2DayFM listeners look to have forgiven shock-jock Kyle Sandilands, who was pulled from the air twice in two months, with ratings for the Sydney breakfast show managing a lift of 1.2 percentage points in an overall flat market.
The uplift for the controversial breakfast duo, which now commands 11% of total breakfast audiences behind 2GB’s Alan Jones (16.6%), has seen it recover some of its lost listeners during the previous survey.
Nielsen’s seventh ratings survey of the year, from August 2 to October 24, shows that Sandiland’s return to air on October 8, after being suspended for four weeks for suggesting comedian Magda Szubanski should go to a concentration camp to lose weight, has placed the show in a strong position, ahead of third-placed Nova which grew 0.7 points to command an 8.8% share.
Austereo’s 2DayFM also faired well in the drive time slot, maintaining its lead over 2GB, DMG’s Nova and Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) WSFM with a 0.5 point lift to 14.7%. However 2GB managed to close the gap with a 1.6 point increase to 9.1%, and also lead the music station in overall audience share with a 13.7% share (up 0.4 points) compared to 2Day’s 9.8% (up 0.9 points).
In Melbourne, ratings remained entirely flat with Fairfax Radio’s 3AW retaining its crown overall with a 15.5% audience share, despite a drop of 0.7 points. A decline of 0.5 points also didn’t stop the talk back station from flogging the music stations in breakfast with a 20% share. However Austereo’s Fox FM remained a strong leader in the drive-time slot, despite figures being totally flat at 22.6%, with 3AW seeing a 1% decline. Fox’s ratings were also flat overall, coming in second ahead of Nova, which slipped 0.5 points to about 7% and ARN’s Gold FM which rose 0.6 points to 6.9%.
DMG Radio’s Nova continued its stronghold over the Brisbane market, commanding a 12.3% share of total audiences despite a slight slip of 0.5 points. It also topped breakfast (11.9%) despite a 0.6 point fall, with Austereo’s 4MMM replacing its other music station B105 in second place with a 1.1 point increase (11%).
Nova also showed the most improved performance in Adelaide, growing its audience share overall and at breakfast by 2 and 2.6 points respectively while its competitors experienced a drop in listeners or remained stable. The two point lift in overall audience share saw the music station move from fifth position in the previous survey to fourth, and at breakfast moved two spots to third with an 11.5% share. DMG’s talkback station 5AA remained at number one overall and at breakfast, with a 14.3% and 17.8% share respectively, with SAFM remaining strong at drive with a 20.4% share (down 0.1 points).
Perth’s music station 96 FM (Fairfax Radio) experienced the greatest slump in the market, dropping 1.2 points at breakfast to lose its third place to Fairfax’s talk back station 6PR, and falling 2.5 points at drive time to come in behind Nova at 8.9%. It also slipped 1.8 points overall to 9.8%, behind Austereo’s Mix 94.5 which retained its crown overall with a 17.7% share (up 0.8 points). Mix 94.5 also held its lead over other music and talk back stations at breakfast, despite dropping 1.8 points, with Nova the biggest winner during this slot, climbing two points to 10.3%.
