The owners of Triple M have announced that the commercial radio station is adding a “new member to its real music family” with the launch of a new digital station.
It’s rather timely news considering Triple J announced the expansion of their radio brand earlier this week with the take over of Dig Music. Not to be outdone by the public broadcaster, commercial radio major, Southern Cross Austereo, has revealed the launch of a new digital station, Triple M Classic Rock, next month.
Available to listeners on digital radio, online, and mobile from Monday 25th November, Triple M Classic Rock coincidentally mirrors Triple J’s plans to relaunch the ABC Dig Music digital channel as catering to a 30+ demographic that have ‘outgrown’ the youth broadcasters’ playlist.
The expansion of the Triple M broadcast network similarly targets older listeners, with a playlist of canonised rock bands that the station made its name with. Press from the launch states that Triple M Classic Radio will “revive immortal” artists such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Queen, and Neil Young, as well as iconic Aussie bands AC/DC, Skyhooks, and The Angels.
“It was always going to happen,” says Mike Fitzpatrick, head of the Triple M Network. “The evolution of Triple M is such that we wouldn’t be playing the music we do today if it wasn’t for the pioneers of rock music who paved the way. The 90s and new format is powering on FM these days so we’re proud to bring you Triple M Classic Rock on digital radio, paying homage to those original masters.” “It was always going to happen… The 90s and new format is powering on FM these days so we’re proud to bring you Triple M Classic Rock on digital.”
Triple M Classic Rock will be available in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane, with Perth expected to follow, with Triple M only recently made available to the Western Australia capital on digital radio.
The classic rock format complements the sport and entertainment programming that is the main Triple M station and Today networks’ bread and butter, while adding to Southern Cross Austereo’s roster of digital formats, including Radar, Loveland, and the popular ‘chill-out’ broadcaster Buddha.
The new Triple M station follows what has been a major push into the digital frontier by Southern Cross Austereo, which included the launch of their very own streaming service this past March.
Named Songl, the streaming service is a joint venture between radio and entertainment body and record label majors Sony and Universal, who provide licensing and catalogue, while Southern Cross Austereo has drawn from its connection of radio networks, enlisting DJs and hosts from Triple M and Today to provide content for the digital music platform.
The news of one of Australia’s major radio networks entering the streaming service could be seen as a case of ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’, the move coming shortly after the PPCA’s significant court victory over Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) last February, in which the Federal Court overturned a previous ruling in an appeal from the PPCA that now allows them to seek license fees from CRA for internet simulcasts.
Souther Cross Austereo’s push into music streaming and expanding its digital radio networks could be seen as a strategic way of circumventing these changes, supplying its own content while offsetting the costs of licensing through Songl subscription fees, while complementing the traditional radio broadcasting with online formats to skirt around the need to pay additional license fees for an internet broadcast.
