Networking not working

Among the inferences to be drawn from the latest metropolitan radio ratings survey is that the Triple M brand is pretty much stuffed in Melbourne and Sydney. The station's audience share has been trending downwards for quite a while, and the breakfast show in Sydney is now on a pitiful 2.4pc share - less than Radio National and ABC Classic FM and under threat from News Radio. The logical solution would be to jetison the Triple M brand and come up with something new - except that the Ms are doing pretty well thank you very much in Adelaide and Brisbane (although there's been a worrying audience leakage here, which some folk are attributing to the most recent change in the breakfast line-up). Of course, as we've seen in the world of television, it wouldn't be unusual for somebody in Sydney to pull the plug on the "provinces", but maybe there's a case for the Austereo's group No. 2 national brand to be dissolved, and market-specific solutions to be put in place. After all, radio is supposed to be a local medium, and offering 100pc local content in each market might be a winner.