ARN won’t build The Edge’s replacement like a radio station: ‘It will be different’

ARN has revealed more plans about its replacement for Sydney’s radio station The Edge 96.1 and its associated digital platforms.

TMN recently uncovered plans for the station to be rebranded as Cada.

While ARN did not confirm the new name, the radio company has applied for the trademark. It has also now on multiple occasions confirmed the new product will target the 15 to 29-year-old demographic.

Speaking to TMN today, CEO of ARN and its parent company HT&E, Ciaran Davis, said the launch of the new platform was imminent, but flagged various points of difference from its predecessor.

“We’re not approaching it as a radio station,” he said.

This could be Cada’s new logo

“We’re creating content and building a brand that culturally aligns with the interests of [our target demographic]. It’s a very broad range of interests, I get that, but we’ve researched the 18 to 29-year-olds in Australia quite extensively, and we’re providing a brand and a form of content that we know will resonate with them.

“But we’re not doing it as you would normally program a radio station. It will be different…. It will be a different form of audio and a different form of content that we’ll be producing. It’s quite exciting.”

Davis said bringing Emily Copeland on board to lead the transformation project had given ARN a whole new focus.

“A lot of work’s gone in there,” he said of the impending launch.

“Emily and the team have been busy recruiting new people into the business [for] a new offering. [It’s] very different from what we’ve done in the past, but [it has] huge audience potential [and] is an opportunity that we’ve wanted to unlock for a while.”

He said the new platform will launch towards the end of March.

Davis said the launch of the new platform is exciting 

Davis also flagged the relaunch would be from a “national perspective”, which perhaps hints at the station’s broader digital and multi-platform focus now.

The Edge 96.1 on broadcast radio is technically licensed for the Katoomba region of Western Sydney/ the Blue Mountains.

Cada’s potential line-up, which leaked to TMN earlier this month, features the likes of Flex Mami (Lillian Ahenkan) who has been dubbed “one of the most charismatic Australians of the internet”. The Ghanaian-Australian is an entrepreneur, author, DJ, TV presenter, social commentator, podcaster and influencer.

She appears to be paired up with Froomes (Lucinda Price). Froomes is a writer, presenter, podcaster, comedian and content creator, who was previously ‘The Face’ of Pedestrian.TV.

The new station also appears to have recruited Canberra TikTok star Avneesha. The emerging musician has already worked with ARN as a presenter on its iHeartRadio station TikTok Trending.

Musicians B-Wise (James Iheakanwa), Kian (Kian Maxwell Bytyci Brownfield) and Yaz (Yaz Haddad) also appear on the leaked line-up.

Yaz is a recording artist with King Kyle and previously worked as an announcer at The Edge back in 2015 to 2018. He went on to work for Grant Broadcasters, which has subsequently been snapped up by ARN.

Another potential program is K-Sera & The Dirty Dozen, which currently plays on The Edge Monday to Thursday from 8pm to 10pm.

The new station will be “anchored in hip hop and RnB” and “driven by content, and reflective of an under-serviced genre of youth culture in commercial radio”, HT&E said in its annual report.

ARN said its plans for The Edge were a “multi-year investment”, and flagged spending of $8 million to $9 million as it relaunches the station and accelerates its original podcast content creation.

“We will work with the Australian music industry to create a platform to support artists, labels and promoters, while building a community of passionate music fans,” the report said of its plans for The Edge.