The first capital city survey for 2004 has been released. It was conducted between 18 January and 14 February for Commercial Radio Australia.
Nova won Sydney as three stations returned to double figure results, while in Melbourne 3AW again was a clear winner with Gold bolting into #2 ahead of FOX. In Brisbane it’s B105, Adelaide SA-FM with a fast closing MIX and in Perth MIX was streets ahead again.
The rankings from all cities are now on the Nielsen Ratings left margin tab or you can follow the link at the bottom of this page for Sessions and Demographics.
In Sydney Nova jumped to the top place, up 2.8 share points to 11.8%, the biggest overall share jump of the survey. WS FM was also up, by 1.6 share points, while 2 Day and 2GB gained 0.6 share points, and triple J increased by 0.1. All other Sydney stations went down during the survey.
Nova gained most listeners in the 18 to 24 demographic and scored good increases in breakfast, afternoon and morning, with increases in all other shifts. The station now dominates 18 to 24s and also leads in 25 to 39s.
Second placed 2 Day was up in all shifts except the newly introduced breakfast timeslot with Judith Lucy, which dropped by 0.9 share points. 2 Day leads in the 10 to 17 demographic, and is second to Nova in 18 to 39s. Kyle and Jackie 0, in the new drive shift, gained 1.6 share points.
Third placed 2GB (10.3% overall) bounced back to regain top breakfast timeslot with a 15.3% share (up 2.6) of that daypart. The station also increased in afternoons, drive and weekends and gained a good share of 55 plus listeners, where it dominates the demographic. Morning presenter Ray Handley is third behind Nova and 2 Day, pushing 2UE’s John Laws into fifth-place.
ABC 702 was in fourth place with 9.1% (down 0.6), conceding Angela Catterns’ breakfast crown back to Alan Jones with a drop of 0.4 share points. 702 gained in the 55 plus demographic and was up on weekends, but dropped in all weekday timeslots.
ARN’s WS FM jumped 1.6 share points to 8.7%, with gains in all 18 plus demographics and good increases in the at-work day parts as well as breakfast and weekends. Sister station Mix 106.5 was down 0.3 share points to 7.6% overall, dropping in 18 to 39s and in the at-work and evening day parts. Mix breakfast and weekends gained slightly.
Seventh placed 2UE fell 1.8 share points to 7.0% with a significant drop in the 55 plus demographic. Weekends were up by 0.4 share points while all weekday shifts fell. Mike Carlton’s 2UE breakfast was down 2.9 share points and morning, where John Laws was only in the chair for part of the survey, dropped by 2.3 share points.
Triple M slipped further, down 0.9 share points to 5.8%, with the new breakfast show, The Cage, dropping 1.6 share points and drive program, The Whole Shebang, down slightly (0.1). Weekends also dropped significantly full triple M, which suffered losses in all age demographics.
Macquarie Network’s 2CH was down 1.0 share points to 5.4%, dropping in grocery buyers and the 55 plus demographic. Evenings increased for 2CH (up 1.7) while all other timeslots dropped and the station lost 2.2 share points form its 55 plus audience.
Triple J gained 0.1 share points to 5.1%, increasing in the 25 to 39 demographic and gaining a good increase in evenings (up 1.0) and on weekends. ABC’s classic FM, Radio National and NewsRadio all dropped slightly.
Racing station 2KY was down 0.8 share points to 0.7%, and 2SM lost four fifths of its audience, dropping from 0.5% to 0.1% overall.
In Melbourne Southern Cross’ 3AW was again the clear winner on 14.2%, but dropped 2.0 share points in the summer survey. Neil Mitchell’s Morning, drive and weekends were significantly down for the Melbourne talk station, which also dipped in most of its target demographics, particularly 25 to 39s. The effect of SEN on 3AW’s result is hard to track, but in a time of tennis and cricket fever, the new sports station may have had some effect on 3AW’s figure, along with ABC774’s cricket coverage.
Second placed Gold had the biggest increase of the survey (up 1.3) jumping to 11.5% which puts it ahead of Fox FM by 0.5 share points overall. Gold’s biggest gain came in the 25 to 39 demographic and the station increased strongly in all weekday shifts, particularly mornings which was up by 2.1 share points.
Fox FM slipped into third placed with a dip of 1.7 share points taking it to 11.0% overall. Fox lost a significant share of its 10 to 17 demographic, which may have gone to triple M, Nova and to ABC 774 for cricket coverage. Fox was down most in evenings (5.3 share points), showing the effect of Kyle and Jackie 0 moving to the drive shift, which was also down by 2.3 share points.
ABC 774 lost 1.1 share points to 10.7% overall, gaining in the young demographics but losing a significant amount of its 55 plus audience during the cricket season. Red Simon’s Breakfast and the station’s daytime shifts were all down, while weekends increased fractionally.
For Austereo, Melbourne was the reverse of Sydney, with Fox dropping and triple M increasing as a result of program changes. Triple M gained 2.3 share points jumping to 10.6% with good gains in the 10 to 24 demographics. Mornings and afternoons (The Whole Shebang) scored the strongest increases for triple M, where all shifts increased.
Unlike in Sydney, Melbourne’s Nova 100 dropped 1.7 share points to 8.3%, losing listeners in the 18 to 39 demographics with decreases in all shifts, particularly drive and weekends.
Magic693 was up by 0.1 share points to 6.3% overall. Magic gained listeners in the 40 to 50 for demographic, scoring slight increases in breakfast, drive and on weekends. ARN’s mix 101.1 dropped 0.1 share points to 5.7% with decreases in breakfast and morning accounting for the losses. 3MP jumped 1.2 share points to 3.4% with good increase in its 55 plus demographic and gains in all shifts.
New station SEN (formerly 3AK) instantly almost doubled its share from last survey, trending upwards from 1.2% to 2.1%. While the figures are too low to yeild any significant long term information, they will certainly hearten the sports entertainment network team in its first weeks on air. All weekday shifts gained for SEN, but significantly weekends dipped slightly against other stations with live weekend suport calls. SEN shows strength in demographics over 25 years old.
ABC classic FM and news radio both gained, classic up by 0.6 to 2.0% and news radio up by 0.1 to 1.3%.
Sport 927 was down by 1.0 share points to 0.6%, presumably feeling the effects of the tennis and the cricket seasons, plus the introduction of SEN. Sport 927 suffered most at breakfast and on weekends.
In Brisbane B105 again dominated the market, rising 0.4 share points to 18.4%. B105 dropped significantly in the 10 to 17 demographic, handing some of that audience to sister station triple M, but gained in the 25 plus demographics. B105 showed strong increases in its morning and afternoon shifts, but dropped in breakfast, weekends and evenings.
Austereo stablemate triple M also gained well this survey, up 0.8 share points to 14.0%, to come in at second place. Triple M gained in the 10 to 17 and 25 to 39 demographics and scored good increases in drive and evenings.
Third placed New97.3 was down 0.6 share points to 13.6%, dropping listeners in the 25 to 39 demographic but picking up some 40 to 54s. The station increased slightly in mornings and evenings, but dropped in all other shifts.
Fourth placed 4KQ was down 1.1 share points to 9.2%, dropping in most shifts, most notably on weekends. Southern Cross’ 4BC gained 0.2 share points to 8.4%, increasing its 55 plus demographic significantly and gaining listeners on weekends and evenings.
ABC 612 was down 0.4 share points to 8.4%, gaining some younger listeners but losing an equivalent amount of older demographics. ABC 612 gained in drive and slightly at breakfast, but dropped in other shifts.
Southern Cross stablemate 4BH gained a strong increase of 1.2 share points to 7.5%. The easy listening station gained audience in the 40 plus demographics and had increases in all shifts except morning.
Triple J was up by 0.7 share points to 7.1% with a strong gain in the 18 to 24 demographic and good increases in morning and afternoons. ABC Radio National increased 0.2 share points to 2.5%, Classic FM was down 1.5 to 1.9% and NewsRadio gained 0.7 share points to 1.7%.
In Adelaide the market leader was SAFM on 20.4% (down 2.7 share points). SAFM lost a significant chunk of its 18 to 24 audience to newly revamped stablemate triple M and dropped in most other demographics. All SAFM shifts were down, particularly mornings and afternoons.
Second placed Mix 102.3 had the biggest increase of the survey, up 5.2 share points to 16.6%. The ARN station gained strongly in 40 to 54s, and had good increases across all shifts, particularly on weekends and in mornings.
Third placed FIVEaa, in the midst of an ABA inquiry, dropped 2.5 share points to 14.1%. The station lost a significant number of listeners in its 55 plus demographic and took the biggest knock in the drive shift, which was down 5.9 share points. Suspended morning host Leon Byner’s shift fell less than most of the station’s other programs.
Triple M was up 0.3 share points overall to 13.1%, with a huge increase in its 18 to 24 demographic. Breakfast and weekends were down for triple M, but other shifts increased, particularly evenings and afternoons.
ABC 891 dropped 0.5 share points to 9.9%, losing listeners in the 40 to 54 demographic without the compensating factor of younger listeners joining the station for the cricket broadcasts which was evident for ABC Local Radio in some other states. ABC 891 lost listeners in the at-work day parts and on weekends.
5DN gained 0.8 share points to 6.4%, with increases in its youngest and oldest demographics. Evening was down, but all other 5DN shifts increased.
Triple J dropped 1.2 share points to 4.7%, losing some of its younger listeners to triple M and dropping in all shifts. Classic FM was up 0.3 to 2.6%, Radio National increased 0.4 to 2.3% and NewsRadio was up 0.4 to 1.4%.
The Perth market leader Mix 94.5 consolidated its position, up 1.2 share points to 21.9%. The dominant Austereo station lost some of its 18 to 24 demographic but gained in all other age groups, also scored a strong increase in evenings and good gains in other shifts.
Second placed 92.9 was down 0.6 share points to 11.6%, with a dip in its 25 to 39 demographic being offset by an equivalent increase in its 10 to 17s. Most 92.9 shifts, except weekends, fell.
ABC 720 was up 1.0 share points to 11.1% with good gains in the 25 to 39 and 55 plus demographics. ABC 720 increased well in breakfast and drive.
Nova 93.7 was up 0.7 share points to 9.5%, increasing its 18 to 24 demographic significantly. Breakfast and drive were down slightly for Nova, but mornings, afternoons and evenings increased for the DMG Perth station.
96 FM increased by 0.2 share points to 9.1% with rises in its 25 to 39 demographic. Talk station 6PR dropped 1.8 share points to 7.6% dropping significantly in breakfast, afternoons and weekends.
Triple J was down 0.1 share points to 6.5%. 6IX dropped 1.0 share points to 5.3% with losses in its 40 to 54 demographic.
ABC Classic FM increased 1.2 share points to 3.2%, NewsRadio was up 1.3 to 2.3% and Radio National dropped 0.5 share points to 1.6%.
2GB
2GB’s Alan Jones has bounced back to win the hotly contested breakfast slot in the first ratings for 2004.
“Jones overtook his major competitor for the crown – Angela Catterns at 2BL – with a resounding 15.3, while Catterns reached 12.4. 2UE’s Mike Carlton fell away from the contest registering only seven in the survey.”
And “2GB’s great news did not stop with Jones,” according to CEO George Buschman.
Ray Hadley started 2004 with a bang, once again beating John Laws to be the Number 1 talk-back host in the 9am-Midday timeslot. Ray’s 10.2% share is 1.2% ahead of Laws who has slipped to 5th overall in the Morning slot.
Afternoon host Chris Smith regains his place as number one talk host in afternoons, while Philip Clark achieved a rise in his Drive Time audience share.
“The Ratings across the station from Evenings with Murray Wilton and Brian Wilshire, Overnights with Jim Ball, through the weekend with the Garden Clinic, Luke Bona, Mark Morazza, Dr Graham, Steve Murphy, Glenn Wheeler and Rev Bill Crews all emphasise 2GB’s position as the Number 1 Talk Station in Australia’s biggest radio marketplace.”
2GB Chief Executive Officer, George Buschman, says the ratings confirm the station’s dominance: “We could not have had a better start to the year. These are great results for us and we are delighted.
“It is significant that 2UE has made major investments and changes to the station and the marketplace noise has not translated into ratings.”
While delighted to return to the top spot, Alan Jones said it was business as usual: “We’ve been around the traps for a long time and everyone works hard here. These results are a fair reward for the effort that is being made.”
ABC 702 Sydney
ABC702 Station Manager Roger Summerill is pleased with the way 702 has kicked off the year, saying the station “remains Number 1 in the 40-64 year old demographic.”
“A record number of Sydneysiders are listening to the station, with a cumulative audience of 718,000 people, a reach well above that of any other talk station in Sydney and the highest figure on record for the station.”
Breakfast presenter Angela Catterns continues to perform strongly and consistently in the Sydney market, with a share of 12.4%. 702 Breakfast also maintains its Number 1 position in the 40+ demographic.
Drive presenter Richard Glover also maintains his stronghold over the drive time talk radio slot, with a share of 9.5%, well above his nearest competitors. 702 Drive, like Breakfast, also maintains its Number 1 position in the 40+ demographic.
“Results for Weekends on 702 ABC Sydney have also proved encouraging, with a share of 8.8%.”
“Survey 1 is a strong result across the board for 702. It also reflects the relaxed summer holiday period in Sydney. We are very pleased with the consistent performance of our station and are delighted that we are reaching more people than ever before. These results are a very encouraging start to the year and are a testament to the hard work of the 702 ABC Sydney team”.
Nova 96.9
Nova 969 is breaking out the Spumante this afternoon after becoming the leading radio station in Sydney for the first time ever.
Nova has coaxed 11.8% of Sydneysiders to give the station a try – mind you, 88% couldn’t give a toss!
Merrick and Rosso are the leading FM breakfast show (11.9%), Bianca Dye has the leading morning show (12.3%), Kip is leading afternoons (13.7%), Rabbit leads drive (12.8%), and Andy G. and Paul Murray are Sydney’s leading night shows (10.7%).
“We just want to say thanks to anyone who listens to us,” says program director Scott Muller.
General manager Mandy Wicks told radioinfo: “Nearly three years ago, Nova launched with two core promises – sounds different and never more than two ads in a row. These weren’t our ideas they came from the listeners – so good on them.”
SEN 1116
SEN’s Managing Director, Danny Staffieri told radioinfo that today’s result is extremely pleasing for the new station.
Staffieri says the station is “on target to become a competitive niche player in the Melbourne radio market.”
“We are pleased that SEN’s target market of males 25 to 54 has responded very well to the station with a result of 3.6.
“We entered the market on January 19 and after just five weeks on air, we have carved a niche for our product. I am delighted that our listeners are staying tuned to SEN 1116 throughout the day.”
5AA
General Manager Paul Bartlett told radioinfo “FIVEaa has had it’s best ever start to the year with a 14.1% share of the market this survey.”
“The first survey of the year is traditionally a tough one for talk and sport radio. Given that this result represents the highest ever Survey #1 result we have ever attained, we are in an excellent position to make 2004 a big year for FIVEaa.
“With our AFL football coverage having just begun, we expect to register even better results in the months
ahead” said Bartlett.
SAFM
“Adelaide’s number one station SAFM has topped its 39th radio survey in a row with 20.4% audience share, 3.8% higher than its nearest rival,” says Austereo General Manager Noelene Buddle.
Milly and Lehmo’s “massive appeal has continued” with their top-rating Breakfast show increasing its lead over its nearest rival by 1.8 % with 19.5 % of the total audience.
Other survey highlights for SAFM include:
* SAFM number one in all shows across the day and the top-rating FM station at night.
* Number one in the 25–54 age group, 3.1 % ahead of its nearest competitor.
* Number one with Adelaide’s 25-39 age group with 31.8 % of the audience, 7 % ahead of its nearest competitor.
Buddle says she will not take the station’s strong position for granted: “We take enormous pride in the high achievements of SAFM. It means our quest to provide the best music, entertainment and Breakfast show has been a success. We’ll continue to work hard to ensure our listeners can always trust SAFM to provide the best radio possible for years to come.”
5MMM
Triple M has increased its audience in the 18-24 demographic by 22.7%, “taking it to a clear number one position with 36.5% of the age group” in the first survey for 2004.
In the key 25-39 age group Triple M increased its audience share by 2.7% to 24.8% .
Noelene Buddle says: “We’ve always believed we’d created a station that the under 40 market has wanted for a long time.
“Listeners have been very positive about the Totally Different Triple M, so it’s great to see the results reflect that after such a short period of time.”
Triple M Survey highlights include:
* Triple M number one in the 18-24 age group with 36.5% of the total audience, an increase of 22.7%.
* Triple M number two in the 18-39 with 28.1% of the total audience, an increase of 8.4%.
“Congratulations must also go to James Brayshaw and the Cage, our brand new Breakfast Show who’ve only been on air for a matter of weeks. They’ve done a sensational job… Triple M’s momentum isn’t going to slow down with Big Brother star Jo Ashton guest host on the Freq Show from this week and Australia’s biggest listener reward scheme, the Triple M Freq Club beginning on April 5.”
Australian Radio Network
ARN station GOLD FM has become the number one FM station in Melbourne, this survey.
The ratings “show the Classic Hits station recorded an increase in audience of 1.3 points, taking its share of the competitive Melbourne radio market to 11.5%.”
GOLD FM is now the most popular FM station in Melbourne for audiences aged 10-years plus,
and the most popular station overall for audiences aged in the commercially important 25-54
year-old demographic.
In Sydney, ARN’s Classic Hits station WSFM grew its audience share by 1.6 points to 8.7%, with 101,000 additional listeners over the survey period, and is now the number 3 FM
station.
In Adelaide, ARN’s MIX 102.3 is now the second most listened to station in the city, increasing its
audience share by 5.2 points to 16.6%. The second ARN station in Adelaide, 5DN, also
increased its audience share to 6.4%.
“In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the MIX stations’ shares remained steady, and in growing
markets the number of listeners increased by 96,000, 19,000 and 36,000 respectively.”
ARN parent company CEO, APN News & Media’s Brendan Hopkins, said “the strong results across ARN’s stations should lead to even greater revenue market share gains, particularly in advertising placed through advertising agencies.
“The results we have experienced across the Australian Radio Network are excellent, and reflect
our commitment to the national success of all our stations, at a time when the competition for
listeners is greater.
“We will build on these results to ensure we continue to lead in the commercially important 25-54
demographic. Agency media buyers cannot afford to ignore these strong results and our unique
strength in our target market.”
Nova 100
Nova 100 is purging its corridors of all jinxs’. All unlucky staff have been asked to leave the building following a disappointing result in the first radio survey of the year.
General Manager Fiona Cameron said: “While the station was ranked the most popular for audiences in the demographic of 18 to 24, it wasn’t the greatest result overall.
“Obviously we need to spend more time with our sister Sydney station, Nova 969, given their outstanding result today.”
Nova 93.7
Perth’s 18 -34 year olds listen to rubbish!
NOVA 93.7 kicked off 2003 with “Nathan’s Wheelie Bin of Fortune” and despite the smell, the bins were warmly welcomed back for 2004.
“The stench didn’t turn off Perth’s 18–34 year olds, as NOVA 93.7 is by far and away their preferred choice …up from 17.2% to 20.5%,” says Managing Director, Gary Roberts.
Other rubbish you should probably know about the results includes:
Nova is Perth’s leading station with 18-24 year olds, up a massive 11.6% to 31.7%.
The station is Perth’s leading station with Under 35 year olds, with 20.9%.
NOVA 93.7 is No.2 with 18-39 year olds, just behind Mix 94.5.
Roberts told radioinfo: “in preparing for Wheelie Bin of Fortune this year, no training was necessary, as Nathan already had the extraordinary ability to talk rubbish!”
4BC
4BC Night Time host Tony Johnston “added to his burgeoning reputation as Brisbane’s brightest new radio talent with a stunning result” in the first survey,” according to General Manager David McDonald.
Johnston’s 7pm to 12 midnight show rose 2.6 share points to 12.5%, Monday to Friday.
In four months on the airwaves, the 35 year-old former Channel 7 weatherman and children’s show host has established himself with the No:1 share for all Brisbane radio listeners 25 years and over, Monday to Friday.
David McDonald boldly predicts Johnston’s appeal will broaden further during the year.
“Tony is a clearly a great talent, but he’s still very new to the medium. His show is fast moving, entertaining and intelligent. But his greatest strengths are his energy and the manner in which he relates to audience of all ages.
“This is an ongoing challenge for talkback radio – to remain relevant to its traditional audience, while broadening its appeal to younger listeners.”
While Johnston, the station’s youngest broadcaster had a great result, so too did elder statesman Col Campbell, Brisbane’s ever popular gardening guru.
Campbell’s Saturday gardening segment spearheaded a strong performance from the station’s revamped “home and lifestyle” weekend line-up, which edged up 2.6 to an 8.2% share.
4BH
Brisbane’s Easy Listening Radio Station 4BH was “the big winner” in the year’s first radio survey, recording its fifth successive rating rise, and the biggest of any station for All People 10 plus.
4BH jumped 1.2% points to 7.5%. The station’s growth came on the back of the Kim and Leisa Breakfast Show, which leapt up 1.6% points to 6.8%, the pair’s best result since teaming up in the middle of last year.
4BH General Manager, David McDonald says: “The station clearly had momentum on its side.
“Three successive rating rises, you start to take notice, but five in a row means that you’ve got a consistently good product which is hitting the mark with the target audience.
“It’s also a tremendous achievement by Kim and Leisa, who have finally been rewarded for all their hard work over the past six months.”