Radio Ratings Book 2 wrap-up

29 March 2011

by Jason Treuen

The Today Network's new Drive team Fifi & Jules bounce back as Triple M takes a dive in Sydney. 3AW and Fox FM dominate Melbourne while the Battle for Brisbane really heats up.

2GB dominates, 2DayFM stable, Nova 96.9 closes in on WSFM while Triple M takes a dive and Mix 106.5 climbs. Other cities coming shortly.

Sydney

2GB continues to lead impressively from the front in Book #2, with an overall point share of 15.6, up 0.5 on last survey and up 2.6 on Book 8 last year. Alan Jones’ breakfast show remained indomitable with 18.3 share points, despite dropping a half point.

ABC702 remained solid in second overall (+0.2 to 10.8), inching ahead of FM leader 2DayFM, which has hovered around the 10 point mark for the last three surveys (this time it’s 10.3, -0.1).

Adam Spencer’s ABC breakfast slot remains strong in second (-0.6 to 13), beating 2DayFM’s Kyle and Jackie O Show which continues to climb (+0.4 to 11.7, it was 10.5 last year Book 8).

After its fall last survey, 2DayFM’s new Drive team of Fifi Box & Jules Lund stabilised with 12.5 points (+0.1) and remains #1 in the FM drive slot. .

WSFM held onto second place on the FM band (+0.2 to 7.1) but Nova 96.9 are in hot pursuit (+0.6 to 6.9). Nova’s new look breakfast team of Merrick, Dools & Monty picked itself up from last survey (+0.5 to 6.5) and their new drive team of Wippa & Fitzy got a nice bump too (+0.5 to 7.8).

Mix 106.5 continues to rebuild itself overall (+0.2 to 5.4) and with its new-look breakfast team (+0.4 to 5).

Triple M suffered this survey overall (-0.9 to 3.8) with their rejigged brekky show also dropping (-0.4 to 3.7). At book 8 last year, it scored 5.3 and 4.7 respectively.

DMG’s troubled Classic Rock continues to wallow at the bottom (-0.4 to 2.6).

Triple J enjoyed a solid bump overall (+0.9 to 5.5) with nice gains across breakfast (+1.3 to 4.3) and the day (+1.8 mornings, afternoons).

Melbourne

Is there any stopping 3AW? The almighty AM station surged strongly overall (+2.3 to 17.3) and in breakfast (+1 to 21.0). ABC774 held steady (-0.2 to 11.1 overall, -0.1 to 13.7).

On the FM band, Fox FM remained on top overall (stable on 12.4), with nice gains for Matt & Jo at breakfast (+1.6 to 12.5). After plummeting 5.4 points last survey after the departure of full-time hosts Hamish & Andy, Fox’s new drive team of Fifi & Jules rebounded (+2.0 to 17.1).

Nova 100 held onto FM second place overall just (-0.1 to 6.5), inching out Gold FM (+0.1 to 6.4), while Triple M (-0.3 to 5.1) and Mix 101.1 (-0.5 to 5.1) tied in fourth position. Triple M’s Hot Breakfast with Eddie MacGuire remained steady with 5.9 share points, 1.1 behind Nova.

Triple J experienced a summer comedown (-1.6 to 5.1 overall), while DMG’s mired Classic Rock didn’t go anywhere (-0.1 to 2.9 overall) with its brekky slot comatose (-0.1 to 1.6 share).

Brisbane

Now this is where the real action is! In its first survey of the year (Book 1 was cancelled due to the floods), the battle for Brisbane is definitely hotting up!

FM leader B105 remains out in front overall (-0.3 to 11.8), but Nova 106.9 is breathing down its neck (+0.1 to 11.7). B105 won #1 FM brekky despite a drop (-0.4 to 11.3). Luckily for them, Nova dropped more (-0.9 to 11) to settle for second place.

B105 slid in drive (-2.4 to 16.2), with the drop shared between sister station Triple M (+0.7 to 8.9) and Nova’s Wippa & Fitzy (+0.6 to 12.5).

Overall, 97.3FM and Triple M duked it out for third place overall, with the former coming out best (-0.3 to 10.6) over the resurgent Ms (+0.8 to 10.4). At the start of 2010, Triple M was second FM.

Meanwhile, on the AM flipside, ABC612 continues its good results in 2011 (+0.6 to 11.4), way ahead of 4BC (+1.1 to 8.1), 4BH (-0.4 to 7.0) and 4KQ (-1.8 to 6.1).

Triple J held steady overall (+0.1 to 7.1) and remained strong across the day.

Adelaide

On the AM side of Adelaide, talk station 5AA continues to climb overall (+0.9 to 13.4) and in breakfast (+0.7 to 16.5). After fighting neck and neck mid-last year, ABC891 is now settling for second place (+0.7 to 10.8). Meanwhile, easy listening station Cruise 1323 is indeed cruising (-0.2 to 6.3)

On the FM battleground, Mix 102.3 maintains its lead, despite dropping half of its Book 1 gains (-0.9 to 14.7). Its breakfast show also took a hit (-1.9 to 13).

Austereo's SAFM continues to hotly pursue (+0.5 to 13.9), with solid results in Breakfast (+0.1 to 11.8) and Drive (+0.6 to 16.9 to hold first place in the slot). Amazingly, the last figure sees SAFM doing better than Hamish & Andy’s final full-time book last year (16.4 share points).

Nova 91.9 owns third place overall (+0.2 to 10.6), streaking ahead of Triple M (-0.3 to 8.5). Nova's new drive show Wippa & Fitzy saw encouraging growth too (+0.9 to 11.8).

Worryingly, Triple J took a tumble in Adelaide (-1.8 to 4.9) with losses across the board.

Perth

In the FM arena, not surprisingly Austereo’s one-two knock-out combo continues with its stations Mix 94.5 (-1.1 to 14.1 overall) and 92.9 (-0.6 to 11.6) dominating the market.

But Nova 93.7, who were fourth overall at the end of last year, is making strong inroads with healthy gains overall (+1.2 to 10.5) and breakfast (+1.8 to 11.4, achieving FM second place) and drive (+1.7 to 11.2).

96FM in fourth saw a nice boost overall (+0.5 to 10) while its brekky slot held firm (8.8).

Triple J lost a bit of its summer love (-0.6 to 8.8), but still remain strong.

On the AM dial, ABC720 remained strong (-0.4 to 11.9) and 6PR jumped (+0.6 to 9.1). 6IX continued to drop (-0.5 to 5.3).

Survey Period: Sun Jan 30 – Sat March 19. Nielsen Business Radio Survey 8, 2010, Share Movement by demographic P10+, Metropolitan Markets; Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.