Radio Ratings: Smooth sparkles
Smoothfm has not yet turned two but DMG Radio’s smooth listening station has already taken over big brand FM stations Triple M and WSFM in Sydney.
This morning’s radio ratings survey reveals the one-year old station taking the largest Monday to Friday leap of any Sydney station, moving to 6.5% from 5.1%.
Smoothfm also took the largest jump overall, increasing its Monday to Sunday share from 5.5% to 6.8%.
Smoothfm is now placed third in the FM commercial battle for Sydney’s radio listeners, overtaking WSFM and Triple M in Monday to Friday and Monday to Sunday.
DMG Radio’s group program director Paul Jackson described Smooth’s result as “outstanding”.
“It’s been very successful from day one and we are potentially seeing it being to really lift off now,” he told B&T.
“It’s a fantastic product, the team has been very focused on the listeners, understanding the audience and delivering music and the type of radio they want.”
Jackson believes Smooth is finding listeners from “across the entire spectrum”, pointing to the fact that the majority of FM station’s figures are down year-to-date.
WSFM’s overall share dropped to 6.3% and Triple M now sits on 5.3%. Triple M’s Monday to Friday share is down 1.2 points to 5.6% and WSFM has slide to 6.1%.
Share movement Mon – Sun, 5.30am-12 midnight
In Sydney’s breakfast market, 2Day FM’s Kyle & Jackie O are celebrating their 50th survey in a row at the top of FM breakfast. Guy Dobson, Southern Cross Austereo’s (SCA) chief content officer, said the achievement “is no mean feat in this competitive landscape”.
The team won 9.9% of the slot in survey six, second only to 2GB’s Alan Jones who dominates with 16.9%.
Nova 96.9’s comedic pair Fitzy & Wippa jumped up to third place in breakfast, second in FM breakfast, taking 7.3%.
The pair overtook Jonesy & Amanda on WSFM which dropped a mammoth 2.3 points, sliding from 9% to 6.7%.
Jackson said Fitzy & Wippa’s survey six result is their best to date. “They have really found their stride,” he added.
“They are now turning terrific numbers and the station across the board is performing brilliantly.”
Jonesy & Amanda have been hot on 2DayFM’s heels, in this year’s April survey WSFM – part of the Australian Radio Network (ARN) – overtook 2DayFM in Monday to Sunday share.
Duncan Campbell, ARN’s national content director, told B&T there is “nothing really consistent” about today’s results.
“You read some big statements being made about each of these books when they come out and a lot of these big statements actually amount to nothing,” Campbell said.
“The Sydney market is very dynamic. It is impacted by a very competitive landscape and also some inconsistent results and what we have seen with WS is inconsistent. The year to date average for WSFM is around 7.5% so the 6.3% we got today is well below average for us, we don’t believe that will be sustained.
“Likewise for the Smooth result, they are averaging 5.7% this year so their 6.8% is well above average. You have got to be really careful about isolating one book.”
DMG’s Smoothfm jumped from 3.7% to 4.8%. The growth continued in Sydney’s drive slot where it added 1.5 points to take 7.7%, ahead of WSFM, Triple M and Mix 106.5.
Nova also increased its share, reaching 9.4% to overtake 2Day FM which now sits on 9.2%.
In Melbourne, outgoing breakfast presenters Hughesy & Kate took Nova 100 to number one in FM breakfast.
The pair, who have been on-air together for 12 years, narrowly overtook SCA’s Triple M to win the slot.
Jackson said it was a feat the duo haven’t achieved in many a year, adding that the result positions them well for their remaining surveys.
“We expect them to go out on a real high. We are really just living in the moment with them at this stage, we will get to the next round when we get there.”
Earlier this month, Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek announced that their last breakfast show will wrap on November 29.
Fox FM’s breakfast show Matt and Jo lost half a point to take 7.9% of the morning listeners, behind fellow SCA station Triple M and Nova 100.
Dobson said the program is “slightly challenged at the moment so we are having a really good look at that”.
“We are having a good look at the context of that show, the style of the show. Not necessarily the players but just looking at where that show sits relative to the brand,” he said, adding that there are a couple of “classic features” not running on the program anymore that listeners are “obviously still hankering” for.
Share movement Mon – Sun, 5.30am-12 midnight
He described the Eddie McGuire lead breakfast team on Triple M, currently sitting on 8.3%, as very consistent. “If it wasn’t for the Bradbury like performance of Nova we would still be number one [FM] in Melbourne,” he said.
The Melbourne market proved more positive for ARN’s classic hits brand with Gold growing slightly to 5.9%.
Gold is now equally tied with FoxFM overall, with both now sitting on 8.2% in Monday to Sunday.
“That is the first time since 2006 that Fox hasn’t been a clear number one FM,” Campbell said.
“We are also seeing ARN and DMG continuing to eat away at SCA share overall,” he added.
In drive, SCA’s Fox FM took a hit with Fifi & Jules losing 1.4 points. Their share shrunk to 10.2%, putting an end to the previous survey’s tie with 3AW when both stations sat on 11.6%.
Dobson put the drop down to “a bad balance”, and said the show “is on the money” forecasting better results in the next couple of books.
The drop has narrowed the gap between Fox and Nova in drive, with Nova growing its share to 9.9% just 0.3 points behind Fox.
3AW continues to lead both drive and breakfast taking a 11.2% share of drive and 19.5% of breakfast.
Brisbane was a bright spot for ARN where 97.3FM continues to lead.
The station which is number on overall and Monday to Friday now leads drive after a 1.4 point jump.
The station, part of ARN’s Mix Network, now sits on 15.8% after usurping Nova 106.9.
In breakfast 97.3FM dropped to third place behind Triple M which grew to 11.3%. Nova continues to lead breakfast on 11.6% however the slot is tight with Triple M just 0.3 point behind and 97.3FM on 11%.
Share movement Mon – Sun, 5.30am-12 midnight
SCA’s Today Network shines in Adelaide in survey six where SAFM overtook Cruise1323, part of ARN’s Classic Hits.
SAFM is now placed third in Monday to Sunday, after growing its share to 8.6% ahead of Cruise’s 7.6%.
In Monday to Friday SAFM is also now placed fourth after taking over from Cruise which dropped to 7.2%.
Mix 102.3 continues to lead the market overall despite a 1.5 point drop to 14.4%.
In breakfast Mix 102.3 dropped to second place behind 5AA after sliding from 14.5% to 12.8%.
Cruise dropped to 7.1% to fall behind Triple M which grew from 7.6% to 8.8%.
Mix also lost share in drive where it appears the 1.8 points it lost transferred directly to Nova which added 1.8.
Share movement Mon – Sun, 5.30am-12 midnight
Mix still leads the important slot but the gap between it and 5AA (13.6%) has narrowed after it slipped from 16.5% to 14.7%.
Nova’s share has grown from 11.4% to 13.2%.
Nova 93.7 posted the largest growth in Perth in both Monday to Sunday and Monday to Friday, where it grew 0.8 and 1.1 points respectively.
Nova continues to hold breakfast where it grew from 12.5% to 13.5%. The largest breakfast leap was recorded by 96FM which added 1.2 points to take 11.3% and overtake 6PR which dropped to 8.8%.
Nova’s growth continued in the important drive slot where it jumped from 12.5% to 14.5%.
SCA’s 92.9 suffered in drive where it dropped to 10.5% from 12.3%.
The decline saw the station, part of the Today Network, drop to fourth in Perth’s FM battle behind Mix 94.5 and 96FM.
Share movement Mon – Sun, 5.30am-12 midnight
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