Southern Cross Austereo’s (SCA) Matthew O’Reilly says the network remains optimistic following the latest radio ratings results, despite a weaker performance for its Sydney stations.
“Clearly, the results for both Sydney stations aren’t what we want. We would have liked to have seen growth,” O’Reilly told Mediaweek. “The positive thing for me is that both breakfast shows are seeing some cume growth. And at 2DayFM, I think it’s five surveys in a row that we’ve seen cume growth into breakfast.”
O’Reilly said the network’s focus remains squarely on the 25–54 demographic – a key commercial audience segment. “The reason we’re focused on it is because 70 per cent of the sales briefs from clients we get want that demographic. So that just makes business sense – if that’s what they want, let’s dominate in that area,” he said.
“I think how we win it is just how focused we are on it. We are celebrating the fact that Melbourne has number one and two stations 25–54 with Fox and Triple M. Same deal in Adelaide where Triple M and SAFM – we actually really do celebrate that 25–54. We look at it above everything else.”
O’Reilly described that focus as “key,” adding: “It’s really well celebrated and championed internally.”
O’Reilly didn’t comment directly on Seven West Media’s motivations in merging with SCA. “I don’t want to comment on what Seven found interesting about the merger, but I go back to my original point – 70 per cent of clients want that [demographic]. So that’s not information only we would know; I’d imagine most media organisations understand the importance of it.”
While acknowledging that “Sydney is a really challenging market,” O’Reilly said the company is confident change is coming. “Our competitors’ breakfast shows have been in place for a very long time, and all that leads to very little audience movement. But I think we’re going to get a chance at some audience movement next year. We already know of changes coming in the market, so I’m optimistically looking at what could be next year and where we can get that audience from.”
O’Reilly added that the Triple M brand has done “a really good job of broadening the format and being as accessible as possible to the audience,” positioning SCA well to capitalise on any shifts in 2026.
The AI factor
Responding to reports broken by Mediaweek that Southern Cross Austereo’s (SCA) newsroom restructure was driven by artificial intelligence, O’Reilly said the changes are about streamlining operations and reinforcing local output, not replacing journalists.
“There are certainly no plans for that now,” O’Reilly told Mediaweek. “What we have done is put news hubs into metro and provincial locations. We’ve taken a close look at what audiences want from news — how they want to consume it and what the competitive landscape looks like.”
O’Reilly said the new model ensures SCA remains “far more local than our competitors,” noting the company has “actually increased the number of local bulletins.”
Addressing concerns about AI involvement, O’Reilly clarified that “all bulletins are fact-checked, edited, read, and reviewed by journalists. It’s really just about how we’re gathering the stories.”