Radio Ratings: SCA’s B105 Brisbane topples Nova in Survey 2

Staff Writer

Welcome to Radio Today’s coverage of the second metro radio survey of 2021.

The results from GfK’s Survey 2 will be published below at 9:30am AEST.

Hit the refresh button throughout the day for all the key takeaways from each metro market, and early next week, we’ll bring you insights from content bosses across the major networks.

READ: The 3pm battle: Why one hour of radio has all the networks picking up their game

Editor Vivienne Kelly and publisher Jake Challenor will also bring you all the highlights from today’s results on the Radio Today Tonight podcast before the week is out.

Meantime, you can circle back to Survey 1 here and past radio ratings analysis here.


SYDNEY:

#1 FM Overall: smoothfm
#1 AM Overall: 2GB
#1 FM Breakfast: KIIS’ Kyle & Jackie O
#1 AM Breakfast: 2GB’s Ben Fordham
#1 FM Drive: KIIS FM’s Will & Woody*
#1 AM Drive: ABC’s Richard Glover

Biggest Mover Up: WSFM (+1.7)
Biggest Mover Down: 2GB (-1.0)

2DayFM’s The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed & Erin was unable to maintain its upwards trajectory this survey, falling 0.6 share points to a share of 3.8%.

This puts the show – comprised of Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes, Ed Kavalee and Erin Molan – well behind Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) stablemate Triple M, which has Moonman in the Morning on 6.7% (up 0.3), as well as Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa, which is on 6.9% (up 0.4). NOVA Entertainment stablemate smoothfm was up 0.2 points to 7.5%, while Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) WSFM bounced back by 2.0 points, putting Jonesy & Amanda on 7.7%.

After Survey 1, ARN’s chief content officer Duncan Campbell, said he was confident Jonesy & Amanda would recover from their decline.

In the FM battle, it was ARN’s KIIS FM on top once again, with Kyle & Jackie O jumping 1.1 points to 10.9%.

On AM, the battle became tighter, with the ABC’s Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck climbing 0.5 points to a 13.2% share, while Ben Fordham on Nine Radio’s 2GB fell 2.6 points to 15.5%.

In Drive, meanwhile, the ABC was on top, with a 12.2% share (down 1.1 points) for Richard Glover, while 2GB’s Jim Wilson fell one point to a 7.0% share.

KIIS FM’s 3PM Pick Up and Will & Woody dominated the FM Drive battle, up 1.5 points to a 10.0% share for the timeslot. Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel climbed 0.8 points to give them a run for their money, up 0.8 to a 9.7% share.

Overall in audience share for people aged 10+, 2GB slipped one point but remained on top with 13.4%, ahead of ABC’s 11.8% share.

NOVA’s smooth won the FM battle on a 9.3% share (down 0.1), ahead of KIIS’ 8.9% (up 1.0).

2Day suffered a small blow, falling 0.3 points to a 3.9% share.


MELBOURNE:

#1 FM Overall: GOLD FM
#1 AM Overall: 3AW
#1 FM Breakfast: GOLD’s Christian O’Connell
#1 AM Breakfast: 3AW’s Ross & Russel
#1 FM Drive: GOLD’s Gavin Miller
#1 AM Drive: 3AW’s Tom Elliott

Biggest Mover Up: NOVA (+0.8)
Biggest Mover Down: Magic & smooth (-0.5)

There was no movement in the leaderboard in Melbourne, with 3AW dominating both overall (16.9% share, up 0.6) and in Breakfast. The Nine Radio station’s Ross & Russel Breakfast program fell 0.7 points, but was still well ahead of any competition on a 21.5% share.

3AW won the battle in Drive too, with Tom Elliott’s program jumping 1.6 points to a 14.7% share.

The leader on FM also remained the same, with ARN’s GOLD 104.3 shifting up 0.3 points to an 11.3% share, while Christian O’Connell’s Breakfast show fell 0.6 to an 8.3% share.

Fox’s refreshed Breakfast lineup of Fifi Box, Brendan Fevolva and newcomer Nick Cody remained stable on 7.2%. SCA stablemate Triple M, which has the new The Marty Sheargold Show in the slot, was also stable, remaining on a 6.2% share.

KIIS’ Jase & PJ – which has a new EP and recently announced co-host Polly ‘PJ’ Harding would be departing mid-year – slipped back 0.6 points to a 5.6% share.

In FM Drive, GOLD’s Gavin Miller remained on top with 10.7%, while Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel benefitted from a 1.5 point increase, taking the show to 9.2%. The show swapped places with Fox’s Carrie & Tommy, which fell 0.7 points to 8.8%.


BRISBANE:

#1 FM Overall: B105*
#1 AM Overall: 4KQ
#1 FM Breakfast: B105’s Stav, Abby & Matt*
#1 AM Breakfast: 4KQ’s Laurel, Gary & Mark*
#1 FM Drive: Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel
#1 AM Drive: ABC Radio’s Steve Austin
Biggest Mover Up: 4KQ (+2.0)
Biggest Mover Down: triple j (-1.5)

Brisbane has a new #1 radio station, with SCA’s B105 jumping 0.9 points to an 11.1% share.

This dominance was replicated in Breakfast, with the Stav, Abby & Matt show- with Stav Davidson, Abby Coleman and Matty Acton – climbing 1.0 points to an 11.3% share, making it the #1 FM Breakfast show.

The only show to beat it was 4KQ’s Laurel, Gary & Mark with a 12.0% share, up 1.2 points.

The Hit Network station narrowly beat Nova’s Ash, Kip & Luttsy with Susie O’Neill, which slipped 0.2 points to an 11.2% share.

Triple M’s The Big Breakfast with Marto & Margaux fell 0.4 points to a 10.2% share, while 97.3’s Robin, Terry & Bob fell 0.3 to a 9.7% share.

In Drive, Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel was on top with a 13.3% share, down 1.5 points, while B105’s Carrie & Tommy jumped 0.8 points to an 11.0% share. Triple M’s mix of highlights from The Marty Sheargold Show followed by Molloy was down 0.5 points to 10.3%, while 97.3’s 3PM Pick Up and Will & Woody was up 1.2 points to 10.1%.

Overall, the closest competitor to B105 was ARN’s 4KQ, up 2.0 points to an 11.0% share, while Nova was on 10.6% (down 0.8), 97.3 on 10.2% (up 0.3), and Triple M on 10.0% (up 0.1).


ADELAIDE:

#1 FM Overall: Mix
#1 AM Overall: Cruise
#1 FM Breakfast: Mix’s Erin Phillips & Soda
#1 AM Breakfast: ABC Radio’s Ali Clarke
#1 FM Drive: Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel
#1 AM Drive: Cruise’s Mark Elliston

Biggest Mover Up: Triple M/ Nova (up 1.1)
Biggest Mover Down: triple j (down 1.8)

Despite the recent turmoil at Mix 102.3 in Adelaide, the station remained #1 in the city, with a 13.5% share, up 0.5 points.

Its troubled Breakfast show, Erin Phillips & Soda, also managed to stay on top, climbing 1.1 points to a 12.0% share.

In second place in FM Breakfast was Nova’s Ben & Liam, which was up 1.9 points to a 9.8% share.


PERTH:

#1 FM Overall – Nova
#1 AM Overall – 6PR
#1 FM Breakfast – Nova’s Nathan, Nat & Shaun
#1 AM Breakfast – 6PR’s Gareth Parker*
#1 FM Drive – Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel
#1 AM Drive – 6PR’s Oliver Peterson

Biggest Mover Up: 6PR
Biggest Mover Down: ABC

All of Perth’s new Breakfast shows had an increase in audience share this survey, however the stability of Nova’s Nathan, Nat & Shaun kept it on top with a 14.9% share (down 0.3 points).

Mix 94.5 – now part of the Hit Network – was second with a 12.2% share, up 0.2 points. The show transformed this year following the departure of Dean ‘Clairsy’ Clairs. It now features Pete Curulli in his place, as well as Matt Dytynski and Kymba Cahill, forming the Pete, Matt & Kymba show.

Nine Radio’s 6PR also had a number of lineup changes recently, with Breakfast co-host and Perth Mayor Basil Zempilas departing and then popping up at the new Triple M. Gareth Parker took over Breakfast this year, and this survey the show climbed 1.1 points to an 11.9% share.

Next up was 96FM, which said goodbye to Fred Botica and the legacy Botica’s Bunch radio brand during the survey period. He was replaced by SCA’s Clairs to form The Bunch alongside co-host Lisa Shaw. The station had a 1.5 share point bump to 10.4% in the timeslot.

Finally, the new Triple M team of Zempilas, Xavier Ellis and Jenna Clark, jumped 0.7 points to 8.4%.

Much of the growth in the new shows was possible due to declines at the ABC, with ABC Perth slipping 2.2 points in Breakfast to 7.0%, and Radio National down 1.2 points to a 1.8% share. ABC Classic also fell 0.2 points to 2.2%.

It was a similar story in Drive, with the commercial stations enjoying small bumps at the expense of the ABC. On top in Drive was Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel, up 0.4 points to 15.2%. The closest competitor was Mix with Carrie & Tommy on 12.3% (up 0.1).

Overall the #1 station was Nova on 13.3%, despite a 0.3 point drop.


Stations and shows marked with an asterisks [*] signal a change from the last survey.

Comment Form

Your email address will not be published.

Recent comments (41)
Post new comment
Joel Hitchines
15 Apr 2021 - 9:40 am

you shpould check the breakfast results for Brisbane. It looks like 4KQ is No 1 there

    15 Apr 2021 - 10:21 am

    Hi Joel,

    Thank you.

    The Brisbane results were briefly wrong, and it took some time to update due to the server crashing. Apologies and thank you for flagging.

    It has been fixed.

    Vivienne – Radio Today

Anon
15 Apr 2021 - 9:58 am

Whoever wrote the Brisbane Summary ….. Get It Right!!!
4KQ is Number 1 Breakfast OVERALL and AM, Not ABC.
Did you even look at the results ???

    15 Apr 2021 - 10:19 am

    Hi ‘Anon’,

    The Brisbane results were briefly wrong, and it took some time to update due to the server crashing. Apologies and thank you for flagging.

    It has been fixed.

    Vivienne – Radio Today

Jamie
15 Apr 2021 - 10:00 am

No Melbourne analysis?

    15 Apr 2021 - 10:17 am

    Hi Jamie,

    There is Melbourne analysis. The page is just struggling to update for a few visitors as the site/ server is lagging a bit with the traffic.

    Thanks,
    Vivienne – Radio Today

Peter Johnson
15 Apr 2021 - 10:11 am

So the 2Day FM Breakfast show drops to 3.8%. What a joke .

Anyone who claimed they would rate around 5% should be embarrassed.

As predicted, Dave Hughes doesn’t really care as he will rate poorly all year, collect a few million dollars then leave the station in December

Grant B
15 Apr 2021 - 10:15 am

Hughsey – we have a problem

We are paying you millions of dollars and the ratings suck!

Michael
15 Apr 2021 - 10:18 am

CARRIE AND TOMMY a 4 share in drive, what a joke.

Tish
15 Apr 2021 - 10:19 am

Time for 2DayFM to scrap the shows with people taking over each other and laughing at lame jokes and just play music.
None of these shows are working.
How embarrassing not even getting 5 percent given the station’s heritage and huge ratings of the past.
Seems they are content to wallow at the bottom.

Duncan
15 Apr 2021 - 10:21 am

Perhaps SCA will now insist on Hughesy and Ed move to Sydney instead of just posting the odd “ visited Sydney here’s me in front of the harbour bridge “ pic.
It’s over, SCA have blown it yet again, what a waste of shareholders money.

Hkn
15 Apr 2021 - 10:47 am

@ Peter Johnson

Guilty!Probably that was myself who thought they can reach 4-5%.
I don’t feel embarrassed, I’m just a simple guy who is into media and ratings….just chill out mate.
We can see now that 2Day is dead….nothing is working there. You were right, Morning Crew its just boring but I still can not understand why KIIS breakfast is #1FM…for me it’s just ‘morning brainwashing show’ Thanks God that overall they are behind AM stations.

On the other hand…what’s going on @Perth. Very steady ratings, they swapped stations, so many changes and nothing is happening in %.

Craig Huggins
15 Apr 2021 - 10:51 am

Shout to my mates at Cruise 1323 Adelaide. Correctly listed here as No.1 AM, but also the No. 2 station overall, just a whisker behind stablemate Mix 102.3. Cruise is a little team that punches way above it’s weight range, and to be the number 2 music station in the city, and on AM, is noteworthy.

Steve
15 Apr 2021 - 10:56 am

Where’s the summary for Perth? Poor form!

    15 Apr 2021 - 11:33 am

    Hi Steve,

    The Perth analysis is available now. We don’t have long between being given the figures and the embargo lifting – so throw in some internet issues, overwhelmed servers and (metaphorical) spot fires, and it can very quickly become impossible to get done on time.

    I appreciate your enthusiasm for the data / analysis, but disagree that it equates to poor form in this instance. Just poor internet and limited resources – a plight I’m sure most people in Australian media would understand.

    Thanks,
    Vivienne – Radio Today

Dan
15 Apr 2021 - 11:19 am

In Sydney Will and Woody beating Kate Tim and Joel awesome work boys.

Kevin
15 Apr 2021 - 11:38 am

Hughesy is good but Ed and Erin aweful, even worse than Fitzy and Wippa.

Syd
15 Apr 2021 - 12:06 pm

Love that ABC Classic is outrating 2Day in the evenings and on weekends. Move over RnB Fridays, hello Tchaikovsky Tuesdays.

Bruce
15 Apr 2021 - 12:15 pm

My only comment on SCA and 2Day ratings is “ Hows the ListNr App going “

Peps
15 Apr 2021 - 12:28 pm

Great summary.

The fine people at 2Day will be scratching their heads on what to do next. At least they’re beating Nova in mornings…it’s one positive…

Anthony X
15 Apr 2021 - 12:42 pm

Now that Brisbane has fallen for Nova, the only station that is doing ok is Perth. No big markets at al. I would be interested in other peoples views but it just feel like there’s nothing née happening on the stations and they feel like they’re on repeat autopilot. No new innovations, no marketing and nothing happening on the on demand space. I’m sure we’ll hear the same old ‘we’re really happy with this survey’ and ‘its a 2 horse race’ and ‘blah blah’ but where’s the accountability in at Nova to improve from there middle to low end of the road position. The nova network needs a spark and some fresh thinking.

Brisben
15 Apr 2021 - 1:20 pm

At the risk of sounding like a lot of other angry commenters.

4kq is a 60 year old am music radio station with zero marketing. How is it getting to number 1 breakfast not the overwhelmingly interesting takeout of Brisbane?

Brendan
15 Apr 2021 - 1:32 pm

The 97.3 situation in Brisbane is laughable – sacked Robin when the show was at number 1 over what history seems to have shown was a power move by management, it’s totally backfired on them and the new show never took off, so then they go groveling back to Robin in the hope it’ll return them to where they were.
But the damage is done and the game playing failed.

It is BEYOND me how the boss of 97.3 hasn’t been moved to just focus on 4KQ and ARN doesn’t work their backside off to try and recruit someone from b105, who seems to have stolen 97.3’s format and then beaten them at it.

Radio Nerd
15 Apr 2021 - 1:41 pm

Massive congratulations to WSFM. Huge jump! Wouldn’t be surprised if Jonesy & Amanda surpassed Kyle & Jackie O next survey or the one after. They are sounding better then ever and there digital presence is fantastic.

A great result for 4KQ in Brisbane as well. A fantastic little station with another great breakky show! Kudos all round.

Eon Fox
15 Apr 2021 - 1:43 pm

To Brisben,

How did a 60 year old music station get within 0.1% of being No.1 in Brisbane?

Answer: Music. It’s all about the music.

Brisben #2
15 Apr 2021 - 1:56 pm

@brisben

The Courier Mail certainly thought so;

“Nova toppled in major Brisbane radio ratings reshuffle
Nova has lost its Brisbane radio crown, but the big story of the ratings survey was underdogs and new breakfast leader 4KQ, which recorded a huge swing”

Marty
15 Apr 2021 - 2:52 pm

SCA should run Steve Price as 2DAYFM breakfast instead of on the LiStNr App.

John Preston
15 Apr 2021 - 5:04 pm

Brisbane breakfast results still not correct … 4KQ was No1 in breakfast at 12%! The summary doesn’t even mention this and suggests B105 is No 1 in breakfast!! Incidently they were only 0.1 ahead of 4KQ overall. Credit where credit is very much due … welll done 4KQ!!!

Hkn
15 Apr 2021 - 5:28 pm

@Radio Nerd

Yes, big jump WSFM after Survey 1 when was big drop…so now is back to ‘normal’ for them lol

Joey
15 Apr 2021 - 5:30 pm

Actually, a good suggestion to try out Steve Price on 2Day. It’s not like SCA does not already dabble in talkback and speaking with newsmakers on a daily program. Consider the national NightShift program on Triple M and The Spoonman breakfast show on Triple M in Hobart.

But…Steve Price? On 2Day?

And why not?

If Carrie Bickmore from 10’s The Project on Drive, why not Steve Price from The Project on breakfast?

Also consider the few things 2Day have going for it.

ARN (both Edge and KIIS) Nova and Triple J have forced 2Day into lightweight ratings across the age board, yet 2Day maintains a broad age appeal and so it ought to pivot against whichever competitors (WSFM, Smooth, 2GB included) that repositions it locally, regardless of how Hit Network is branded nationally.

If SCA can shift Perth’s Mix 94.5 (of all stations) from one network affiliatiion to another with considerably local T.L.C., it is smart enough to cease imposing cookie-cutter plans on 2Day.

I would furthermore let Fox and B105 lead the Hit Network (a reflection of the reality) and let 2Day try something different at night – love song dedications a safe bet (always a market for love, otherwise far fewer of us would be here). In other words, give 2Day a consistent 24/7 sound and drive it for a few years to build a brand listeners clearly understand and relate to.

Elsewhere, SEN must be wondering if a stronger companion for SEN in Melbourne might have been an uncompromised 2CH still on the AM frequency. 2CH remains competitive on DAB+ yet 2UE’s task has clearly been made easier by being the exclusive AM music selection.

The stellar result at 4KQ compares with the decline of music on AM in Sydney and Melbourne (yet with a return to music on Melbourne’s Magic and 3MP the only available tactic to turn those stations around).

Neil
15 Apr 2021 - 10:13 pm

Do the same people who get a survey diary (or whatever they call it nowadays) fill in for both AM/FM and DAB ? For instance is there a box to tick if you listened to 2DAY on FM or 2 DAY on DAB.I think your site should do a story on how these ratings are compiled and show what a survey diary looks like. A station like MMM has about 5 stations on DAB, so does this split the audience ? How do they work out who gets a diary and how often do new people get chosen. Does anyone out there know anyone who’s had a diary. I would love to know how this works.

Bah humbug
15 Apr 2021 - 10:15 pm

Really in depth Adelaide analysis.

AJ
16 Apr 2021 - 9:15 am

I still don’t get why you split the AM vs FM results, particularly in markets like Brisbane and Adelaide where the No. 1 AM station is a MUSIC station. Makes no sense at all.

Also the focus of the commentary is really off – the BIG story from this survey is 4KQ and CRUISE, both at No. 2 overall in their markets. 4KQ No. 1 overall at breakfast. AM music stations schooling the FM’s, that’s the story. As another poster called it, it’s all about the music.

I can’t believe ARN don’t realise they need to make big changes with 97.3. Sounding like a B105/Nova clone isn’t cutting it. They need to refocus the music towards soft AC/AC.

Syd
16 Apr 2021 - 11:54 am

@ AJ.

Happy to explain why the results for FM and AM stations are often split. Share is calculated by taking the average audience number and expressing it as a percentage of the total amount of people listening to radio at that time. So let’s take 2GB Breakfast where the average audience number is 134,000. There’s a total of 863,000 radio listeners during this period, meaning that 2GB breakfast has a share of 15.5%. Now that we know this, let’s bring cumulative audience and Time Spent Listening (TSL) into the mix. Cumulative audience is essentially the number of listeners who tuned in for a minimum of 7-and-a-half minutes to a particular day part during a 7-day period. FM traditionally has a higher cumulative audience than AM (i.e.: KJ = 622,000 vs. Fordham: 466,000). However, AM stations will often have a higher share due to their strong TSL. There are some advertisers that prefer running spots to a bigger audience (i.e.: higher cuming stations) whilst others like the idea of a more captive audience (AM stations). So, to go back to your initial question as to why AM and FM are often split, it’s because both favour a slightly different metric due to their targeted audience. If you take television ratings, they’re rarely ever expressed as a share, rather they favour the average audience number. Anyway, hope this helps.

AJ
16 Apr 2021 - 3:59 pm

@Syd

Thanks for that. But it still doesn’t make sense in Brisbane and Adelaide where the dominant AM stations aren’t talk stations, they’re music stations. I would expect 4KQ and Cruise have similar listening characteristics to their rival music stations (on FM), moreso than talk station rivals.

Neil
17 Apr 2021 - 12:59 pm

Hi Sid. Where do you get the 863,000 & 134,000 figures from as they aren’t listed anywhere on the chart. And how do they (GFK) know there’s 863,000 listeners. Is it guesswork ? I need to know please.

Duncan
18 Apr 2021 - 5:49 am

Nova’s newish drive show is now being beaten by Will and Woody who are not exactly world beaters but winning nonetheless. This must be of great concern for Nova. I’m guessing the KIIS show is quite a bit cheaper than Nova’s. And Marty at 3pm no ones listening.

Duncan
18 Apr 2021 - 6:01 am

Saw the spin about Nova’s new drive show with Joel Creasy being Number One in Australia, how can that be ? It’s actually the Number 3 Show in Sydney and Number Four show in Melbourne. Looks like SCA poaching Marty Sheargold was the great move. Kudos to SCA for backing a major talent like Sheargold. Sounds like Nova has some work to do on the Kate and Joel show and also on their press releases.

DC
18 Apr 2021 - 6:25 am

WARNING The Nova breakfast show in Melbourne is the number 4 show in that market. It’s being trumpeted as the most listened to show in Melbourne. We measure ratings on Share in Australia and also in the US. Number 1 cume means nothing, usually just a byproduct of format, music rotations etc TSL contributes to share and TSL is the true measure of how effective the programming, content, music, talent is. This is not the UK.

Robert
18 Apr 2021 - 6:28 am

In the CHR contest FOXFM still beating Nova. Congratulations Amanda and her team. Amanda is now the most successful female CD in Australia, official.

Robert's Friend
19 Apr 2021 - 12:12 pm

Robert,

Taking a station that’s been number 1 for decades to number 3 does not make you successful.

Jobs

See all