Fresh start: How one community station is laying the foundations for commercial success

It is Liam Stapleton’s belief that plenty of people dream about working in radio, but never do anything about it.

“Everyone thinks it’s an awesome job. That’s because it is! But no-one actually gives it a crack.”

Having started in community radio, Stapleton – along with Ben Harvey and Belle Jackson – is about to hit Melbourne’s airwaves as one third of the Ben, Liam & Belle Breakfast show on Nova 100.

That’s a colossal achievement, but as far as Stapleton is concerned, you’ll never know unless you have a go.

“People don’t know how little this took us to have our own podcasts and things. We just gave it a crack, and one thing led to another.”

Stapleton was co-hosting the Ben & Liam Breakfast show on Nova Adelaide when he shared these observations on the Jacky Road Studios podcast with ARN’s Jack Post (who started out on community radio himself at the tender age of 15).

Stapleton notes that many people would fancy playing cricket for Australia. Plenty would love to do a Drive show on radio. But, he says, that’s generally as far as the dream goes.

Ben & Liam’s arrival on the Melbourne FM radio scene is something of a ‘proud parent’ moment for Fresh 92.7.

The Adelaide community station has been the launching pad for a succession of radio hosts, producers, content creators and journalists who’ve gone on to carve out successful careers in the commercial sector.

Fresh 92.7 Content Manager Sophie Campbell believes commercial radio success was always on the radar for Ben & Liam.

“Yes, for sure! When Ben and Liam were at Fresh they showed huge potential from the start. Not just because of their skills and genuine demeanour, but because they were incredibly hard working and respectful, and had a love for the station and the industry.”

Campbell tells Radio Today “We knew they would thrive in whatever avenue they decided to pursue but we absolutely knew that if they continued down the path they were working towards, they would find success.”

Campbell says it’s been wonderful watching the Ben & Liam journey.

“We are so proud of everything they’ve achieved. Such exciting news like this inspires our volunteers that with enough hard work and dedication like Ben & Liam, Fresh can help them break into the commercial radio landscape and achieve their dreams, too.”

Other Fresh 92.7 alumni include Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann, Sam Mac, Laura ‘Loz’ O’Callaghan and Mark ‘Thomo’ Thompson.

“Fresh isn’t just a stepping stone for those on-air. We’ve had producers, digital content creators, news journalists and sales reps move on to huge roles, with most Adelaide TV channels having a few Freshies in their ranks,” says Campbell.

“Our previous Content Manager, Zane Dean, progressed to be the Operations Manager for Kyle and Jackie O.”

Campbell says the station has always prided itself on giving people a chance.

“We are so passionate about training upcoming talent and providing opportunities for people to thrive in many different areas of radio.”

“We offer the hands-on experience that’s needed to be successful in a real-life working environment, whether within the radio industry or otherwise.”

Campbell says the great thing about community radio is not only the welcoming atmosphere but the creative opportunities and experience that it can offer.

“People discover so many things they didn’t know they were capable of.”

Campbell believes having that accessibility – and taking the time to train and guide their volunteers – is why so many people who come through Fresh go on to work in the commercial sector.

“We set our volunteers on the right path to enter the commercial radio landscape. Ultimately, what you put into Fresh, you get out of it, so the more hardworking our volunteers are, the more they expand their career prospects.”

“Ultimately, community radio is a great breeding ground for talent and the first place for commercial radio to go to, to fill new roles.”

But is there a tendency for those in commercial radio to be dismissive of their community radio counterparts?

Campbell says community radio can be perceived as lower down the chain or not as powerful as commercial radio.

“In some ways this is true, like when it comes to funding or resources,” she says. “However, in our case, community radio is very powerful, and with only 5 minutes of sponsorship messages per hour, businesses that sponsor Fresh cut through.”

“Being one of the lead community stations in the country with the largest market share, and nearly 200K weekly listeners, we are keeping up with the commercial stations.”

“We like to think we have well and truly proven ourselves as a platform for upcoming talent and having opportunities for so many people.”

Campbell says countless times, volunteers have come in not knowing much about radio or what they want to contribute. But once they see how it all works, they decide to go down a whole new career path.

This certainly rings true for Stapleton, who initially dreamt of being a goalkeeper in the English Premier League.

“I started in community radio and I kind of made the decision when I was sixteen, seventeen, that I actually enjoy this radio thing a lot more. To be fair, I think I’ve probably had more success in radio than I ever would have had playing professional football!”

The fact that Stapleton now finds himself catching buses with pictures of his own face on the side of them is testament to how far the journey has taken him.

O’Callaghan and Thomas are also living proof that community radio provides a solid foundation for careers in the commercial sector.

After hosting more than 700 breakfast shows on Fresh 92.7, Loz & Thomo landed at Triple M Adelaide.

In an interview with Radio Today last year, O’Callaghan was quizzed about why Fresh pumps out so much viable commercial talent.

“That’s a good question. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I think it’s kind of this environment there where you have to hit the ground running.”

“You are in this market with the giants. You don’t really have the option of being shit.”