Respite from the chaos of daily life: The Smooth secret to success

“Most people who get into radio think ‘Oh, I’m on the air because they love hearing my voice.’ Whereas Smooth FM has a real discipline, and it’s actually hard for some people to get their head around it.”

There’s a lot to be said for cutting through the noise and giving people some respite from the chaos and clutter of daily life, according to Smooth FM’s Head of Programming Peter Clay.

The station prides itself on being distinctly different from its FM rivals.

“Sometimes you just want a radio station to play some great music that will put you in a different headspace,” says Clay in an interview with our sister publication RadioInfo, post GfK Survey 6.

The results speak for themselves. Not only is Smooth now the #1 FM station in Melbourne with an 11.0% share, it’s also Sydney’s most popular station with a 1,288,000 cume.

Smooth FM is Adelaide’s most popular DAB+ radio station, adding another 8,000 listeners, as well as being the most listened to DAB+ station in Perth.

“The results in Melbourne and the increased cume in Sydney certainly sets up and validates the work the team put in for Smooth,” says Clay.

“Whilst people might think ‘Oh, it’s just a bunch of records, it’s just playing songs, you don’t do too much,’ it’s actually the art of keeping everything off that’s actually quite hard,” says Clay.

“And also, I guess, a discipline the announcers have not to turn around and make long talk breaks.”

Clay says that while other radio shows might shine the spotlight on the person behind the mic, Smooth not only focuses on the music, it respects the music.

“We get excited when we do things like extreme linking, which is one song going into the next song, and starting and ending on the same note,” says Clay. “And I think the on-air team recognise and acknowledge that they’re not bigger than the music.”

Through this philosophy, Clay says Smooth has become a feel good, uplifting, appealing to a much wider audience.

“Everything 18+,” says Clay. “Smooth is attracting such a broad demo now because of the environment we create.”

Clay also says Smooth delivers a great quality news broadcast as well – certainly a lot more than just headlines.

It’s a tight race at the top in Sydney radio, and Smooth is right there in the mix alongside KIIS, WS and GB.

Clay hopes book 7 sees Smooth take a bit more audience share.

Laughing, he says “I don’t want to sound greedy!”

Main photo, L to R: Mike Perso (Smooth FM 91.5 More Music Breakfast Show), Kate Mason (Head of Music, Smooth Network), Peter Clay (Head of Programming, Smooth Network), Simon Diaz (Smooth FM Afternoons), Smooth 91.5 Breakfast Producer Lauren Saylor and Smooth FM Imaging Producer Alex Bewick-Martin.