In 1996, Paul Thompson was approached by London-based international media company Daily Mail and General Trust to build a national radio network in Australia. Thompson’s history in Australian radio motivated this approach, having established and operated the Austereo network over the previous 15 year period.
DMGT’s primary media assets at the time were newspaper-based (including London’s Daily Mail) – for the century old AUS$8 Billion UK media company, investing in a radio network halfway across the globe was hardly a short-term undertaking.
On February 6, 1996, DMG Radio Australia was born.
Dmg’s first purchase, in September 1996, was the low-rating, loss-making talk station, FIVEaa in Adelaide. Australian radio’s newest player had its first commercial radio station and a base.
The following day, DMG acquired a network of regional radio stations, mainly based in NSW. Within five years, this network would expand to become the nation’s largest national regional network comprising some 59 stations.
However, the company’s core strategy was to build a network of metropolitan stations. In order to achieve this, DMG had been encouraging the Federal Government, through the Australian Broadcasting Authority (now the Australian Communications & Media Authority, ACMA), to issue new FM licences across the capital cities of Australia, a process which had already endured numerous false starts over some years. The new licences were to be offered through an auction process administered by the ABA.
Despite vigorous lobbying to the contrary by very substantial sections of the radio industry – including a Federal Court battle over bogus letters deliberately written to derail DMG’s plans – the licence auctions went ahead.
The first of these auctions was for a Sydney licence and was held on May 24, 2000. DMG was the successful purchaser, with bidding reaching a new benchmark for radio licences of $155 million, and DMG outbidding domestic and international consortia containing some of the world’s major broadcasting entities.
On April 1st 2001 in Sydney, DMG launched Nova 969, which challenged many of the established views of radio programming. Low commercial inventory levels, a high percentage of new music, and irreverent humour were at the core of the Nova brand.
The ABA held subsequent auctions in Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, with DMG Radio Australia the successful bidder in every case.
Around 2004, the company sold its regional assets to concentrate on its capital city stations.
In 2004, the Australian Broadcasting Authority auctioned two further metropolitan FM licences, which again were successfully acquired by DMG. In late 2005, vega 953 in Sydney and vega 915 in Melbourne launched.
DMG can proudly claim some exciting success stories.
The national Nova network, almost immediately upon completion, became the No. 1 radio network in Australia for listeners under the age of 40.
Central to this success has been Nova’s on air line-up, which features some of the country’s leading comedians – Merrick and Rosso, Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek and Ryan Fitzgerald to name a few.
Another key element of the Nova brand is its approach to music.
In building Nova, Thompson and his Programmers abandoned many of the ‘standards’ of traditional radio, believing they unfairly pigeonholed listeners. Instead they took risks, playing new and untested music. They also played a broader variety of music, which saw conventionally jarring genres such as rock, pop and dance music placed back to back.
In addition to its radio assets on-air, DMG is investing in digital media properties, with the creation of an internal digital team to provide new online content through the radio station websites. This includes web-based promotions, interactive advertiser content and the development of innovative podcasting and mobile content for listeners and clients.
DMG is also preparing for the introduction of Digital Radio in May 2009. The most dramatic change to the radio landscape since the introduction of FM will see listeners enjoying a heightened radio experience through higher quality sound, together with the inclusion of new and interactive services such as visual images and scrolling text.
In October 2008, Paul Thompson stepped down as Executive Chairman of dmg Radio Australia, and subsequently retired in June 2010.
Cathy O'Connor now leads the company as Chief Executive Officer, supported by one of the most talented executive teams in the industry. As radio transforms itself into a multi-platform medium, Cathy will be a CEO who ensures dmg's leadership role in this evolution.
On 26 November 2009 DMG announced that Illyria - the private investment company of Lachlan Murdoch - would acquire a 50% interest in the company. Mr. Murdoch became Chairman of the company upon the sale completion. This is an exciting step forward as DMG will be able to further expand its brands in both broadcast radio and related media.