Radio Ratings Round Up

The fifth 2014 radio ratings survey results have been released this morning.

In Sydney, the top line story is that KISS 1065’s Kyle and Jackie O reclaimed the crown as the number one breakfast show pipping stable mates WSFM duo Jonesy and Amanda after two consecutive survey wins.

But what’s going on with the various stations across the dial? Here’s a round up of each network’s results. Click on the station or network below to find out more.

2GB
Fairfax Radio Network
ARN
NOVA Entertainment
SCA

2GB

Sydney’s number one radio station 2GB has clocked up another number one survey win, with today’s GfK radio ratings revealing the station commands nearly 40 per cent more audience share (all people 10 +) than its nearest commercial rival.

2GB has 13.1 per cent share of the Sydney radio market overall. The Alan Jones Breakfast Show and the Ray Hadley Morning Show both lead with 15.5 per cent of total audience share.

Fairfax Radio Network

Fairfax Radio Network’s powerhouse Melbourne News Talk station 3AW is back as Melbourne’s Number 1 radio station, while Perth’s Music station 96FM’s commitment to Keep Real Music Alive generated a strong audience, according to Survey 5 results released today.

A strong news cycle has helped 3AW record a 1.1% increase in audience share to 13.9%, with Breakfast duo Ross and John reaching 101 consecutive survey wins. Perth’s News Talk station 6PR continued its stellar growth, up 1.5 points, overtaking its long-standing ABC rival. News Talk stations 2UE and 4BC also capitalised on the topics of each day to engage with our informed, intelligent and influential audience.

Our Music network continues to be led by 96FM in Perth and is now joined by excellent audience response from Magic 1278 in Melbourne and Magic 882 in Brisbane. The new offerings on Magic this year are clearly resonating with the audience.

“A strong domestic and international news cycle has seen audiences turn to our News Talk stations for the best analysis and perspective. 3AW’s Neil Mitchell on Mornings scored the first interview with Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the MH17 disaster, while 6PR’s Gary Adshead broadcast compelling coverage of the big stories that matter to our audiences. 2UE’s revitalised line-up is starting to resonate with listeners, with new Mornings presenter Stuart Bocking hosting the first of his ‘Fair Go for Seniors’ forums,” Fairfax Radio Network National Content Director Clark Forbes said.

“In addition, 3AW has just completed a very successful broadcast from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and we are now turning our attention to the next Games to be held on the Gold Coast. In Perth, 96FM’s ‘Way Out Working Week’ promotion, bringing listener requested music back to radio has been a great success over the workday week.”

The new presenter line-ups across some of Fairfax Radio Network’s Talk stations, and a refreshed format for the Magic music stations are continuing to consolidate and have seen audience engagement grow nationally.

Fairfax Radio Network Managing Director Adam Lang said: “We are heading into our finals coverage for the AFL on 3AW and 6PR and the NRL on 4BC, which will see further audience growth, and we have some exciting news to come for our second season of cricket broadcasting.

“Our audience experience continues to focus on news, talk, sport and music with listeners at the heart of everything we do. Delivering an informed, intelligent and influential brand of radio is our key point of difference. We continue to be committed to becoming the nation’s number one information and entertainment radio network.”

Fairfax Radio Network National Sales Director Nick Randall said: “We have had a strong start to the new financial year, attracting a number of new advertisers and categories to our stations with our informed, intelligent and influential audience delivery. Our advertising partners are now experiencing the full benefit of integrated solutions across Fairfax Media’s suite of assets. Our digital offering, particularly our station’s mobile sites are seeing staggering growth coupled with strong advertiser demand.

“In addition, we have invested in marketing, including a ground-breaking, media first campaign for 3AW’s football broadcast which invites listeners to help create commentator content during weekend games. It’s been a great success and we are finding there is a huge appetite for live, integrated content and great storytelling.

“For sports lovers, Fairfax Radio Network offers AFL, NRL, cricket, Spring Racing, tennis, the Grand Prix and Moto GP all in one place and advertisers are backing our offer. We will be announcing some big cricket partnerships soon.”

2UE

Fairfax Radio Network’s Sydney News Talk station 2UE has increased its ratings share by 0.8 points to 4.6%, while its cumulative audience has topped 300,000 people.

This was the first full survey of 2UE’s revitalised line-up, with Angela Catterns now in weekday Afternoons and Stuart Bocking presenting weekday Mornings.

George and Paul now host an expanded weekend program from 6am until midday, followed by Tim Webster from midday until 6pm.

2UE’s line-up changes are really resonating with audiences, with new Mornings presenter Stuart Bocking lifting ratings in this crucial slot from 2.7% to 4.3%.

The average audience listening at any one time has increased by more than a third. Afternoons presenter Angela Catterns also increased her audience ratings from 2.6% to 3.4%, while Breakfast with John Stanley and Garry Linnell and Drive with Justin Smith also improved.

Evenings presenter Clive Robertson’s irreverent style continues to grow its discerning audience, increasing his share to 7.6%.

2UE’s strong weekend performance also continues, with new expanded popular weekend programs George and Paul and Tim Webster increasing their audiences significantly. 2UE also recorded impressive growth in both the 40 to 54 and 65+ age demographics.

“This is an excellent result as the first survey for 2UE’s new line up. I’ve no doubt these significant increases vindicate the changes to the 2UE line up which were all about giving our listeners the programs they wanted to hear more of,” 2UE Content Director Clinton Maynard said.

3AW

A strong news cycle has helped 3AW record a 1.1% increase in audience share to 13.9%, with Breakfast duo Ross and John reaching 101 consecutive survey wins. Perth’s News Talk station 6PR continued its stellar growth, up 1.5 points, overtaking its long-standing ABC rival. News Talk stations 2UE and 4BC also capitalised on the topics of each day to engage with our informed, intelligent and influential audience.

Our Music network continues to be led by 96FM in Perth and is now joined by excellent audience response from Magic 1278 in Melbourne and Magic 882 in Brisbane. The new offerings on Magic this year are clearly resonating with the audience.

“A strong domestic and international news cycle has seen audiences turn to our News Talk stations for the best analysis and perspective. 3AW’s Neil Mitchell on Mornings scored the first interview with Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the MH17 disaster, while 6PR’s Gary Adshead broadcast compelling coverage of the big stories that matter to our audiences. 2UE’s revitalised line-up is starting to resonate with listeners, with new Mornings presenter Stuart Bocking hosting the first of his ‘Fair Go for Seniors’ forums,” Fairfax Radio Network National Content Director Clark Forbes said.

“In addition, 3AW has just completed a very successful broadcast from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and we are now turning our attention to the next Games to be held on the Gold Coast. In Perth, 96FM’s ‘Way Out Working Week’ promotion, bringing listener requested music back to radio has been a great success over the workday week.”

The new presenter line-ups across some of Fairfax Radio Network’s Talk stations, and a refreshed format for the Magic music stations are continuing to consolidate and have seen audience engagement grow nationally.

Fairfax Radio Network Managing Director Adam Lang said: “We are heading into our finals coverage for the AFL on 3AW and 6PR and the NRL on 4BC, which will see further audience growth, and we have some exciting news to come for our second season of cricket broadcasting.

“Our audience experience continues to focus on news, talk, sport and music with listeners at the heart of everything we do.  Delivering an informed, intelligent and influential brand of radio is our key point of difference. We continue to be committed to becoming the nation’s number one information and entertainment radio network.”

Fairfax Radio Network National Sales Director Nick Randall said: “We have had a strong start to the new financial year, attracting a number of new advertisers and categories to our stations with our informed, intelligent and influential audience delivery. Our advertising partners are now experiencing the full benefit of integrated solutions across Fairfax Media’s suite of assets. Our digital offering, particularly our station’s mobile sites are seeing staggering growth coupled with strong advertiser demand.

“In addition, we have invested in marketing, including a ground-breaking, media first campaign for 3AW’s football broadcast which invites listeners to help create commentator content during weekend games. It’s been a great success and we are finding there is a huge appetite for live, integrated content and great storytelling.

“For sports lovers, Fairfax Radio Network offers AFL, NRL, cricket, Spring Racing, tennis, the Grand Prix and Moto GP all in one place and advertisers are backing our offer. We will be announcing some big cricket partnerships soon.”

ARN

Survey 5 results are in and Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) star continues to shine, with their Sydney stations WS FM101.7 and KIIS 1065 again taking out the #1 and #2 positions, and Breakfast show Kyle & Jackie O climbing 1.5 points to reclaim the top spot, with Jonesy & Amanda just behind at #2.

This is a continued win for ARN, with last month’s survey 4 results giving the re-energised contemporary media company a clean sweep of #1FM stations across the country.

National highlights today include:

Sydney

• #1FM station for WS FM 101.7 and #2FM for KIIS 1065
• #1FM Breakfast for Kyle & Jackie O increasing 1.5 points to 10.5% share and 57,000 new listeners tuning in each week
• #2FM Breakfast for Jonesy & Amanda and WS FM101.7’s Ron E Sparks is Sydney’s favourite FM Morning announcer with 10.3% share
• #2FM Drive for KIIS 1065’s Rosso on Drive, increasing audience share to 520,000

Melbourne

• GOLD104.3 is Melbourne’s #1FM station for reaching 40 – 54 year olds with 11.9% share
• Mix101.1 retain a strong cumulative audience of 898,000 listeners per week

Brisbane

• #1 station overall for 97.3fm for 5^th consecutive survey, leading by 2.1 points with 13.8% share
• #1FM Breakfast overall for Robin, Terry & Bob with a 1.7 point lead
• #1 positions across Mornings, Afternoons and Weekends for 97.3fm

Adelaide

• #1 Station overall for Mix102.3 with staggering 15.9% share
• #1 Breakfast overall for Jodie, Soda & Snowy – their 37^th consecutive survey as #1FM

ARN’s National Content Director Duncan Campbell says; “Today’s results vindicate yet again ARN’s strategy of consistently delivering the most engaging and entertaining content for our audiences. The results in Sydney have been outstanding and I congratulate all our teams across the country”.

ARN’s Chief Executive Ciaran Davis continues; “The overwhelming dominance and success in Sydney with the commercially important 25-54 market continues to exceed expectations. This is another fantastic survey and further reinforces the strength of ARN’s year across the network.”

NOVA Entertainment

In today’s Survey 5 results, NOVA Entertainment delivered another set of strong results with Nova maintaining its position as Australia’s favourite radio network, whilst smoothfm continues its consistent climb up the rankings.

Key Highlights:

1. Nova Network is the #1 Metro radio network in Australia in share (8.4%) and cumulative listeners (3,148,000)
2. Nova’s Kate, Tim & Marty #1 national drive show (11.4%)
3. smoothfm 95.3 Sydney records its highest ever share (7.2%) and is #1 FM at night with Cameron Daddo’s “Mellow Music”
4. smoothfm 91.5 Melbourne is #1 for women 25+ FM (share 8.6%)
5. FIVEaa #1 talk station in Adelaide (share 11.4%)
6. Nova 106.9 is Brisbane’s most listened to station (record cume – 547,000)
7. Nova 93.7 is Perth’s most listened to station (record cume 520,000)

Cathy O’Connor, NOVA Entertainment CEO said, “There are so many highlights in today’s survey results, it‘s hard to focus on just a few but I must acknowledge the strong performance of smoothfm 95.3 in Sydney, Nova’s Kate, Tim and Marty in Drive and record audience numbers achieved on our Nova Brisbane and Perth stations.”

SmoothFM

smoothfm 95.3 achieved a strong result for survey 5 with a 7.2% share (10+), an increase of 0.7%, securing the number 3 FM spot according to the results released by GfK Media Research. 

smoothfm experienced share increases in every shift and Cameron Daddo’s Mellow Music took out the number 1 FM position in evenings. The station also increased in the key 25-39 with an 8.0% share. 

Paul Jackson, NOVA Entertainment Group Program Director said, “We are thrilled with the results for smoothfm 95.3 and in particular the increases across the board. The station continues to prove itself as a major player in the Sydney radio landscape and we are looking forward to building on this growth.” 

Key highlights for Survey 5:

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SCA

In GfK’s fifth radio survey today Southern Cross Austereo delivers leading audience numbers nationally.

National Highlights

•  Southern Cross Austereo is #1 radio group nationally, reaching over 5.2 million
•  Today Network is the biggest radio network nationally with more than 3.29 million listeners
•  Triple M Network reaches over 2.6 million nationally and is #1 with men
•  Dan and Maz, on the Today Network, reach over 1.45 million listeners nationally in their drive show
•  Hamish and Andy, on the Today Network, reach over 1 million listeners nationally 3-4pm
• Melbourne
•  Fox FM has more listeners than any other station in Australia with over 1 million people tuning in
•  Fox FM’s Fifi and Dave talk to 583,000 listeners in breakfast, more listeners than any other breakfast show
•  Females under 40 love Fox FM – winning #1 in breakfast with Fifi and Dave as well as from 3 – 4pm with Hamish and Andy. Plus Fox FM is #1 with Dan and Maz in drive for all females
•  Triple M’s Hot Breakfast with Eddie McGuire, Mick Molloy and Luke Darcy is #1 FM breakfast show
•  Triple M is the #1 FM station for men overall as well as #1 for men in breakfast and in drive
•  Triple M is also #1 for footy with men under 55

Sydney

• 2Day FM breakfast continues to build new audiences with a substantial rise in cume of 22%
•  2Day FM’s, Jules, Merrick and Sophie in breakfast grow their audience with 50,000 new female listeners tuning in, that’s an audience of 176,000 females 10+ each week
•  Men 18-54 love Triple M’s The Grill Team with Matty Johns, Mark Geyer and Gus Worland and rate them #1 in breakfast
•  Triple M reaches more men aged 18-54 years across the workday than any other station
•  Triple M NRL from 12-3pm on the weekend, led by Matty Johns, continues to win males under 50

Brisbane

• B105 wins females under 40 convincingly on 23.8 share points
•  B105’s Labby, Stav and Abby are #1 in breakfast for females under 40
•  Hamish and Andy are #1 for females under 40 in the key 3-4pm timeslot
•  Brisbane’s Triple M wins males on 12.2 share points
•  Triple M also reaches more men 25-54 in Brisbane than any other station
•  Add to that, Triple M Brisbane is #1 for footy with all people 10+

Adelaide

• SAFM is on the rise with an increase in share overall 10+ as well as achieving share increases across all key timeslots
•  SAFM’s Michael and Hayley in Breakfast are the #1 show for females under 40
•  SAFM is also a hit with women overall, now #2 station for females under 40 in Adelaide
•  Dan and Maz in drive on SAFM are #2 with females under 40
•  Triple M Adelaide wins men in key buying demographics of 18-54 and 25-54
•  Triple M’s The Rush Hour, from 3-6pm, is the #1 FM station for males 10+
•  Triple M also wins footy again with all men across the board

Perth

• mix94.5 leads the way again dominating the Perth market, winning #1 station overall
•  mix94.5’s Clairsy, Shane and Kymba are also #1FM show in breakfast again
•  mix94.5 wins #1 station across the workday and across the weekend as well as #2 station overall in drive
•  92.9 is #2 station for females under 40
•  Also on 92.9, Hamish and Andy are #1 for females under 40 in their 3-4pm timeslot

SCA’s Chief Content Officer Guy Dobson said, “Great shows deliver big numbers and we are thrilled that we’re on top. We are also proving that we can deliver big broad #1 stations and shows. The future’s looking good for SCA.”