Nine Radio loses Sydney and Melbourne as listeners switch to FM

Nathan Jolly

July 22, 2025 11:36

Nine’s two flagship talkback stations, Sydney’s 2GB and Melbourne’s 3AW, have both been knocked from the top of the ratings pile, as listeners switch to Smooth and Gold.

The latest ratings survey from GFK, released today, shows that in Sydney, 2GB lost 2 points to slip to 11.6% of the market. Such a big slide means that Smooth is now Sydney’s top radio station overall, commanding 12.3% of the audience. This victory comes despite Smooth losing a modest 0.1 market share since the last ratings book.

The older demographics is where the switch away from talkback was the most pronounced. 2GB lost 6.4% share in the 55-64 year market, where Smooth picked up 4.3%, while 2GB fell 2.2% in the 65+ bracket. Interestingly, it was the newly rebadged Gold 101.7 that saw the biggest gains in the 65+ share, up 2.5%.

Sydney breakfast audiences are are also moving away from AM. 2GB’s Ben Fordham commands 14.7% of the audience, and remains the top breakfast show in the city, however he suffered a 2.0 point audience drop. For the time being, Fordham remains ahead of Kyle and Jackie O on Kiis, who gained 1.4 points to take 13.9% of listeners and keep its FM crown – which is bolted on after 52 straight survey wins.

In addition, 2GB saw a 2.5 point drop in Mornings, as Mark Levy struggled to keep Ray Hadley’s loyal hordes tuned in; a 2.1% fall in Afternoons with Michael McLaren, and a 2.2% drop in Drive with Clinton Maynard.

Not the best survey for 2GB.

Despite being number one, Smooth can’t afford to rest on its laurels. During the last ratings period, Smooth pulled 3.1 points clear of its nearest FM rival Kiis, which has since closed that gap to just 1.9%, thanks to a 1.1 point jump. It remains very competitive on the FM dial.

In Melbourne, Nine’s 3AW dropped a seemingly modest 0.6%, but it was the largest audience fall, percentage-wise, in the market.

More crucially, this 0.6 point slip was enough to see Gold 104.3 climb to the top spot in the Melbourne radio ratings. Its modest 0.3 jump was enough to take 12.1% of the market, pipping 3AW’s 11.9%.

This marks the first time in 33 years that Gold has topped the overall ratings in Melbourne, last doing so in 1992.

Christian O’Connell was unable to topple Jase and Lauren on Nova for the city’s top breakfast show honours, pulling 10.1% of the ultra-competitive timeslot audience, compared to Nova’s 10.8.

Kyle and Jackie O gained 0.5% to climb to 5.6% — their second highest-ever market share in Melbourne, after spiking at 5.8 in the second survey of 2025. The pair remain in eighth place overall.

As with Sydney, Melbourne breakfast audiences are still waking up to 3AW – with Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft holding 16.6%, an impressive 5.8 points clear of its closest rival. However, the show lost 1.5 points this survey – more than double the station’s overall drop.

Nine’s own press releases seemed to tacitly acknowledge the bumpy ratings period. National content manager Greg Byrnes focused on the breakfast wins, and its position as number one radio stations in Melbourne and Sydney for NRL and AFL audience, while noting: “Radio’s never been more competitive and we welcome the challenge.”

Likewise, 3AW station manager Stephen Beers said “these results show that when it matters most – when Melbourne is starting its day and setting the agenda – their trusted choice is 3AW.”

There was some bright news for Nine in Perth, as 6PR climbed a modest 0.2 points, to 6.7%, while 4BC dropped 0.3 points to sit at 5%.