Melbourne radio ratings: Gold FM wins FM as 3AW shows no signs of slowing
The first commercial radio ratings to include a post-lockdown reporting period in Melbourne were released this morning, with very little movement shown across the market, yet Nine Radio’s 3AW’s Ross and Russ continue to build a gap at the top with another strong 24.3% share.
Survey seven of the year has provided a similar story, with talkback stations, 3AW and ABC Melbourne again leading the pack, the former increasing its share by 0.7 percentage points.
The GfK and Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) reporting period encompasses 15 August to 18 September and 26 September to 30 October, with Melbourians spending just nine days in this time outside of lockdown.
Melbourne survey 7
ARN’s Gold FM performed well yet again as the leader of the FM pack, despite a stagnant showing, maintained a strong 10.9% overall share, which lands the station a very close third behind the ABC which dropped 0.8 points to a 11.2% share.
While Gold was again the star performer for FM, its flagship breakfast host, Christian O’Connell took a 0.8 point hit, falling to 8.6% of the market, after a strong last showing.
The lion’s share of the breakfast market continues to go to the Nine Radio pairing, as ABC Melbourne’s Sammy J kept second place by some distance, dropping again, this time from 14.6% to 14.3%.
Fifi, Fev and Nick
Southern Cross Austereo’s Fox FM saw the biggest drop across the entire market this book, as the only station to see a change of over one full point, as it fell from 6.6% overall to 5.5%. It has been a disappointing first year for the breakfast trio of Fifi, Fev and Nick, who sat on a 7.9% share as recently as survey three in June, now on 4.7%.
The upcoming, and final survey of the year, to be released in December will prove whether life outside of lockdowns will prove more favourable for FM stations across the board.
In the drive slot, 3AW’s Tom Elliot increased his share, rising a full point to 16.3% overall, with Raf Epstein on ABC dropping 0.8 to 11.8%. Gold’s Gavin Miller delivered an exact reversal of last book’s figures, making up the 0.3 point drop to settle on 10.7% overall.
Mick Molloy
Smooth FM had a strong performance in the drive slot, rising 0.9 points, which crosses between both Simon Diaz and Byron Webb’s shows.
Mick Molloy’s national drive show fell 1.2% to a 5.1% share overall, after Southern Cross Austereo announced last week that he would be leaving.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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topics
3AW
ARN
Christian O'Connell
Melbourne radio
Melbourne radio ratings
Nine radio
Ross and Russel
Russel Howcroft
SCA
