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Smooth FM is now Sydney’s No.1 radio station, overtaking 2GB* in the fourth ratings survey of the year.
The music-based network attracted 12.3 per cent of the available audience – just 0.1 percentage point lower than its previous result – while 2GB suffered the greatest loss of any broadcaster, falling 2 points to 11.6 per cent.
2GB breakfast host Ben Fordham is still No. 1, despite the station’s overall losses.Credit: James Brickwood
Although Kiis remains in third place, it enjoyed the biggest increase during the 10-week survey period, climbing 1.1 points to an audience share of 10.4 per cent. Classic hits station Gold ranked fourth, followed by Nova, ABC Sydney, Triple M and 2Day FM.
It is important to note that survey time slots do not always correspond precisely with program time slots.
ABC Sydney continues to struggle, posting losses in every time slot except evenings. Overall, the station fell 0.5 points to an audience share of 5.7 per cent, while ABC Classic declined by the same amount to 2.5 per cent. But there was better news for ABC’s other stations, with Triple J (3.9 per cent), NewsRadio (1.6 per cent) and Radio National (1.2 per cent) all posting moderate gains.
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In the lucrative breakfast slot, 2GB’s Ben Fordham retains his crown with a 14.7 per cent share, followed by Kiis’ Kyle and Jackie O program on 13.9 per cent and Smooth’s Bogart Torelli on 9.2 per cent.
Gold’s Jonesy & Amanda program – which is rumoured to be moving to the drive slot, to make way for a networked version of the Melbourne-based Christian O’Connell Show – earned a 9 per cent audience share, while ABC Sydney’s Craig Reucassel claimed 8 per cent.
In mornings, ABC Sydney’s Hamish Macdonald fell to eighth position with a share of 4.6 per cent. He replaced previous host Sarah Macdonald (no relation), whose axing late last year sparked a backlash from loyal listeners.
Smooth’s Ty Frost now dominates the morning slot on 13.7 per cent, while 2GB’s Mark Levy dropped 2.5 points to 13 per cent.
Music-based stations did especially well in drive, with Smooth’s Byron Webb on 12.3 per cent, Kiis’ Will & Woody on 11.6 per cent and Nova’s Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel on 8.1 per cent.
Kiis’ Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O enjoyed the biggest rise of any breakfast show, up 1.4 points at 13.9 per cent.Credit:
Of the digital-only broadcasters, which operate on the DAB+ platform, hip-hop and R&B station CADA was No. 1 with a cumulative audience of 146,000, ahead of Coles Radio on 115,000 and iHeartAustralia on 107,000. (While traditional stations use market share as their main metric, DAB+ stations – which have significantly smaller audiences – measure their performance in terms of weekly listeners.)
More than 4.57 million people listened to a major Sydney radio station each week during this survey period – across AM, FM, digital and online platforms – compared with 4.59 million in the previous survey.
* Nine is the owner of 2GB and this masthead.
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