In this truly bizarre year, the return of the ratings follows a pandemic-forced pause, with social distancing making it impossible for Commercial Radio Australia and GfK to collect the necessary listener data for several months of the year.<\/p>\n
While paper diaries were eventually able to be collected in most of the country, this survey will be entirely reliant on e-diaries in the market of Melbourne due to ongoing lockdowns.<\/p>\n
Survey 6 sees no cross-over in measurement periods from Survey 2, which tracked listening behaviour from Feb 9 to Feb 29, and March 1 to April 4.<\/p>\n
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SYDNEY:<\/p>\n
#1 FM Overall \u2013 smoothfm<\/p>\n
#1 AM Overall \u2013 2GB<\/p>\n
#1 FM Breakfast \u2013 KIIS: Kyle & Jackie O<\/p>\n
#1 AM Breakfast \u2013 2GB: Ben Fordham<\/p>\n
#1 FM Drive \u2013 Smooth: Byron Webb*<\/p>\n
#1 AM Drive \u2013 ABC Radio: Richard Glover<\/p>\n
Predictions that the installation of Ben Fordham in the key Breakfast slot on Sydney\u2019s 2GB would lead to a marked decline in audience share have proven incorrect, with the station commanding a 17.3% share from 5:30am to 9:00am.<\/p>\n
This is the first survey which measures Fordham\u2019s performance. The previous survey, released in April, had former host Alan Jones on 17.9%. Also back in April, the station had a market-leading 14.8% share overall, down only to 14.2% this time around.<\/p>\n
It had been speculated that ABC Breakfast hosts Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck could be in contention to pick up any of Fordham\u2019s lost share and take the winning spot. Buck and Harmer did pick up some share points, climbing from 10.9% in April to 12.5% this survey, however they remained firmly in second. The station\u2019s overall share was 10.5%.<\/p>\n
KIIS 106.5\u2019s Kyle Sandilands and Jackie \u2018O\u2019 Henderson were also touted as could-be market leaders, however the Australian Radio Network (ARN)-owned station remained steady in the Breakfast slot on 10.2%. The duo maintained their FM-leading position.<\/p>\n
Nova 96.9\u2019s Fitzy & Wippa (Ryan Fitzgerald and Michael Wipfli) had a 6.5% share (7.7% last survey), WSFM\u2019s Jonesy & Amanda (Brendan Jones and Amanda Keller) had 8.6% (down from 9.1%), and Moonman in the Morning with Lawrence Mooney on Triple M was down from 6.0% to 4.9%.<\/p>\n
It is, however, Southern Cross Austereo\u2019s 2DayFM which appears to be in the most trouble. Its music format for breakfast had just a 2.5% share, down from 3.8% last survey. The station also fell to 4.0% in Drive (down from 5.3%,) which offers a combination of Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little, followed by Dave \u2018Hughesy\u2019 Hughes and Ed Kavalee.<\/p>\n
This left the station with an overall 3.3% share, down from 5.1%, which will likely add to speculation the station is looking to make a big splash and install a new breakfast program to drive ratings.<\/p>\n
NOVA Entertainment\u2019s smoothfm took the lead in Drive with a 10.4% share, up from 8.4% last survey.<\/p>\n
This dethroned previous leader ABC Sydney with Richard Glover, which this survey had 10.2%. Close behind was KIIS\u2019 Will & Woody (Will McMahon and Woody Whitelaw). The station had a 10% share in Drive.<\/p>\n
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MELBOURNE:<\/p>\n
#1 FM Overall \u2013 Gold FM<\/p>\n
#1 AM Overall \u2013 3AW<\/p>\n
#1 FM Breakfast \u2013 Gold: Christian O\u2019Connell<\/p>\n
#1 AM Breakfast \u2013 3AW: Ross & John<\/p>\n
#1 FM Drive \u2013 Gold: Gavin Miller*<\/p>\n
#1 AM Drive \u2013 3AW: Tom Elliott<\/p>\n
The gap between the haves and the have nots in the Melbourne radio market appears to have grown as a result of COVID-19 listening habits, and the city\u2019s move to 100% e-diaries to measure the ratings.<\/p>\n
Nine Radio\u2019s 3AW won last survey with a 13.9% share, which this survey was a commanding 16.9%.<\/p>\n
Similarly, time spent listening helped drive the new Breakfast show of Russel Howcroft and Ross Stevenson to 26.1%. Last survey, Stevenson and former host John Burns had 17.3%.<\/p>\n
ABC was second overall both in terms of share (12.7%) and Breakfast (14.9%).<\/p>\n
Most of the major FM stations in Melbourne, however, appeared to take a hit.<\/p>\n
While Triple M climbed slightly to a 5.9% share (up from 5.0% last survey), SCA stablemate Fox fell to 5.9% (down from 8.1%).<\/p>\n
Fox\u2019s fall was largely driven by a dip in the Fifi, Fev & Byron show in Breakfast, which suffered a drop from 7.8% last survey to 4.8% this survey. Drive was also down on the station from 9.2% to 7.4%.<\/p>\n
Australian Radio Network\u2019s (ARN) stations GOLD104.3 and KIIS 101.1 also dropped overall to 8.7% and 5.0% respectively.<\/p>\n
GOLD\u2019s Breakfast offering The Christian O\u2019Connell Show fell to 7.2%, but maintained the #1 FM Breakfast spot.<\/p>\n
GOLD also took over the #1 Drive spot, with Gavin Miller securing 8.3%. Previous leaders, Nova\u2019s Kate, Tim & Marty had 6.3%.<\/p>\n
The survey period was July 26 to September 19. Marty Sheargold finished up on Nova on September 11, replaced by Joel Creasey on September 14.<\/p>\n
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BRISBANE:<\/p>\n
#1 FM Overall \u2013 Nova*<\/p>\n
#1 AM Overall \u2013 4KQ*<\/p>\n
#1 FM Breakfast \u2013 Nova: Ash, Kip & Luttsy with Susie O\u2019Neill*<\/p>\n
#1 AM Breakfast \u2013 ABC: Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan<\/p>\n
#1 FM Drive \u2013 Nova: Kate, Tim & Marty<\/p>\n
#1 AM Drive \u2013 ABC Radio: Steve Austin<\/p>\n
Despite its struggles in Melbourne, Nova has had a good run in Brisbane this survey, taking over the #1 position from last survey\u2019s joint leaders Hit105 and 97.3FM.<\/p>\n
Nova climbed to an overall share of 11.5%, ahead of Triple M\u2019s 10.5% and 97.3FM (also on 10.5%). Hit105 was only just behind on 10.4%.<\/p>\n
The shake-up also saw Nova take the lead in Breakfast, with the Ash, Kip & Luttsy with Susie O\u2019Neil show climbing to 12.2%, ahead of Hit105\u2019s 11.0%. Last survey, Hit\u2019s Stav, Abby & Matt were #1.<\/p>\n
And Brisbane continued its love affair with Nova\u2019s Kate, Tim & Marty show in Drive, which climbed from 10.5% last survey to 11.3% this survey.<\/p>\n
The survey period was July 26 to September 19. Marty Sheargold finished up on Nova on September 11, replaced by Joel Creasey on September 14.<\/p>\n
Nine Radio\u2019s 4BC appeared to suffer slightly from the departure of Alan Jones, with the station dropping from 7.6% share last survey to 7.1% this time around.<\/p>\n
In the key Breakfast slot, now hosted by Neil Breen, it fell from 9.7% to 8.2%. Breen took over in June.<\/p>\n
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ADELAIDE:<\/p>\n
#1 FM Overall \u2013 Mix<\/p>\n
#1 AM Overall \u2013 FIVEaa*<\/p>\n
#1 FM Breakfast \u2013 Nova: Ben & Liam*<\/p>\n
#1 AM Breakfast \u2013 FIVAaa: David & Will*<\/p>\n
#1 FM Drive \u2013 Mix: Will & Woody*<\/p>\n
#1 AM Drive \u2013 FIVEaa: Rowey & Bicks*<\/p>\n
Adelaide has a new FM Breakfast leader, with Nova\u2019s Ben & Liam (Ben Harvey and Liam Stapleton) taking the lead.<\/p>\n
This is only the third survey the duo have had to face since making the jump from triple j\u2019s syndicated Breakfast slot to Nova Breakfast in Adelaide.<\/p>\n
Nova had an 11.0% share in Breakfast, up from 9.7% last survey.<\/p>\n
The station did suffer slightly in drive, however, falling to 12.0% from last survey\u2019s 15.0%. The Kate, Tim & Marty show ran for most of the survey period, with Joel Creasey replacing Marty Sheargold in the final few days.<\/p>\n
This combined to give the station modest growth of 0.2 points from last survey to 10.4%.<\/p>\n
The slight fall of Kate, Tim & Marty gave Adelaide a new Drive leader, with ARN\u2019s Will & Woody on Mix, boasting 12.3%.<\/p>\n
The AM leader was FIVEaa, with a 12.2% overall share, dethroning previous joint leader ABC Adelaide.<\/p>\n
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PERTH:<\/p>\n
#1 FM Overall \u2013 Nova*<\/p>\n
#1 AM Overall \u2013 6PR<\/p>\n
#1 FM Breakfast \u2013 Nova: Nathan, Nat & Shaun<\/p>\n
#1 AM Breakfast \u2013 6PR: Steve Mills and Basil Zempilas*<\/p>\n
#1 FM Drive \u2013 Nova: Kate, Tim & Marty<\/p>\n
#1 AM Drive \u2013 6PR: Oliver Peterson<\/p>\n
Perth has a new market leader in radio, with Nova dethroning Mix 94.5 as the station with the largest audience share.<\/p>\n
Nova\u2019s market-leading 12.9% share was helped along by its breakfast program of Nathan, Nat & Shaun holding onto their #1 position. The station had a 14.1% share in the Breakfast slot, ahead of closest-competitor Mix, with was on 12.4%.<\/p>\n
And unlike other markets where Nova\u2019s Kate, Tim & Marty took a bit of a hit, losing their top spot, the trio maintained their dominance in Perth. Nova had a 15.0% share in drive, up 2.3 points from last survey.<\/p>\n
In third place in Perth was 96FM, which had a 12.6% share, up 0.6 points. Its Breakfast offering Botica\u2019s Bunch was relatively stable on 10.7%, down from 10.9% in April.<\/p>\n
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