Vega (radio network)

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Vega FM
Broadcast area	Sydney, Australia Melbourne, Australia
Frequency	Sydney: 95.3 MHz FM Melbourne: 91.5 MHz FM
First air date	Sydney: 1 August 2005 Melbourne: 5 September 2005
Format	Adult hits
ERP	Sydney: 150 kw Melbourne: 56 kw
Owner	DMG Radio Australia
Website	Sydney: www.vega953.com.au Melbourne: www.vega915.com.au

Vega FM is a name for two Australian commercial radio stations operated by DMG Radio Australia, one in Sydney, the other Melbourne. In contrast to DMG's other Australian radio network, Nova, Vega was originally positioned to target the baby boomer market of listeners in the 40 to 60 age bracket, with a mix of talk and music from the 1960s to the 2000s. The two stations were also initially heavily networked for programming, however both stations are now predominantly independent. Only one programme is 'networked' on Sunday afternoons.

The majority of music played on the station is Adult hits. Their current positioner is "Vega variety, the 70s, 80s and the best new songs", and is aiming at the 25-54 age group.

[edit] Frequencies

Vega FM is broadcast on the following frequencies:

• 95.3 MHz (Vega 95.3)(call sign 2PTV), Sydney – launched on 1 August 2005
• 91.5 MHz ( Vega 91.5)(call sign 3PTV), Melbourne – launched on 5 September 2005

[edit] Weekday Presenters

[edit] Vega 95.3 Sydney

[edit] Vega 91.5 Melbourne

Barry Bissell hosts Cover to Cover on both stations, Sunday afternoons from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

Sydney News presenters include Monique Dews, Marnie Procter, Anthony Clark, Adam Hemmings and Deborah Clay.

Melbourne News presenters include Nikole Gunn, Belinda Batty, Patrina Jones and Rick Wall.

[edit] Early survey results

During its first ACNielsen ratings survey (No. 8, 2005, covering mid-September to November of that year), Vega's stations had failed to attract a significant audience. The Sydney station reached a 1.8 percent audience share, and the Melbourne station gained a 1.2 percent share, placing it second last (ahead only of ABC NewsRadio) and last out of surveyed stations in each market, respectively. However, station management state that the slow take-up was to be expected, claiming the target audience will be slower than some audience groups to try a new station. In June 2006[1] the Sydney and Melbourne stations stopped sharing programmes. Both stations dropped its "40 years of music" slogan and moved drive-time hosts Rebecca Wilson and Tony Squires to share the Sydney breakfast slot with former host Angela Catterns. The changes have been slow to grow market share, with the Sydney audience falling to 1.7% in Sydney (No. 6, 2006, but climbing slowly to 1.8% in Melbourne, which, at the time, was their highest audience share to date in Melbourne.

By the end of 2006, Vega had increased their ratings share in both cities. The Sydney station reached 2.8%, while the Melbourne station reached 3%.

In January 2007, Vega expanded its "Vega Variety" positioner to include "the 70s, 80s and the best new songs", and also put out advertisements in the form of billboards and on the side of buses, based around that expanded positioner. It was hoped that this would encourage more listeners to sample the station.

In the first radio survey of 2007, Vega in Sydney and Melbourne again both had small increases, with the Sydney station reaching 3% and the Melbourne station reaching 3.3%. The station's best demographic performer on both stations in that survey, is the 25-39 age group.

By the 4th radio survey of 2007, Vega in Sydney and Melbourne had gone over the 4% mark, with the Sydney station rating 4.6% and the Melbourne station rating 4.4%. In the 40-54 age group, Vega in Sydney was the second highest rating FM station in that age group after classic hits station WS-FM, who, traditionally, have been the highest rating FM station in that age group.

[edit] Criticisms

Vega in recent times has adopted an ad campaign in which it claims that Austereo's Triple M network is "All heavy Metal", despite having a very similar playlist to Vega. This is an obvious attempt to attempt to win listeners over, through deception.

[edit] References

• Nielsen Media Research (2005-12-06). Survey Results: Sydney, Survey No. 8, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-02-17.
• Nielsen Media Research (2005-12-06). Survey Results: Melbourne, Survey No. 8, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-02-17.

[edit] External links

• Vega 95.3fm – Sydney
• Vega 91.5fm – Melbourne