NOVA chief Peter Charlton upbeat on ad spending recovery

Eight of NOVA Entertainment’s top 10 advertisers have spent the same or more in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2020.

Nova Entertainment chief executive Peter Charlton. Picture: Britta Campion

NOVA Entertainment chief executive Peter Charlton is “pretty optimistic” that the advertising spending recovery will accelerate this year, as the radio company looks to supercharge its streaming and podcast line-up.

The group, best known for its Nova and smoothfm radio stations, was “really buoyed” by the ad market rebound, led by national advertisers, Mr Charlton said in his first interview since taking the company’s helm in November.

Eight of NOVA’s top 10 advertisers, including Harvey Norman, Woolworths, Coles and Telstra, have spent the same or more in the first two months of the year as in the same period last year.

“It’s building, and probably quicker than we imagined,” Mr Charlton told The Australian.

“We’re all pretty optimistic about what’s happening.

“I don’t think we’re going to get back to the level of 2019 in 2021.

“But I think the return — provided there isn’t any recurrence of the pandemic — will be fast because revenue traditionally follows audiences.”

While 2020 was “difficult” for the sector, NOVA still managed to increase its market share as more listeners tuned in during the crisis, he said.

“We had a better year than the average performance in the sector,” Mr Charlton said.

The radio industry’s ad revenue across the five capital cities dropped by 19 per cent over the six months to December, well behind the metro free-to-air TV market, which was up 0.6 per cent.

Mr Charlton’s comments come ahead of the first radio ratings survey of 2021 — to be released on Thursday — which will cover the period from January 17 to February 27.

Its smoothfm 95.3 station, featuring Melissa Doyle and Richard Wilkins, is the top-rating FM station in Sydney, which is the biggest radio market in the country. In addition to the Nova Network and smoothfm, the company also owns talk station FIVEaa in Adelaide, Star 104.5 on the NSW Central Coast and a raft of digital audio broadcasting and streaming stations under its two major radio brands.

Given the growing consumer shift to digital, Mr Charlton is sharply focused on bolstering the group’s streaming and podcast operations by producing more content and making it accessible across more digital platforms, including smart speakers.

The group hired Rachel Corbett last September to lead its digital team and expand its podcast line-up — which includes The Matty Johns Podcast, It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield and The Money Cafe — shortly after ending its three-year partnership with international podcast group Acast to go it alone.

“Our aspiration now is to be not just a partner with content players, but co-produce and ultimately write and produce premium content ourselves that is relevant to our product ecosystem,” he said.

“The radio and audio future is a positive one if you get it right.”

NOVA is owned by Illyria, a private investment company of Lachlan Murdoch, who is co-chairman of News Corp, publisher of The Australian.