ABC Radio Melbourne once dominated our airwaves. Can the public broadcaster claw its way back to the top?

Once considered a top broadcast performer, ABC Radio Melbourne has slowly fallen to the bottom of the pack in the ratings war. Where did it all go wrong?

There’s an age-old saying in the entertainment world: You’re only as good as your last show.

Long echoed by creators and their superiors as motivation to continually strive for better, to keep staff on their toes and ensure the content put out consistently resonates with audiences.

It, too, can serve as an unsettling reminder for those underperforming — a reality that ABC Radio Melbourne is facing after being dealt the station’s worst ever ratings survey.

Once considered a star performer in Melbourne’s radio land — and once revered for maintaining a healthy 12.5 per cent in ratings — the public broadcaster has steadily fallen to the bottom of the pack since 2013, with the recent ratings hitting 4.4 per cent.

Undeniably, the station finds itself in a period of generational change as its new breakfast hosts — Western Bulldogs great Bob Murphy and seasoned journalist Sharnelle Vella — attempt to carve out their own niche in a well-saturated brekky radio market across both AM and FM.

But, critics say, the finger cannot – and absolutely should not – be pointed at the well-known Melbourne identities for their slow start. Instead, it should be pointed toward their higher-ups, who have done little to provide its new line-up with the momentum needed to cut through.

Co-host of Melbourne Radio Wars podcast Wade Kingsley points out a few of ABC management’s shortcomings that he believes contributed to its predicament.

“They don’t spend a lot of money on marketing the changes to the line-ups very well,” Mr Kingsley explained, noting the glaring absence of promotion outside of legacy media.

“There isn’t a lot of impact for Sharnelle Vella and Bob Murphy anywhere around Melbourne, you don’t see the big billboards that you see for Kyle and Jackie O or some of the other commercial operators. So they’re not really spending a lot or investing a lot in trying to tell potential listeners they have a new line-up. They’re really relying on the existing audience to like the change and stay.

“Some people go, well, I really liked the previous show so I’m not going to stay, and I’m going to try something else. But they need to replace those lost audiences with new audiences and in order to get the new audiences, they have to invest more in marketing.”

Bob Murphy and Sharnelle Vella took over as ABC Radio Melbourne’s breakfast hosts this year. Picture: Instagram

Instead of spending taxpayer dollars on a flashy billboard along the Monash, Kingsley — who is also a radio consultant — suggested a much more rounded, relatable approach.

“ … Sharnelle and Bob should be meeting more people every single day, they should be getting out of Southbank and into the suburbs where people are living everyday lives, having all the cost-of-living pressures, mortgage stress, talking about the footy and all the things they do to reflect the community.

“They need to get their presenters out to the suburbs more often and give them reasons to be interacting with the audience. And that’s something that I think used to be done by the ABC quite well, but not so much anymore.”

History shows — at least in ABC Radio Melbourne’s ratings — a changing of the guard, similar to Vella and Murphy’s takeover from Sammy J, is often fraught with highs and lows.

Of course, there comes a level of uncertainty from longtime listeners, who in so many different ways have welcomed former hosts into their daily routine.

So when new hosts are announced, loyal listeners ask: Will I relate the same way?

Virginia Trioli is among a long list of talented names to take to the airwaves for ABC Radio Melbourne. Picture: ABC.

This week, ABC Radio Melbourne’s listeners offered up a pretty resounding answer, as the public broadcaster slumped to a new ratings low.

The station’s 4.4 per cent share of radio listeners across all Monday to Friday timeslots delivered its worst-ever result, sliding from the 4.8 share posted in the last survey – the first time it had fallen below 5 per cent in Melbourne.

It’s a far cry from the glory days around 2013-14 when the station often recorded more desirable figures closer to a 12 per cent share, and former “Hey Hey It’s Saturday” star Red Symons, 75, was in the midst of a hugely successful 15-year tenure as breakfast host.

Ever since Symons’ departure, a revolving door of talent, including Jacinta Parsons and Sami Shah, Virginia Trioli, Jon Faine, Raf Epstein, Sammy J – each impressive in their own way – had, for the most part, been unable to claw back former listeners to their various timeslots.

Former ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast host Red Symons enjoyed a 15-year tenure at the station. Picture: supplied

“Digital radio, whose star performers include Coles Radio – the beat in the background – has splintered the audience,” Symons said on Thursday.

“The audience aren’t turning off; they’re turning away.”

Symons, who left his post in late 2017, won’t pretend to know the solution that could restore the station to its former glory — instead offering up a morsel of wisdom, which history shows served him well during his years on the airwaves.

“Radio should open a conversation with listeners,” Symons adds.

Perhaps without realising, Symons summed up where ABC Radio Melbourne is falling short – tuning into what audiences want, not dictating it.

Shall we mention the elephant in the room, too? The station’s large reliance on the AM band is doing it no favours if it hopes to resonate with younger audiences.

Kingley offers further insight: “All of those stations that are trending down for the ABC are still on the AM band. And I don’t know if I can find anyone under 30, perhaps even under 40, who would choose the AM band as their first preference,” he said.

Many believe the public broadcaster should make the transition to FM frequencies if it wants to connect with younger audiences. Picture: NewsWire

“It really is an FM versus digital versus streaming battle for people’s ears, whether it’s downloading a podcast or listening to radio or listening to a streaming service. AM is so far behind. It really should only be used for emergency broadcasts or in regional areas where people can rely on AM as a solid technology. But in the metro areas, particularly in Melbourne, they really need to get 774 local radio on to an FM frequency. They have FM frequencies — they’re used for Classic FM and other stations.

They could make a change and put it on an FM frequency and they might see a wider audience. They can try and build some audience share from. But while they’re stuck on AM, they are probably stuck in the past.

One thing the ABC does best, he says, is being trusted source on big news events — be it bushfires, floods, and even the pandemic, when the station experienced a decent boost in ratings.

“ … You have to have people forming habits coming back to the radio every single day in order to make an impact, so the ABC can’t rely on a news story breaking to boost its ratings. “It has to be more appealing. It has to talk to broader audiences and it has to let the audiences know that they care about what the audience cares about and not get lost in its own world.”