Sydney radio ratings: Fordham remains on top of breakfast as lockdown continues to deliver talkback boost
2GB’s Ben Fordham has kept 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 sixth GfK metro ratings survey of 2021.
Fordham recorded a two percentage point increase in breakfast share, rising to a 18.8% share, while Nine’s 2GB also had a great book overall seeing a 1.2 point bump to finish with a 16.4% share. This is his highest ever survey result.
Ben Fordham held onto his audience this survey
The result came as Sydney’s ratings saw a marked swing towards AM radio in survey five, with a clear preference for news talk amid the city’s ongoing lockdown resulting in most FM stations losing share.
Nine Radio’s head of content, Greg Byrnes, said: “It’s been a tough few months for Sydney and Melbourne but the audience knows 2GB and 3AW is the source of trusted news and opinion. We’re proudly live and local and that’s seen a big jump in audience across the network. But today’s result for 2GB is extraordinary and 3AW is once again among record highs.”
After becoming the #1 breakfast show in Sydney for the first time in their history in survey four, Kyle and Jackie O had to settle for third place, same as last survey, after ABC Sydney’s Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck took the silver medal.
Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck took a 1.7 percentage point increase to reach a 15.7% share of listening, and ABC Sydney was also second overall with a 13% share (up 1.1 points).
Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck, ABC Sydney’s breakfast duo announced on air last week that this year would be their last, after being paired in 2017.
The pair said that they will “go out on a high”, the decision being entirely theirs as the time “felt right”. Their last show will air on Friday 10 December.
Radio Ratings Report Sydney: Survey 6 2021 (Click to enlarge)
Together they have put together a strong run of results in the Sydney radio ratings surveys in recent times, with a strong 14% market share in their breakfast slot in August’s reporting, just shy of 2GB’s Ben Fordham as lockdowns have proven to continue to be strong for talkback.
Meanwhile, Kyle and Jackie O remained in double digits and third place in the breakfast stakes despite a 1.3 point drop to 10.8%, but remained #1 alongside smoothfm 95.3 in FM both with an 8% share. Meanwhile, KIIS 106.5 lost 1.7 percentage points overall to finish third with an 8% share.
WSFM’s Jonesy and Amanda, who finished fourth, remained consistent and on the same share of 8.8%, same as last survey. In August, WSFM unveiled its latest marketing push featuring the pair as bobble-head dolls.
Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa, had a dramatic drop in numbers for breakfast by 1.2 points, finishing on a share of 4.0%, and in drive with Kate, Tim & Joel, saw a drop of 1.0 points to a share of 7.2%.
2DayFM’s Hughesy, Ed and Erin had a slight increase, with a bump of 0.5 points to a 2.9% share, compared to the last survey which was 2.4%. The show now sits below ABC Classic in the breakfast ratings.
Overall, 2DayFM saw its share increase of 0.8 percentage points to a 3.4% share.
