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Sydney radio ratings: 2Day FM loses crown in 18-24 and 25-39

2DayFM has seen Nova go past it again in the 18 -24 age demographic, while stablemate Triple M and the ABC’s Triple J did the same in the 25-39 demo according to the first ratings numbers of 2012.

Southern Cross Austereo’s 2Day FM dropped from its number one position in the 18-24 demo with a fall from 20.3% share to 15.4%. At the same time DMG Radio’s Nova 96.9 grew share from 12.9% to 17.9%. It is only the second time Nova has won the 18-24 demo.

The first Nielsen ratings period of the year covers January 15 to February 11. The first ratings period of the year tends to create the biggest shifts in numbers on the previous period.

Guy Dobson, head of metro radio at Southern Cross Austereo told Mumbrella: “That demo bounces around between Nova and 2Day. We don’t focus on the 18-24, they’re too fickle. We do a larger cell and bundle it with the 25-39 market.”

The Sydney market also shifted in the 25-39 demo. 2Day FM dropped four points from a 16.4% share to a 12.4% share, while stablemate Triple M shot up from a 9.6% share to a 13.9% share, making it the biggest 25-39 commercial station.  

However the biggest move in that demo came from The ABC’s Triple J, which virtually doubled its audience from a 9.9% share to 18.5%. The network usually fares well in the first survey of the year because of the buildup around its Australia Day Hottest 100 countdown.

In terms of overall share, despite a drop from 9.9%, 2Day FM led the commercial FM stations with 8.3% share. WSFM was second with a slight increase from 7.7% to 7.8% as Triple M saw the biggest commercial increase – up by 1.7 points in Monday to Sunday and up by 1.9 in Monday to Friday share to be third.

In the Monday to Friday share, 2Day FM had the biggest fall, by 1.6 points, from 10.2% to 8.7%. But it remains the number one commercial FM station.

Dobson said: “The big thing is Triple M – a 1.7% increase overall is a phenomenal result for a station that was on its knees a few years ago.”

Paul Jackson, group program director of DMG told Mumbrella the Nova network was  number one nationally across the 18-39. Jackson said: “That’s the trend. We’re now getting dominant and we want to win that in every book and every market.”

In the battle for breakfast, The Kyle and Jackie O Show remained comfortably the top FM commercial show with a share of 10.1% – down from 11.2%, as WSFM’s Jonesy and Amanda closed the gap slightly while remaining in second place with an increased share from 7.7% to 8.1%. Talk station 2GB’s Alan Jones topped the slot with a 16.6% share.

Mix106.5’s new breakfast team of Tim “Rosso” Ross and Claire Hooper’s debut in the survey saw them at 4.2%, slightly down on the channel’s previous survey for breakfast of 4.3%. The biggest commercial winner at breakfast was Triple M’s The Grill team, up by 1.2 points from 5.7% to 6.9%.

Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa breakfast show was virtually flat, drifting down from 5.4% to 5.2%,

In drivetime the biggest commercial fall came for 2Day FM, where the slot is occupied by Fifi & Jules Monday to Thursday and Hamish & Andy on Fridays. It fell from 12% to 10.4% but remained number one in the slot. The biggest growth came from Nova’s drive team of Meshel, Tim & Marty, up from 7.2% to 8.3%.

radio ratings-Sydney

 

 

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