2GB host Steve Price targets younger listeners to radio show
Conservative broadcaster Steve Price hopes to attract younger listeners to his 2GB radio show, two months after taking over Chris Smith’s afternoon timeslot.
Confidential
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Conservative broadcaster Steve Price hopes to attract younger listeners to his 2GB radio show, two months after taking over Chris Smith’s afternoon timeslot.
The 2GB radio host and panellist on The Project told Confidential that more young people (ages 20-35) are shifting towards conservative ideologies despite a rise in woke culture.
“Just because you’re younger, doesn’t mean you can’t have a conservative opinion about what’s going on in the country,” he said last week.
“I think people underestimate the number of younger conservative-thinking people. We see what’s going on in the streets with extinction rebellion at the moment but not all young people feel like that.”
Price, 64, said what sets him apart from other controversial broadcasters is his level-headed delivery.
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“I never have an opinion about anything that I don’t genuinely believe in and I’ve got an extremely good filter,” he said.
“I don’t make errors on-air that get me into trouble. If you genuinely hold an opinion and you express it in a reasonable sensible way, people will either agree or not agree — as we see on The Project Waleed and I disagree on a lot of stuff but we never actually have an argument we just have a different opinion. Off-air he and I are great mates, we get on really well.”
A 2018 poll by right-wing think tank, The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), found 58% of Millennials (those born between 1980 and 1996) were favourable to socialism and 59% thought “capitalism has failed and government should exercise more control of the economy”.
The Steve Price Show saw a dip of 1.1 per cent with a share of 10.5 per cent in the latest radio ratings, which he attributed to Smith’s loyal listeners. Roughly 40.9% of the current audience are aged between 35 and 64.
“Shifting into midday to 3pm is the perfect timeslot. People got used to having Chris Smith there, he was there for more than 10 years so when you make a change there are going to be people who aren’t happy,” he said.
“But we have a full board of talkback calls every day in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra — all around the country. I have a feeling there’s a big group of people there who are listening, we want to change slightly the demographic of that timeslot and make it a bit a bit younger so The Project helps me in that regard.”
Price began hosting the afternoon slot on Macquarie Radio’s 2GB and 4BC in July after hosting the network’s night show for seven years.
He also co-hosts The Project on Channel 10 and his contract is up at the end of the year, but he has no plans to leave anytime soon.
“I’ve done 10 years … I just think having the old guy from the right on the right-hand side of the panel really works,” Price said.
“Sitting on the desk on a Monday night and then on a Wednesday has sort of become part of the routine. You’ve got Charlie Pickering and then Waleed [Aly] — they need someone in there to balance them up and I try my best to do that.”
In 2017, Price revealed his softer side while appearing on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! and he said he’s open to returning to reality TV.
“I wouldn’t mind going back to the jungle,” he said.
“Also, I can count on two hands the number of people who have come up to me in the street asking ‘Are you going to be on The Masked Singer?’ and ‘Are you the prawn?’ But no, my singing is about as good as my dancing!”