Source and entire item SMH Sue Javes 

Wet washing going mouldy on the line, kids throwing sickies in their second week back at school, in-your-face hardware salesmen, mortgage stresses and new mothers suffering from baby brain - the patter on WS FM at breakfast time is unashamedly suburban and family-orientated. And for co-hosts Brendan Jones and Amanda Keller, that is a two-edged sword.

"It's very unsexy to target the 40-plus market," Jones says. "We fly under the radar when it comes to media coverage. Even our sales assistants are too young to listen. Most people say they listen to Nova because it's cool to say that."

The formula of domestic banter, news updates and classic rock delivers WS a large slice of fortysomething listeners, mostly from Sydney's greater west. Many of those listeners have stayed loyal to the station in the past year despite attempts by Vega and Triple M to woo them away.

Jones and Keller are in their fourth year as a breakfast team. "We are doing very well in our demographic," Keller says. "We're the top FM breakfast show for all people over 40 but in terms of perception we feel left out. The media talk about all the new shows coming back this year and WS FM isn't mentioned. Our managers are happy with the ratings but our personal egos want more."

It has been a matter of pride to Jones, a former Triple M music announcer, that he work the panel on his own show but six months ago Keller persuaded him to leave the button-pushing to someone else so he could concentrate on their banter. Both feel it has made a difference.

"Towards the end of last year we found ourselves in a really great zone," Keller says. "We know each other so well by now. Rather than just rely on something we've found in the paper to talk about, we've taken the conversation to a different level."

Jones and Keller hope experience and familiarity will outshine some of the new glamour acts on radio this year. They say they are the only FM breakfast presenters who have children and lead fairly typical family lives. Keller, 45, lives in Coogee with husband Harley and their two children. Jones, 39, has three children with wife Helen and lives in Oyster Bay.

"They ask you to be relatable and having a family is the key thing," Keller says. "Unlike Wendy [Harmer], who had to take on the life of a 22-year-old at 2Day FM, I am typical of WS FM's audience."

Most women on FM radio are cast as moral guardians - acting shocked when the male presenter pushes the edges - but Keller and Jones are equal partners. "I like the fact I don't have to say, 'Oh, Jonesy, stop it,"' Keller says. "At any given moment one of us will shock the other about how black we can be."

Jones and Keller are expecting another tough year. "The competition is really good for the first time in a long time," Jones says. "Not one show is a dud."