Sydney’s newest radio station 1170 SEN goes to air
Vivienne Kelly
Editor
Take 2 Media
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1170 SEN Sydney has officially launched today, alongside a new advertising blitz to promote the station.
CEO of parent company Sports Entertainment Network, Craig Hutchison, said despite industry chatter, and past performance, there is indeed room for a sports-based station in the city.
“Now a lot of people have told us that a sports station in Sydney just won’t work – it can’t work. It’s been tried before. Well, not like this it hasn’t. You’re going to see genuine star talent, genuine conversation and a genuine assault on the Sydney sports market. And we’ve got just the team to do it,” he said at a virtual event ahead of the station’s launch.
Hutchison was alluding to Macquarie Media, now owned by Nine and folded into Nine Radio, which tried its hand at a sports radio network with Macquarie Sports Radio.
Last year, Nine paused the sports format after ongoing underwhelming ratings. Before its pause, the station had a 1.1% audience share in Sydney, 0.3% in Melbourne, and 1.5% in Brisbane, according to GfK’s ratings.
Nine Radio has since relaunched the stations and
brought back heritage brands Magic, 2UE and 4BH, playing music from the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Host of 1170 SEN Breakfast, Andrew Voss, was keen to point out the difference between the new station and the ghosts of stations past.
“We are going to be informative, entertaining, engaging, and most of all relevant to Sydney,” he said. “And I think that’s where other attempts at a sports network in the state and in this city have failed.”
He said his show would be like reading a newspaper back-to-front, with the primary focus on sport (a newspaper’s back page), but a healthy dose of news and current affairs as well.
It would not, he said, be “shock-jock radio”.
Matt White, Network 10’s former head of sport and long-time host of
Sports Tonight on the network, said his post-Breakfast program would be like a newspaper liftout, digging “a little bit deeper to find some of the stories behind the story, to examine the big issues, and not just talk to, but I think also have a great conversation with, the movers and the shakers of sport”.
White added that the launch of SEN in Sydney was a big deal in the city’s radio landscape, and for sports lovers.
“One of the things that I love being a part of this is that Hutchy and the SEN team as we know don’t just dream big, they act big, don’t they?” he said.
As for the future, Voss said SEN Sydney plans “on being around for a long, long time”.
To support today’s launch, SEN has kicked off an advertising blitz which will run across Channel 7, News.com.au,
The Daily Telegraph’s website, and SEN’s owned platforms.
Last week, the
broadcaster had already launched a campaign to promote hype around the station.
SEN’s chief marketing officer, Mandy Henderson, said the teaser was a taste of things come.
“1170 SEN Sydney promises sport delivered by some of Australia’s most entertaining and irreverent media personalities. Together they’ll bring a unique brand of insight and analysis, mixed with wit and engaging banter,” Henderson said.
“It’ll be more about the humour than the hamstrings with plenty of listener interaction.”
1170 was previously 2CH, a classic hits station, which has now moved solely to DAB+ and streaming.
looks like a Sydney station only, but other states might get it on DAB or online
https://radiotoday.com.au/1170-sen-...y has officially,blitz to promote the station.
