Radio ratings: Syd – TripleM slumps; Melb – FoxFM and Gold battle for #1; Bris – Nova #1; Adl – Mix extends lead; Perth – Mix tops breakfast
Sydney: SmoothFM extends lead as TripleM slumps
SmoothFM extended its lead on its FM rivals and while TripleM saw a worrying slump in ratings as the NRL season reaches its peak, in the GfK radio survey 6.
Novas Entertainment-owned Smooth posted a total audience share of 9.6%, up 0.2 points on the last survey as nearest rival KiisFM slipped backwards in total share by 0.2 points to 7.8%.
That drop was fuelled by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson’s breakfast show which fell 0.9 points to an 8.9% share, still comfortably ahead of its nearest FM breakfast radio rivals Bogart Torelli and Glenn Daniel on Smooth and Brendan Jones and Amanda Keller on WSFM who posted a 0.3 point rise to 7% share.
Ryan Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wiplifi on Nova saw their share slip by 0.4 points to move behind WSFM into fourth.
None of those could rival the most listened to breakfast show in Sydney, 2GB’s Alan Jones who saw a huge 1.9 point bump in ratings to a 16.2% share, helping 2GB to its biggest audience share since the new ratings system began last year with 13.3%.
Sydney radio ratings survey 6, 2016. Mon-Fri and breakfast audience share. Source: GfK
Sister Macquarie Radio station 2UE saw a 0.4%bump to a 5.2% share, which is also its highest share since the first survey of 2015. It remains to be seen whether listeners stick with 2UE after it switched formats to lifestyle programming, prompting a flood of complaints from listeners.
2DayFM’s Sam Frost and Rove McManus saw another 0.2 point boost to a share of 4.3%, still bottom of the commercial FM pile but closing in on TripleM’s Grill Team, which slipped 1.6 points to 5.3% despite NRL footy finals being on, traditionally a strong time for the station.
Overall, TripleM lost 1 share point, slipping back to a 5% share – its lowest in two years – and just 0.7 points ahead of 2DayFM’s 4.3%.
Sydney radio ratings survey 5, 2016. Total audience share. Source: GfK
In the Drive battle, 2DayFM’s Hamish Blake and Andy Lee managed a 0.3% bump to 5.9%, but the show remains fifth in the Sydney market in its time slot as Smooth’s Byron Webb increased his hold on top spit with a 1.2% boost to 11.3%, making it the biggest drive show in the market on either FM or AM.
Nova’s Kate Ritchie, Tim Blackwell and Marty Sheargold enjoyed a 0.2% boost to climb into second with 9.3% ahead of KiisFM’s Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek, who slid to third on the back of a 0.7 point slip to 8.9% share.
Melbourne: FoxFM and Gold continue battle for top spot
In Melbourne, Southern Cross Austereo’s FoxFM has seen its breakfast show team of Fifi, Dave and Fev boost its audience share by 0.6 points however it was not enough to topple perennial leaders Triple M’s ‘Hot Breakfast team’ of Eddie McGuire, Mick Molloy and Luke Darcy.
The Hot Breakfast trio increased their lead, with an audience share increase of 0.8 points to sit on a share of 9.2% while FoxFM reported a breakfast share of 8%.
Nova’s Chrissie Swan, Sam Pang and Jonathan Brown reported a breakfast share of 7.3% up 0.5 points.
FoxFM’s nationally syndicated drive show of Hamish Blake and Andy Lee retained their top spot despite a share dip of 0.3 points to sit on 11% as Nova’s Kate Ritchie, Tim Blackwell and Marty Sheargold saw their share slip by 0.4 points to sit on 8.1%.
Melbourne radio ratings survey 6, 2016. Mon-Fri and breakfast audience share. Source: GfK
Gold, Triple’s M’s Rush Hour and SmoothFM’s drive show all tied for third place with a share of 8%.
It comes as FoxFM and Australian Radio Network’s Gold continue to duke it out for the overall top FM station, with neither station’s Monday to Sunday share budging from their respective 8.6% shares.
Melbourne radio ratings survey 6, 2016. Total audience share. Source: GfK
Nova Entertainment’s SmoothFM claimed second place with a total share of 8% while Triple M settled for third place with a share of 7.4%.
KiisFM continues to struggle with a share of 5.6%, up 0.3 points on the previous survey.
When the Monday to Friday audience share is examined, FoxFM nudges into the lead with a share of 8.8% ahead of Gold’s share of 8.6%.
In the AM heap, 3AW claimed the top spot with a Monday to Sunday share of 14.1%, down 0.3 points while ABC774 settled for a share of 9.8%, down 0.7 points.
In breakfast, 3AW’s breakfast with Ross and John posted a share of 18.7%, down 1.1 points while the ABC’s Breakfast with Red Symons grabbed a share of 12.8% down 2.1 points.
And in Drive, 3AW once again had the lead with a share of 11.9% while the ABC had a share of 8.5%.
Brisbane: Nova loses breakfast top spot to 97.3 but wins in total people
Nova 106.9 lost its top spot in Brisbane’s breakfast battle to rivals 97.3FM, but managed to hold the top spot in terms of overall audience share.
A rise of 1.1 points by 97.3FM’s Robin Bailey, Terry Hansen and Bob Gallagher to 13.4% saw the trio topple Nova’s breakfast team of Ash Bradnam, Kip Wightman and David Lutteral – ‘Ash, Kip & Luttsy’ – who lost 1.6 points falling back to 13.2%.
Brisbane radio ratings survey 6, 2016. Mon-Fri and breakfast audience share. Source: GfK
Triple M managed to maintain third spot in commercial FM breakfast despite Marto and Ed Kavalee losing 0.3 points to 9.6%, as Hit 105’s Stav, Abbey and Osher dropped 0.8 points to finish fourth with 9% share.
Southern Cross Austereo-owned Hit saw a big rise in drive with Hamish & Andy picking up 0.8 points to 14.5% share, closing the gap on Nova’s national show with Kate Ritchie, Tim Blackwell and Marty Sheargold which dropped 0.7 points to 16.4%.
National rivals Hughesy and Kate on ARN’s 97.3 saw a 0.1 point jump in third to 11.9%.
Brisbane radio ratings survey 6, 2016. Total audience share. Source: GfK
While Nova finished on top in total people it saw a 0.7 point drop to 13.7%, while 97.3 picked up 0.1 points to finish second on 12.2% and Hit’s rise of 0.4 points saw it close the total people gap to 10.7% audience share, while TripleM stagnated in fourth on 9.5%.
Talkback station 4BC’s syndicated format appears to be gaining traction with a 0.7 point leap in the survey to 5.3%, including a 1.4 point jump for Alan Jones in breakfast to 6.3% and 0.5 point boost for Ray Hadley’s morning show to 7.1% share.
Sister Macquarie Radio Network station Magic 882 also saw solid gains in the survey, with total people listenership up 1 point to 3.8%.
Adelaide: Nova snares drive crown as Mix extends lead
Adelaide’s Nova 91.9 FM stole back its drive time crown with the team of Kate, Tim and Marty taking the top spot in the slot after losing it to Mix 102.3’s Hughsey & Kate in the last survey.
But the drive win was the only good news for Nova as Mix remained at the top of the overall ratings, lifting 1.3 points to a share of 15.8%.
Adelaide radio ratings survey 6, 2016. Mon-Fri and breakfast audience share. Source: GfK
Nova’s overall share rose by 1.4 points to 11.3% giving it second place in the FM stakes. Both 5MMM and Hit 107 FM had stagnant surveys, with 5MMM stuck on 9.7% and Hit in 9.1%.
The Mix breakfast crew of Jodie & Soda dominated the session, extending their lead to 14.7% on the back of a rise of 1.2 points. Nova’s team of Lewis & Lowe managed a marginal lift of just 0.3 points to finish the ratings period on 10.7%.
Adelaide radio ratings survey 6, 2016. Total audience share. Source: GfK
In the same slot 5MMM’s Roo & Ditts lifted 0.2 points to 10.3% while the Hit 107 team of Cat & Amos drifted down 0.1 points to 8.5%. In evenings Nova clawed back share on Mix with Smallzy’s Surgery leaping 2.8 points to from 7.3% to 10.7%.
However, Mix’s Kyle & Jackie O lifted 1.3 points to 13.6% On the AM band 5AA dropped its overall share 0.7 points to 10.6, remaining just ahead of ABC 891 on 10.5% after a drop of 0.4 points.
Perth: Mix returns to the top in breakfast ratings battle
The see-saw battle in breakfast between Mix 94.5 and Nova 93.7 shifted again in the latest Perth ratings as Clairsy, Matt & Kymba regained top spot.
After surrendering to the Nova team of Nathan, Nat & Shaun in the last survey, the team added 1.9 points to record a win with 15% of the audience.
Perth radio ratings survey 6, 2016. Mon-Fri and breakfast audience share. Source: GfK
The Nova breakfast crew saw their previous work unravel with a drop of 1.5 points pulling them back to second, with a share of 12.3%.
Overall, a strong performance by Mix94.5 in Perth coupled with a sharp drop by Nova 93.7 has seen the Southern Cross Austereo station consolidate its place at the top of the ratings.
After losing share in the last survey, Mix returned to growth, lifting by 1.2 points to finish the survey with 15.%.
Perth radio ratings survey 6, 2016. Total audience share. Source: GfK
By comparison, Nova 93.7 saw a sharp slum as the audience drifted away to the tune of 1.6 points, finishing with a share of 11.3%.
Nova’s drop was not enough for Hit 92.9 to gain second, with the station managing to build just 0.1 points to 11%.
Drive saw the pattern repeated, with last survey’s dead heat for second between Nova and Hit resolved as Kate, Tim & Marty lost 1.6 points to drop behind Hit’s Hamish & Andy who assumed second with a share of 13.4% (down 05.%) to Nova’s 12.3%.
On the AM dial, ABC 720 finished on top with a stagnant share of 8.7%.
still don’t understand the obsession with breaking it out by AM and FM. Doesn’t make sense. Advertisers don’t discriminate on this format…
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I agree with Paul. The content goes through the same devices and competes for the same audience. The story should be about whoever wins radio, not AM or FM.
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