Smooth FM’s Peter Clay on staying true to the promise: “It IS all about the music”

It was twelve years ago now that the Smooth FM brand was radio’s new kid on the block.

2012 saw its very first survey result. Smooth’s Head of Programming Peter Clay remembers it well.

“We had a cume of 275,000 and a very, very slow build from that point to where we are now.”

Fast forward to 2024 and Smooth is now the #1 FM station in both Sydney and Melbourne, with cume numbers that are light years away from those first seen in its ratings debut.

GfK Survey 8 sees Smooth FM 95.3 round out the year as Sydney’s most popular station with a cume of 1,243,000 listeners (up 45,000 on the last survey), while in Melbourne, Smooth FM 91.5 is the second most listened to station in that city, with a cume of 1,227,000

Mornings with Ty Frost, Afternoons with Simon Diaz and Drive with Byron Webb are all the #1 FM shows in their respective timeslots in Sydney.

In all honesty, the overall #1 result is not what Clay expected.

In a post-survey interview with our sister publication RadioInfo, Clay admits he thought Smooth would be below WSFM.

You can hear the smile in Clay’s voice as he says “To see WS in the last book get the #1 overall, and then see Smooth take that crown this time is a proud moment, definitely something we’ve never done in the past.”

It’s even more impressive, given the size of the operation.

“Smooth is a very small team that really performs incredibly well. A big shout out to Kate Mason, our Head of Music, Michael McPhee, our Operations Manager and my 2IC Mary Datoc.”

How did the station get to where it is now? The answer is quite simple, really. It all boils down to consistency.

“I think we stayed true to the promise,” says Clay. “It is all about the music.”

“Over the years, we just always looked after the listeners and always put a radio station together for them.”

Clay says no announcer has ever been bigger than the brand.

“They all respect the music. They love the music. They don’t talk all over the music, and they don’t consider that their talk breaks are more important than a song.”

Not only did people discover Smooth, notes Clay, they stuck with it. Some have been there right from day one.

“And they haven’t left.”

“People found that destination and went ‘You know what? I can just leave it here. I don’t have to flick over.’”

As Clay has previously pointed out, Smooth doesn’t depend on sugar hits or big flashy cash tactics. There is no place for inflated egos, misplaced bravado or announcers who think THEY are more important than the music.

“I think sometimes, shows talk too much and don’t play enough music,” says Clay.

“If the talk breaks aren’t better than a song, then play a song!”

Over at sister station Nova, Clay is full of praise for Jase & Lauren’s phenomenal Survey 8 result, extending their lead as Melbourne’s #1 FM Breakfast show.

“It is amazing. Jase, Lauren and Clint won’t ever gloat about it, but they should be proud of the numbers they’ve got.”

“I’m quietly confident that we’ll see great things for them into 2025.”

Clay is asked directly whether he thinks hiring Jase and Lauren was the wisest move NOVA Entertainment has ever made … or the biggest mistake ARN has ever made.

“I think it’s a mistake that ARN has made,” Clay replies.

“When you say ‘Is it the wisest move that NOVA Entertainment’s ever made?’, well, NOVA Entertainment also created Smooth. So they’ve had a couple of really good runs on the board and they’ve got some very successful Breakfast brands around the country.

“I think it was a mistake of KIIS to let them go.”

Of the Sydneysiders who replaced them on KIIS Breakfast in Melbourne, Clay says “To be honest, I’ve worked with Kyle and Jack. They’re great radio people. I love that the industry’s healthy. I love the competition. I love that listeners that want different things find a home for them in radio.”

“As I’ve said before, I’m very happy that Jase & Lauren are with us, and they’re getting the accolades they deserve.”