Sydney radio ratings: Kyle and Jackie O set the standard as 2Day Breakfast slips
After an unpredictable 2020, it appears that normal service has resumed in the Sydney market, with GfK’s second radio survey bearing a striking resemblance to pre-COVID surveys.
It was an excellent book for Australian Radio Network (ARN), who saw lifts for both KIIS 106.5 and WSFM, with the breakfast shows on each station also gaining share. Kyle and Jackie O’s remarkable consistency and ability to bounce back to double digits was once again apparent, with the juggernaut showing no signs of its dominance waning in the harbour city.
Kyle and Jackie O are back in double digits
The duo hit a 10.9% share of listening among People 10+, a rise of 1.1 percentage points on last survey, to easily be the #1 breakfast show on the FM band. KIIS itself grew its share to 8.9% (+1.0), though Smooth is still ahead of them on 9.3%.
Speaking with Mumbrella after survey one, ARN content director Duncan Campbell admitted that WSFM’s recent results left something to be desired and said the network would be focussing closely on the station and the Jonesy and Amanda breakfast show.
Given that, he’ll be pleased with the results in the second book of the year, as WSFM jumped 1.7 percentage points to a strong 8.3% share. Meanwhile, Jonesy and Amanda hit a 7.7% share, with an impressive 2 percentage point gain.
After showing signs of uplift in survey one, 2Day FM dipped back below the 4% mark this survey to hit 3.9%. In their second book, Hughesy, Ed and Erin also lost share, falling -0.6 percentage points to a 3.8% share.
Given Dave Cameron’s promise to give the new breakfast show at least two years to resonate in Sydney, it’s unlikely to be panic stations at Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) just yet. Nonetheless, they would have been hoping for incremental gains, however small.
Sydney’s overall ratings resemble pre-COVID numbers
Meanwhile, over at Nine Radio’s 2GB, overall share fell by 1 percentage point to 13.4%, but the station remains top dog in Sydney.
The post-COVID reset and move away from talkback and AM appears to be in full swing in Sydney, with Ben Fordham dropping a significant 2.6 percentage points on breakfast. The ABC also lost share overall (but Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck gained 0.5 percentage points to rise to a 13.2% share of listening).
In recent chats with Mumbrella, Nova Entertainment’s Paul Jackson has constantly spruiked consistency, so he’ll be happy with the middling performance of Nova (down just 0.2 points to 6.2%) and Smooth FM, which is the top rating FM station in the city once again with a 9.3% share.
Sydney Radio Ratings – Survey Two 2021 [click to enlarge]
Jackson and Nova may also be relieved about the performance of drive trio Kate, Tim and Joel, who pulled back 0.8 percentage points in the slot to rise to a 9.7% share. Smooth’s Byron Webb delivered a good result as well, up to 9.8%.
But ABC Sydney’s Richard Glover has the #1 show in the slot, with a 12.2% share, despite losing 1.1 points.
Off the back of a strong overall result, KIIS duo Will and Woody gained 1.5 points to be second overall with a 10% share.
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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
2Day FM
2GB
ARN
Ben Fordham
Hughesy Ed and Erin
KIIS 106.5
Kyle and Jackie O
Nova Entertainment
radio ratings
SCA
Sydney Radio Ratings
