531 replies to this topic

[dk32]

It might not be ideal, but it's still an advantage they have over the likes of 4BH, 2CH, 3MP and Cruise.

True, but in the overall perspective of the Perth metro area, only a relatively small percentage of 6IX audience's would be likely to listen to it on FM rather than AM because of it's limited coverage.

I do think to it's older audience that 'TEN-57 FM' ID could be quite confusing to it's older audience who might be in the FM coverage area might wonder what the hell it means....
I reckon 'one oh five point seven FM' would make more sense to the majority of IX's listeners who are probably not as 'with it' as far as technology goes.
(But then I guess I also put the older ABC audience in that boat when I said I thought they might be confused by the ABC1 re-branding in relation to it's VHF Channel 2 frequency in metro areas - which seems to have been a non-issue ).

[TelevisionAU]

True, but in the overall perspective of the Perth metro area, only a relatively small percentage of 6IX audience's would be likely to listen to it on FM rather than AM because of it's limited coverage.

I do think to it's older audience that 'TEN-57 FM' ID could be quite confusing to it's older audience who might be in the FM coverage area might wonder what the hell it means....
I reckon 'one oh five point seven FM' would make more sense to the majority of IX's listeners who are probably not as 'with it' as far as technology goes.

that was a change that Vega made after it was felt that "Vega 9 1 5" was not a clear branding to use, so it changed to "Vega 91.5 FM" just to spell it out

[Brianc68]

that was a change that Vega made after it was felt that "Vega 9 1 5" was not a clear branding to use, so it changed to "Vega 91.5 FM" just to spell it out

Interesting. Off topic I know, but 97.3 in Brisbane has always been branded "Ninety-seven three". Similarly community station 96.5 in Brisbane is "Ninety-six five".
I was actually surprised when they launced Nova in Brisbane as Nova 106 'point' 9. Thought it would just be Nova "one o six nine".

Back on topic, was 6iX once called The Eagle? Or was that another Perth station?

Edited by Brianc68, 23 August 2008 - 12:44 PM.

[TelevisionAU]

Interesting. Off topic I know, but 97.3 in Brisbane has always been branded "Ninety-seven three". Similarly community station 96.5 in Brisbane is "Ninety-six five".
I was actually surprised when they launced Nova in Brisbane as Nova 106 'point' 9. Thought it would just be Nova "one o six nine".

Back on topic, was 6iX once called The Eagle? Or was that another Perth station?

yes that was 6IX. The call-sign had changed to 6GL and the on-air branding changed to "The Eagle 1080 AM" I believe this was when Austereo owned the station, presumably with the hope of gaining a licence to convert to FM when that was being offered in the late 80s (and as we know 6PM and 6KY got those licences, which Austereo has since ended up owning anyway )

Once The Eagle had lost the bid to go to FM it looks like Austereo dropped it like a hot potato, they sold it off and the call-sign changed back to 6IX.

[dk32]

yes that was 6IX. The call-sign had changed to 6GL and the on-air branding changed to "The Eagle 1080 AM" I believe this was when Austereo owned the station, presumably with the hope of gaining a licence to convert to FM when that was being offered in the late 80s (and as we know 6PM and 6KY got those licences, which Austereo has since ended up owning anyway )

Once The Eagle had lost the bid to go to FM it looks like Austereo dropped it like a hot potato, they sold it off and the call-sign changed back to 6IX.

Some of you may be interested to know that 6IX is now streaming LIVE - an oportunity to hear a fairly unique format in Australian radio with virtually no syndication/networking...

The stream starts up quickly and seems fairly smooth and sound quality seems quite good.

One note - it doesn't work in Firefox (or at least it didn't for me).. I think you need to use IE to hear it..

[Peter at The Suburban]

Wow... and Ron E. does the voiceovers for this station as well. Isn't he a quiet achiever.

[TV_Expert]

As Perth's commercial radio stations are the first on going Digital (DAB+) full-time as from today, 6iX would get a massive boost of listeners to those who have DAB+ receivers (which is not many at the moment, if any at all), especially to those who are into 60s & 70s music, which is not played very much on the local commercial FM stations.

I can imagine 6iX would be promoting the fact on-air that they're now broadcasting in Stereo on Digital. It would go something along the lines of:
"Good Times & Great Music, 6iX. Now broadcasting in Stereo on Digital & online at 6ix.com.au"

In the most recent Perth ratings survey, 6iX rates around 5% overall, so if or when more people switch to Digital by the end of this year or early next year, they would rate somewhere around 7-10% overall, giving Mix 94.5 & 96fm a run for their money.

[Brianc68]

As Perth's commercial radio stations are the first on going Digital (DAB+) full-time as from today, 6iX would get a massive boost of listeners to those who have DAB+ receivers (which is not many at the moment, if any at all), especially to those who are into 60s & 70s music, which is not played very much on the local commercial FM stations.

I can imagine 6iX would be promoting the fact on-air that they're now broadcasting in Stereo on Digital. It would go something along the lines of:
"Good Times & Great Music, 6iX. Now broadcasting in Stereo on Digital & online at 6ix.com.au"

In the most recent Perth ratings survey, 6iX rates around 5% overall, so if or when more people switch to Digital by the end of this year or early next year, they would rate somewhere around 7-10% overall, giving Mix 94.5 & 96fm a run for their money.

Does 6iX get an "extra channel" on Digital?? If so, what are playing on it...?

Maybe they might do the 60s and 70s music on the main channel, and contemporary easy listening on the digital only channel..?

Yes, and I agree (although it might take a while) that stations like 6iX, 4BH, 4KQ, 3MP and co will eventually benefit enourmously from the more level playing field on digital. Actually I think KQ and BH will probably surprise many and really benefit. They are both already usually rating in the 7 - 8% range each in Brisbane.

Edited by Brianc68, 04 May 2009 - 06:23 PM.

[trisreed]

As Perth's commercial radio stations are the first on going Digital (DAB+) full-time as from today, 6iX would get a massive boost of listeners to those who have DAB+ receivers (which is not many at the moment, if any at all), especially to those who are into 60s & 70s music, which is not played very much on the local commercial FM stations.

I can imagine 6iX would be promoting the fact on-air that they're now broadcasting in Stereo on Digital. It would go something along the lines of:
"Good Times & Great Music, 6iX. Now broadcasting in Stereo on Digital & online at 6ix.com.au"

In the most recent Perth ratings survey, 6iX rates around 5% overall, so if or when more people switch to Digital by the end of this year or early next year, they would rate somewhere around 7-10% overall, giving Mix 94.5 & 96fm a run for their money.

What I've found anyway is that the Joondalup FM repeater (105.7) seems to reach across most of Perth's north-west with a good aerial. The FM repeater has usual FM quality.

[Squee!]

Thats right. Anywhere north of Stirling it delivers a fairly consistant, FM quality reception these days.

[TV_Expert]

What I've found anyway is that the Joondalup FM repeater (105.7) seems to reach across most of Perth's north-west with a good aerial. The FM repeater has usual FM quality.

Thats right. Anywhere north of Stirling it delivers a fairly consistant, FM quality reception these days.

The north-western suburbs of Perth are quite lucky to have a real "Classic Hits" station broadcasting on the FM band, something that Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart & Darwin don't have (WS-FM & Gold 104, despite being positioned as "Classic Hits" stations, are not real "Classic Hits" stations). This is discounting the fact that 6iX is also transmitting on DAB+ across the Perth metro area in stereo.

The other capital city who are also lucky to have a decent "Classic Hits" station broadcasting on the FM band is Brisbane, where most parts of its metro area receives Breeze FM from Beaudesert through 92.1.

[trisreed]

Thats right. Anywhere north of Stirling it delivers a fairly consistant, FM quality reception these days.

Yeah, I find that around the Innaloo shops it starts to drop.

[Hot Country]

Having just spent 6 days in Perth, i've got to say I loved the music and whole format of 6iX. There were some songs they played that sent me thinking as to when I had last heard them on a metro station.
The other thing I loved was the station id jingles. Although there weren't a lot of them, it took me back to the days when all major stations had "jingle ids" which were an inmportant part of station branding. It's much more interesting than the voiceover stuff with background that most stations have today for station positioning.
Des

[TV_Expert]

According to Jock's Journal, one of Perth's most experienced radio personalities by the name of John Cranfield has returned to 6iX, where we'll be presenting the "60s Sunday Morning Session" on 6-9am Sundays.

The only other metro commercial station in Australia to still have a dedicated 60s music program is 4KQ in Brisbane, in which its "60s Sunday Morning" program is presented by Brent James.

EDIT: Looking at 6iX's website just now, on 9-10pm Wednesdays, they've replaced "The Elvis Hour" with "The Best of British", playing the greatest hits from the British Invasion era of the 60s.

Edited by TV_Expert, 20 November 2009 - 10:09 PM.

[KCR_Mike]

Yeh and now I listen to 6IX a lot as it sounds so awesome on digital comparing it with the analog sound.

[Moe]

Can you get their FM repeater for comparative purposes? There's always going to be a big step between AM Mono and Digital, but 6IX is one of the lowest bit rate stations (due to running two extra channels in its 128kbps) on digital so in theory should sound rather poor (96fm on the other hand should sound near perfect, and is a good comparison point if you can't get 6IX on FM).

[TV_Expert]

Yeh and now I listen to 6IX a lot as it sounds so awesome on digital comparing it with the analog sound.

Along with the fact that its music format is quite significantly different to that of the local commercial FM stations (92.9, Nova, Mix & 96fm). They're the one commercial station in Perth that plays more 60s & 70s music than anyone else.

I quite liked 6iX when I was in Perth back in December 2005 & October 2006. Listening to them online for a bit recently, their format still sounds good after all these years, even though their ratings are rather poor. When I'm next time in Perth, I'll take my DAB+ radio to listen to them on digital, as well as for listening to myPerth Digital.

In my view, 6iX currently sounds more upbeat on its format than its sister station in Canberra, 2CA.

[KCR_Mike]

I think 6IX have a good record as well with ACMA.

[TV_Expert]

Listening to 6iX online at the moment, and it appears that they've adopted the "Forever Classic" positioner that its sister stations in Canberra (2CA), Goulburn (2GN) & Cooma (2XL) have used for quite some time.

[KCR_Mike]

For ever Classic with Gordon this afternoon he was in after 2.