The Real Estate Radio Show redefines property marketing in Canberra region

It’s early Saturday morning at the Mix106.3 studios and presenters Cam and Renee, who have been up for hours, are on air and hard at work.

As I drive across Canberra to meet them, I hear their Real Estate Radio Show go to air. I wonder how many Canberrans know about Cam Sullings and Renee Bogatko’s show?

They aim to tell listeners everything about buying, selling or renting in Canberra and nearby. It is sponsored by realestate.com.au. One guest among many this morning is Lauren Kerkin from realestate.com.au with a property report. Lauren says Canberra prices are holding while the market drops in Sydney and Melbourne.

“It is zero degrees outside,” Cam says on air, “but it’s shaping up for a beautiful day in the nation’s capital and surrounds.”

Morning radio is always upbeat and fast moving. In line with the genre, Cam and Renee have a lively and rapid-paced show.

The program had intrigued me for some time. Hence my visit to see Cam and Renee in action this morning.

We all know plenty of radio sports shows, gardening shows, advice shows but I had never heard of a real estate radio show and I wanted to know more. Real estate and home improvement programs are popular on television. Is radio heading the same way?

I met Cam and Renee a few months back and they invited me to see the show first hand.

I arrive at Mix106.3 and Renee explains what it is all about.

“When people might first hear about the show, they would think it is just typically about what houses are on the market at the moment but there is so much more we can do with it. We cover lifestyle-type stories, business stories – the content rage is vast,” she says.

“We are capturing the listeners on the weekend when they are planning their time and if they want to buy a house, planning what houses they will visit.”

It’s time for the house of the week and real estate agent Richard Luton is on the phone talking about a high-priced multi-million-dollar home in Forrest.

Renee says the house of the week is always a talking point in the studio.

“We sit there, and we talk about the house envy that we have,” she says. “With our property of the week, we always get our hands on videos, virtual tours – all the cool things happening in the video space and bring that across to our social media channels and get the word out there that way as well.”

Cam Sullings is a radio veteran and well known around the business community.

“Ratings have been on the rise since day one and continue to rise,” he says.

An audience of 20,000 tunes in and it’s number one in its timeslot.

Renee is a long-time broadcast journalist, but this is her first shot at presenting a show and she loves it.

“This morning, we talked about the property report and a lifestyle segment seeing what you can do around your house to keep warmer in Canberra. It is all about localism,” she says.

They connect the property sector to listeners across the region.

Cam explains: “The real estate space now is so much more than opening up the Saturday morning paper and looking into the middle of it where all the real estate used to be. It is much different from that. So, there has been a whole range of content opportunities there.

“We have certainly seen a number of real estate organisations start to advertise on the show. The fact that we have this content is bringing revenue into the radio station from new and different sources so that is a very positive element.”

As the sponsor, realestate.com.au contributes surveys and interviews to the show. Cam and Renee also feature regional property projects.

“At the beginning of the year, we have talked about what is next with the big developments like Ginninderry, Denman Prospect and developments by Geocon. There are often open days and events. Going forward we would see that as an opportunity and promote into those events but also create a business opportunity for the radio station,” Cam says.

The Real State Radio Show is on Saturday mornings from 9 am to 10 am on Mix106.3.