Triple M’s Oztober not being used to drive audience growth

Triple M’s Oztober initiative – which sees the network celebrate Australian music across the month of October – is unlikely to cause a spike in listeners, chief content officer at Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), Dave Cameron, has conceded.

“I’m not really aware of any music feature that has big spikes in audience,” he told Radio Today. “What it does is it keeps our existing audience really engaged with our product. It might deliver some new audience that will come in and out, but I think what it is is it’s just continually making our radio products and music products really interesting, so that engagement continues.”

Oztober plays the best of new and upcoming performers, as well as telling the stories of the songs and their artists. It also features four Garage Sessions, which listeners can win their way to (virtually). At the time of Oztober’s launch, head of music across the Triple M and Hit Networks, Mickey Maher, said it had ben a tough year for the music industry, so Oztober had an important role to play.

“Triple M has passionately and proudly supported Australian music for over 40 years and each year during Oztober, we crank it up a few notches and dedicate the month to celebrate what is great about our homegrown artists,” he said.

“From new Aussie rockers to the legends of Oz, from the radio to our special Oztober Garage Sessions, Triple M fans are in for a treat this year.”

In a recent interview with Radio Today he said he knows Oztober is a fit for the station and its audience.

“We’re doubling down on our new Aussie rock, so again, that’s something that we do because we want to do it, we’re passionate about it, and we know it resonates with the audience.”

Cameron noted that even if the initiative didn’t appear to pay direct dividends in future radio ratings surveys, engagement across digital “is flying”, and will continue to do so.

“It’s through the roof,” Cameron said. “So we know when they’re not coming in and listening to our shows particularly live and on linear on that commute, they’re coming back and getting it in catch-up form a little later in the day. And streaming numbers, particularly through the workday have been through the roof as well. So we know our content has been consumed really heavily and growing really fast. It’s just unfortunate that that part of the jigsaw puzzle doesn’t get released [at the same time as radio ratings].”