Sydney Talk Radio stations 2UE and 2GB/2CH are fighting a war of words, and advertisements, about their audiences. A series of ads in Sunday newspapers over recent weeks have highlighted various ratings figures of station presenters. Selective commentary on the figures is happening behind the scenes as the stations try to re-position each other.

The 2UE focus is on trying to show that 2GB’s new audience is older, and therefore, not as attractive to advertisers. The 2GB/2CH focus is on the morning shift, using cume figures to show how well Bob Rogers and Ray Hadley are doing against John Laws.

This week’s ads for instance use Rogers’ 2CH cume figures (from his weekend as well as his morning shift) to show that he has 274,000 listeners per week compared with Laws’ 261,000 listeners. The 2UE ad highlights Laws’ Sydney share figures to show he is number one morning show behind 2DAY and 2GB. Neither ad mentions regional figures.

Rogers and Laws have fought eachother for morning slot supremacy more than once in both their long careers. The big question is whether advertisers will be convinced by the current shennanigans or whether the biggest winners will be the newspapers taking the ad boookings.