Austereo’s expensive investment in Eddie McGuire for the Melbourne Triple M breakfast show appears to be starting to pay off, with the show jumping from a 5.3% share to 6.8%, according to the latest ratings release.
Austereo CEO Guy Dobson told Mumbrella: “We copped a lot of crap for that, but patience is a virtue.”
When McGuire inherited the breakfast show last year, it was averaging a share of just 3.7%.
The increase of 1.5 was the biggest jump for any breakfast show in Melbourne. The only bigger increase in the city was also for Triple M, which saw its 12-4pm afternoon shift jump from 6.5% to 8.3%.
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Triple M Melbourne also saw the biggest jump in weekday share – up from 5.5% to 6.8%.
Meanwhile, new talk station MTR has anther disastrous survey – sinking from a weekday share of 1.4% to a new low of 1.1%. Rival talk station 3AW continues to dominate with 14.6%, down slightly from 15.4% last time.
MTR program director and breakfast presenter Steve Price said: “The results softened overall but our listeners in breakfast, afternoon and drive have stayed with us. I reiterate again, the establishment of MTR is a long-term proposition. In April, our objective was to get on air and begin creating awareness of Melbourne Talk Radio. It’s a long, slow process.”
ABC774 had a good ratings trip – up from 12.7% to 13.1%. Austereo’s Fox FM remains the number one FM music station in Melbourne with 11.9%, down slightly from 12.8%.
DMG’s rebadged new station Classic Rock’s Melbourne share rose fractionally from 3.4% to 3.5%, while the presenterless breakfast slot rose from 2.6% to 3.1%.
Source: Nielsen