Lauren Joyce on ARN’s mixed fortunes and Smallzy rumours

Lauren Joyce: Image supplied

Lauren Joyce tries not to get too rattled when it comes to radio surveys. She prefers to focus on the bigger picture.

And so, in the grand scheme of things, ARN’s Chief Audience and Content Officer isn’t overly concerned about the results of GfK Survey 6, which saw KIIS Network shows lose ground across the Workday in both Melbourne and Sydney, including share drops for Kyle and Jackie O in both cities.

“I would say that this is more of a flat result,” Joyce says of the KIIS numbers in her post-survey interview with Radioinfo’s Steve Ahern.

“I look at the longer-term trends. So, I’m not particularly concerned as to today’s station result and I do think that we’ll see that come back. It’s certainly not outside our historical range of performance.”

On the upside, ARN’s Gold Network stations in Sydney and Melbourne both achieved cume increases in the 25 to 54 demographic.

Joyce believes it’s a solid indication ARN’s current strategy is working.

“Gold’s performance in both Melbourne and Sydney, I do put down to delivering a really consistent product for our audiences.”

With Gold 104.3’s The Christian O’Connell Show extending its lead as Melbourne’s #1 FM Breakfast show, Joyce says O’Connell is ticking all the boxes ahead of next year’s national expansion.

“We’re really pleased with Christian’s performance in Melbourne.”

Finally, Joyce is quizzed about the possibility of former longtime Nova host Kent ‘Smallzy’ Small joining ARN.

“Would Smallzy be a person who would suit either a Gold or a KIIS format in some way?”

With ARN having already rejected any suggestion a deal has been done, Joyce is cryptic in her reply.

“He’s an excellent broadcaster and, you know, I think that he delivers a really entertaining proposition,” she says.

“I think this time of year, the industry is rife with rumours – we’re quite happy to take the speculation and the headlines around it. We’re home to some of Australia’s best talent, and I would consider him one of those people but I’m not going to kind of enter into any discussion about next year quite yet. We’ve still got some time to go between now and the end of the year.”

“And of course, we’ve got an Upfronts event coming in a couple of weeks’ time where we’ll have a number of announcements to make.”

“(We’re) happy to sit in the speculation at the moment,” she says, with a smile in her voice.