Oz radio listeners punished with country music ...

From Tom Taylor:

Australian radio station forced to play more country
ALYSSA BETTS
September 8th, 2009

A NORTHERN TERRITORY radio station has been punished for being too popular - and is now being forced to play country music almost non-stop.

Territory FM 98.7 in Alice Springs - run by Wiseguy Pty Ltd - is now running "unhosted country music programming" for a massive 87 per cent of its airtime.

Its listeners are being driven mad and are ropeable about the changes.

But the move came after the Australian Communications and Media Authority found Wiseguy was breaching the terms of its narrowcasting licence by broadcasting too much mainstream music and programming.

Wiseguy buys its programming from Territory FM 104.1, and had also been running the Darwin station's breakfast show and Daryl Manzie's segment.

Now, it has not only been forced to overload on country music - it has also had to dump the brekkie show.

But it appears ACMA concluded Manzie was unpopular enough - he will stay on air in Alice.

Territory FM 104.1 general manager Peter Perrin said the programming was killed by its own success.

"It obviously proved to be too popular," he said.

He said Territory FM 104.1 had been creating a mix of music for Wiseguy that played "anything from Buddy Holly to Pearl Jam", which they had thought would fit the requirements of the licence.

"We didn't think it was going to be hugely popular insofar as being mainstream," he said.

Mr Perrin said they had been flooded with complaints since the change in programming - and that he has had to create a special inbox folder to store all the emails.

One listener - Mark - wasn't mincing words: "Lots of people p***ed off. Bring back the old format or you'll lose heaps of listeners. This crap has just started. WHY?"

Mr Perrin said they were disappointed by the ruling but it was not their licence, and they were only supplying the content that the licensee wanted.

"And secondly we want to comply with the rules - we've got to."