First Listen: 2Day FM Sydney Goes “Today AF”

It’s not a headline you read often these days. Or ever. “2Day FM aims for the kids with major format change.” But on March 13, the longtime Sydney Top 40 station relaunched with a new morning show, also promising “The Hits Before They Hit.” It’s a noticeable move at a time when CHR has become noticeably more gold-based and, out of necessity, upper-demo targeted.

Going deliberately newer now is also a tricky move when stations struggle for product to fill even their existing current slots. 2Day FM still plays gold titles, including some going back to the early ’00s, but does sound noticeably more current following a decade as a more gold-based CHR. The billboard for the new station describes it as “Today AF.”

One of three stations in the CHR/Adult CHR space, SCA’s 2Day was actually one of the first Top 40s to make heavy use of throwbacks a decade ago, five years before it became a common practice in the U.S. When the acquisition of morning superstars Kyle & Jackie O made crosstown KIIS 106.5 an instant market powerhouse with a more gold-based Adult Top 40 format, 2Day responded by becoming “Hits and Old School,” playing a more rhythmic library than KIIS. (It also added a throwbacks-heavy RNB Friday feature, which remains.)

In the intervening years, the market’s third major CHR, Nova 96.9, without reimaging, also began playing more gold titles. Nova came to prominence in the early 2000s with an aggressive mix that offered a more mainstreamed version of Alternative network Triple-J. In recent years, Triple-J has become more pop leaning and TikTok-influenced, veering toward an Australian equivalent of BBC Radio 1. Now, there is again a CHR to its immediate right. (In the local press coverage, MD Kiri Martin references to the launch of Nova.)

2Day’s changes have been a major story in the national media, in part because of its promises to go beyond its 25% Australian content rules in support of local artists. Martin also tells Mediaweek that the station’s music decisions can still “really just come down to a gut feeling because you’ve got to take a punt on those songs to get them on the playlist in the first place,” also something not said much in today’s metrics-driven radio.

Here’s 2Day FM on its first day at 1 p.m., March 13:

• Chappell Roan, “Pink Pony Club”
• Portugal. The Man, “Feel It Still”
• Lola Young v. Ninimo, “Messy/I Only Smoke When I Drink”—mashup of the two current hits
• Lisa f/Doja Cat & Raye, “Born Again”
• Dr. Dre f/Snoop Dogg, “The Next Episode”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “Taste”
• Cyril f/Maryjo, “Still Into You”—dance remake of the Paramore hit by the DJ whose version of “Stumblin’ In” by Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman was a worldwide 2024 smash
• Kita Alexander, “Press Pause”–Australian female vocalist with a 10-year career; this was the first of two songs that I heard for the first time during my listening
• The Kid Laroi, “Stay”
• Kendrick Lamar & SZA, “Luther”
• Tobiahs, “Angel of Mine”—dance reworking of the Monica/Eternal hit, also new to me
• Addison Rae, “Diet Pepsi”
• Harry Styles, “As It Was”
• The Weeknd, “Cry for Me”
• Sonny Fodera x Jazzy, “Somedays”
• Nico & Vinz, “Am I Wrong?”
• Lizzo, “Love in Real Life”—the pop/punk song that preceded “Still Bad” by several weeks, without being worked in the U.S.
• Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra”

 

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