Radio Ratings: The final numbers are here!

The final radio ratings of the year are here – and what a year it’s been.

There’s a new #1 FM station and Breakfast show in the hotly contested Brisbane market, but in other cities, such as Sydney, legacy shows maintained their dominance.

There’s a lot to look out for this survey. How did the struggling 2DayFM Breakfast show, The Morning Crew, perform? Can Kyle & Jackie O dethrone Ben Fordham once more (spoiler alert: no, not today)? How has the addition of Laura ‘Loz’ O’Callaghan fared for Triple M Breakfast in Adelaide? And speaking of Triple M, what about the mysterious disappearance of Lawrence ‘Moonman’ Mooney from the Triple M Sydney Breakfast show, which has since gone legal? What will audiences think of the change?

Stay tuned for more analysis and updates from TMN and Radio Today’s former editor and content director, Vivienne Kelly, throughout the morning.

SYDNEY:

#1 FM Overall: WSFM (8.8%)
#1 AM Overall: 2GB (14.5%)
#1 FM Breakfast: KIIS’ Kyle & Jackie O (10.8%)
#1 AM Breakfast: 2GB’s Ben Fordham (18.5%)
#1 FM Drive: smoothfm’s Byron Webb (9.0%)
#1 AM Drive: ABC’s Richard Glover (9.7%)

Biggest Mover Up: triple J (+1.9)
Biggest Mover Down: ABC Sydney (-2.9)

The question of whether FM favourites, The Kyle & Jackie O Show on KIIS 106.5, could once again dethrone reigning AM king Ben Fordham on 2GB has been answered. While this time around the answer is ‘no’, both shows maintained their dominance.

Fordham remained Sydney’s #1 Breakfast show on an 18.5% share (down 1.3 points from the last survey), while Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson’s show held onto the FM crown with a modest 0.1 point increase to 10.8%.

The closest competitor for Fordham was the ABC’s outgoing Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck, who finished their run on 13.2%, down 2.7 points. The duo will be replaced by James Valentine in the new year.

The closest rival for KIIS’ Kyle & Jackie O Show was actually ARN stablemate, WSFM. Amanda Keller and Brendan ‘Jonesy’ Jones had 9.1% for their Jonesy & Amanda Breakfast show, an increase of 1.2 points from last survey.

The biggest Breakfast jump, however, was reserved for Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa show. Ryan Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli took a hit in Survey 6, dropping from 6.1% to just 4.0%. This recovered 0.7 points to 4.7% last survey, and climbed a further 2.2 points this time around to 6.9%.

Unfortunately it wasn’t the same recovery story for the struggling 2DayFM Breakfast show, The Morning Crew, featuring Ed Kavalee, Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes and Erin Molan.

The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed & Erin rounded out the year on a 2.7% share, down 0.2 points.

And despite the departure of its namesake, Moonman in the Morning on Triple M stayed steady on 4.6%. Lawrence ‘Moonman’ Mooney abruptly left the show and subsequently announced he was pursuing Triple M’s parent company Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) to have his contract paid out.

Overall, 2DayFM had a 0.3 point increase to a share of 3.8% across Monday to Sunday, while Triple M was down 0.5 to 4.9%

This was no match for FM leaders WSFM, which climbed 0.7 to 8.8%, or market leader 2GB, which was down 1.2 to 14.5%.

The city’s #1 Drive show was the ABC’s Richard Glover on 9.7%, with smooth’s Byron Webb on 9.0% and KIIS’ Will & Woody not too far behind on 8.9%

MELBOURNE:

#1 FM Overall: GOLD (10.2%)
#1 AM Overall: 3AW (16.6%)
#1 FM Breakfast: GOLD’s Christian O’Connell (8.0%)
#1 AM Breakfast: 3AW’s Ross & Russel (22.8%)
#1 FM Drive: GOLD’s Gavin Miller (10.9%)
#1 AM Drive: 3AW’s Tom Elliott (13.0%)

Biggest Mover Up: Fox (+1.1)
Biggest Mover Down: 3AW (-2.3)

There was no change in the top spots in the Melbourne radio ratings, however there was somewhat of a reset with listeners making their way back to FM music stations.

Nine Radio’s 3AW was untouchable on 16.6%, despite its 2.3 point drop, as was its Breakfast show Ross & Russel on 22.8% (down 1.5). ABC Melbourne was also down 1.1 points overall to 10.1%, while Sammy J in Breakfast slipped 0.3 to 14.0%.

These losses were picked up by the likes of SCA’s Fox (up 1.1 to 6.6% overall) and Triple M (up 0.8 to 4.8%).

ARN’s KIIS also climbed 1.0 points to 5.6%, but stablemate GOLD 104.3 was down 0.8 to 10.1%.

Despite its slip, GOLD remained the city’s #1 FM station and its Breakfast program, The Christian O’Connell Show, was #1 on 8.0% (down 0.6).

Its closest competition was Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick, which recovered 1.9 points to a share of 6.6%, after a drop of 1.2 points last survey.

Down the hall, Triple M’s Marty Sheargold Show also had a stronger showing, up 1.0 to 4.6%.

Melbourne’s newest Breakfast show, Jase & Lauren featuring Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips, was up slightly to 5.0% from 4.7% last survey.

Nova 100 didn’t benefit from the same trends, and was down slightly to 6.2% overall. Its Breakfast show, Chrissie, Sam & Browny, slipped 0.8 to a 6.1% share.

Talk stations also suffered in Drive as Australia’s most locked down city began to emerge. 3AW’s Drive with Tom Elliott was down 3.3 points to 13.0%, while ABC Melbourne’s Rafael Epstein was down 2.6 to 9.2%.

The biggest beneficiary of this was KIIS’ Will & Woody, up 1.6 points to 6.8%, however the FM leader was still GOLD’s Gavin Miller on 10.9% (up 0.2).

BRISBANE:

#1 FM Overall: 97.3FM (11.2%)*
#1 AM Overall: 4KQ (10.6%)
#1 FM Breakfast: 97.3FM’s Robin, Terry & Bob (11.2%)*
#1 AM Breakfast: 4KQ’s Laurel, Gary & Mark (12.0%)
#1 FM Drive: Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel (12.5%)
#1 AM Drive: ABC Brisbane’s Steve Austin (6.4%)*

Biggest Mover Up: ABC Classic (+1.0)
Biggest Mover Down: Nova 106.9 (-1.8)

Brisbane has a new #1 station.

ARN’s 97.3FM has taken over previous market leader Nova 106.9, climbing 0.2 points to an 11.2% share. Nova, meanwhile, dropped 1.8 points to 9.7%.

The drop means Nova is also behind ARN’s 4KQ, which maintained its position as the city’s #1 AM station with a share of 10.6% (down 0.7).

The FM trends were replicated in the hotly contested Breakfast battle.

97.3’s Robin, Terry & Bob climbed 0.9 to a market-leading 11.2%. Co-host Bob Gallagher has retired and won’t be returning to the show next year.

Nova 106.9 – which lost its anchor Kip Wightman in October – was down 2.4 points in Breakfast. The show, now known as Ash, Luttsy & Susie O’Neill, had a 10.7% share.

4KQ’s Laurel, Gary & Mark, which plays ARN’s Pure Gold format, remained steady on 12.0%, making it the #1 Breakfast show.

SCA’s stations in the city, B105 and Triple M, had 8,3% and 9.1% respectively overall.

B105’s Stav, Abby & Matt in Breakfast had 8.1% (down 0.2), while Triple M’s Big Breakfast with Marty & Margaux had 8.4% (up 0.1).

The city’s love affair with Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel helped the show maintain its #1 position, however it did take a significant hit. The show was down 2.6 points to 12.5%, while 97.3’s Will & Woody climbed 0.6 to 11.1%, and B105’s Carrie & Tommy jumped 0.9 to 10.5%.