Sydney radio ratings: Fordham back on top of breakfast as lockdowns deliver talkback boost
Ben Fordham has reclaimed the title of the #1 breakfast show in Sydney, with a significant swing towards the talk radio host and away from KIIS 106.5’s Kyle and Jackie O in the fifth GfK metro ratings survey of 2021.
2GB’s Fordham recorded a 3.5 percentage point increase in share among people 10+, rising to a 16.8% share, while 2GB also had a great book overall seeing a 3.4 point bump to finish with a 15.2% share and easily be #1.
Lockdowns appear to have helped Ben Fordham reclaim top spot in Sydney
The result came as Sydney’s ratings saw a marked swing towards AM radio, with a clear preference for news talk amid the city’s ongoing lockdowns seeing most FM stations losing share.
After becoming the #1 breakfast show in Sydney for the first time in their history last survey, Kyle and Jackie O had to settle for third, after ABC Sydney’s Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck took the silver medal.
The pair took a 2.1 percentage point increase to reach a 14% share of listening, and ABC Sydney was also second overall with an 11.9% share (up 2.3 points).
Kyle and Jackie O remained in double digits and third place in the breakfast stakes despite a 3.4 point drop to 12.1%, but remained #1 among all FM competitors. Meanwhile, KIIS 106.5 lost 1.9 percentage points overall to finish third with an 8.7% share.
One show to buck the downward trend on the FM dial was WSFM’s Jonesy and Amanda, who finished fourth with a 0.8 percentage point increase to 8.8%. Earlier this month, WSFM unveiled its latest marketing push featuring the pair as bobble-head dolls.
Down the bottom of the spectrum, 2DayFM’s Hughesy, Ed and Erin had a poor book, losing 0.9 points from an already-low base to fall to a 2.4% share. The show now sits below ABC Classic and Radio National in the breakfast ratings.
Overall, 2DayFM saw its share doubled by Triple J, and also finished just below 2UE.
Sydney Radio Ratings – Survey #5 2021 [click to enlarge]
ABC’s Richard Glover was the biggest climber on drive, gaining 2.8 points to take the top spot with a 12.5% share.
Next best in the slot was KIIS FM’s Will and Woody, down 2.4 points to 9%, finishing in equal second with Smoothfm’s Byron Webb.
Survey five took place from Sunday, 23 May to Saturday, 26 June and Sunday, 11 July to Saturday, 14 August.
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Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
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topics
2GB
ABC Sydney
Ben Fordham
KIIS 106.5
Kiis FM
Kyle and Jackie O
radio ratings
Sydney Radio Ratings
Wendy and Robbie
