91.9 Sea FM, which targets a younger demographic, Management has very effectively and seamlessly ushered in a new and fresh Breakfast team – known as “Bar Rat and Jess”. The new team has started out very confidently, with listeners providing excellent feedback.

We have looked at a number of other acquisition opportunities for EON but have nothing to announce at this stage.

 

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