News October 27, 2015

Radio Ratings Survey #2: Kyle & Jackie O on top despite ratings drop

The second survey for 2015 is out.

Another win in Sydney for 2GB overall with KIIS 106.5 #1FM, WS FM #2FM. In Melbourne 3AW on top, ABC second and a new #1FM and #3 overall in Triple M.

Brisbane sees 97.3 in front with Nova106.9 second, ABC third. Over to Adelaide Mix102.3 still leads, ABC second with Nova 91.9 third. And in Perth Mix94.5 leads, 96fm second and Nova93.7 third.

See below for the full summary analysis for all metro areas.

SYDNEY

The movements in Sydney are minimal in this book, with the only significant (10+) moves being from 2UE and ABC702, and both in the wrong direction. As usual, the demos and departs provide more useful information. So to the analysis:

SCA

The long road for 2Day continues, with the station slipping 0.3 to 3.3% overall, and unhelpfully, the under 24 demo, which you’d expect a relaunched CHR to see as a building block, has fallen slightly.
All dayparts have fallen today, although not by much. Breakfast with ‘Dan & Maz’ has dropped a touch to 2.8%, and you would have to expect that it can only improve from there.
Triple M is basically flat – down by 0.1, so meaningless statistically.
25-39’s up, 40-54’s down – so the demos don’t really change much, and the dayparts are up and down – all contributing to a flat result overall.
Overall for SCA, it’s a kind of 'nothing' survey in Sydney. Triple M broadly consistent, and 2Day yet to see the influence, in ratings, of the changes that have been made.

A flat day for Nova Entertainment as well, with Nova remaining in #3FM on 7.6%, and smoothfm up a touch to 7.4% and #4FM.
For Nova 96.9, 25-39’s off by 1.2, with under 24’s improving.
Nova remains the leading 10-17 station; #2 18-24 and #3 25-39.
A good jump for Fitzy & Wippa today, nearly a point; Drive is now an outright #1 improving to 11.5%, and Evenings a clear #1.
Daytimes are the pressure point for Nova with Mornings and Afternoons falling, and both dayparts now #5 ranked commercial FM, and behind JJJ.
A flat result also for smoothfm; with no movements in any direction of any note; although evenings took a hit of 1.9%.
smoothfm is equal #FM 55-64 on 10.9% and on an overall basis NE would be pretty comfortable with the smoothfm result.

ARN

A pretty good result for KIIS, up a touch overall, driven by 18-24 growth – where the station is now a clear #1, ironic given it isn’t the target demo.
And whilst KIIS remains #1 25-39, it declined by a point.
The dayparts show the story. Kyle & Jackie a dominant FM show with a lead of nearly 2% over WSFM; this lead-in helps KIIS to win Mornings, and be competitive in Afternoons.
Hughesy & Kate have grown nearly a point to 10.0%; #2FM in Drive and growing.
WSFM has improved a touch overall, and is the #2FM station overall (behind KIIS).
The standout demo for WSFM is 40-54 where it is #1 by a significant margin; and it has shared the leading (FM) spot 55-64 with smoothfm.
WSFM has again had a strong Breakfast result, and whilst behind KIIS, is well ahead of the other FM stations; this provides a strong lead-in to what is a historically strong workplace listening format, and the daytime figures reflect that again.

MRN

Weird one this one; MRN technically have 3 stations in this result given they have permission to be in temporary breach of the ownership regulations. And unfortunately for them, each of the 3 stations have fallen overall.

2GB is the big dog, and whilst it has fallen, it is #1 overall by a mile so hardly any cause for concern.
Jones and Hadley are killing it, whilst Evenings have seen a big jump of nearly 3%.
Down the hall at the ‘for sale’ 2CH, down a touch, with the core 55+ demos taking a sizeable hit, and most dayparts declining.
Whomever acquires the station will have a sizeable task ahead of them to get the station rating again, it is trending down now across an extended period of time.
And at 2UE, as if they hadn't had a tough enough couple of weeks; the survey result will not provide any respite.
Down by a point overall; with the core 55+ demos taking a hit; and all dayparts declining.
The strongest dayparts remain Breakfast, Drive and Evenings; however Mornings and Afternoons are at a very low ebb for 2UE.

ABC

A mixed bag for the ABC with one doing very well, and the other having a soft result.

triplej has had a strong result, improving to 6.3% overall, now ahead of Triple M and 2Day FM.
The station took a signfiicant 'post hottest100' hit 18-24, however this was offset by growth in other demos.
they also had the pleasant experience of every daypart improving, with the daytime and drive shares particularly strong; across the day triplej leads Triple M, 2Day and Nova.
ABC702 however had a less exciting day; falling to it's lowest overall share in some time – 8.0%.
It doesn't look good to glance at the demos or dayparts; red ink everywhere. Just one of those days for ABC702 that everyone has occasionally.

MELBOURNE

Melbourne is where the action is today, plenty of big results in today's survey, with the historical FM tightness continuing.

ARN

After a pretty good start to 2015 for ARN in Melbourne, today they've come back to earth with both stations declining.

KIIS had a good S1, but a 1% fall today is going to hurt. In an admittedly tight market, KIIS has fallen to the last-placed commercial FM station overall on 6.1%.
The fall was driven heavily by 18-24's and 25-39's; both of whom declined a fair bit.
The dayparts are mostly red ink; Breakfast, Mornings and Afternoons all down by over a point; with Hughesy & Kate holding their position stable on 7.9% – the leading daypart on the station, and not a bad achievment given the softening lead-in.
So not a great KIIS result at all; but it is S2, so there'll be tweaks and adjustments, and ARN will reset from here.
Gold was largely flat, but signficantly does not win any demo in this survey. They have been leapfrogged Stephen Bradbury style by Triple M 40-54, and a big jump 55-64 sees smoothfm knock off Gold in that demo.
Gold's dayparts are either flat or off, and whilst daytimes and drive are competitive, it is pretty clear that Breakfast is not helping; whilst that daypart improved, it remains stubbornly stuck in the 5's; well below station average.
BRISBANE

Brisbane is all about 97.3 this survey, with NE increasing their share as well. Not the best round for SCA. It was a good last hurrah for the Fairfax crew at 4BC.

ARN:
While a slight drop for 97.3 they are still killing it in Brisbane. S2 secures a 14.3% share 10 plus.
While gaining in 25-39’s, they lost a few 40-54’s. 97.3 had a leap in 10-17’s, while out of their target every little bit helps.
97.3 breakfast down a little but pulling a 13.6, still places them second overall behind the ABC.
The standout is Hughesy & Kate, second survey in and they are Number 1 on drive with a 14.2 share.
Nights is up a little with all other dayparts losing some ground, but they still dominate.
4KQ had another ripper round, increasing their share to 8.7%. That places 4KQ now ahead of Triple M and hit105, great effort for the AM brand.
4KQ breakfast lost some of the ground they gained in Survey #1 but it places then ahead of Triple M this round.
SCA:
For SCA not great news out of Brisbane. Both brands taking a hit.
hit105 lost the ground it gained in the first book, down 1.1 pulling an 8.2 share.
They lost a fair whack of 10-17’s this book, also losing nearly two points in 25-39’s.
The ground Stav & Abby in breakfast made last round has gone – an 8.3% down from 9.5 last round. All other shifts for hit105 dropped share.
Triple M have copped a hit 10+. Will have to see how they went with the men overall, which is what they will be focused on. They are down to 7.6 from 8.7 last survey.
Triple M took a hit in their heartland of 40-54’s, again losing ground. 25-39’s also lost points.
For breakfast on the M’s, they now hold a 7.6 share down 0.4.
All other dayparts lost ground and not even Merrick.. and Australia escaped.
NE:
NE will be happy with the Nova 106.9 result. Up this book with an 11.6 share 10+. It still places them second in the market given ARN has a strong lead with 97.3.
Nova had some nice increases in 18-24’s and 25-39’s, with 10-17’s steady.
They face competition from triple j for 18-24’s where they are number 1 in that space but Nova are clear number 1 in 25 to 39’s overall.
Breakfast for Nova had a ripper increase, up 1.4 points to hold 11.7 of the breakfast pie.
Afternoons, drive and nights all up as well. Kate Tim and Marty gained some of the ground they lost in survey one, but they are behind 97.3.
MRN/Fairfax:
The last hurrah for the bulk of the 4BC On-Air team saw the station increase its share 10+.
Breakfast had a good increase for 4BC, up 1 point to 6.1%. Even Mornings had a good increase, also up with a 5.4 share from 4.3 last book.
All other shifts on the station increased a bit as well.
For music brand Magic882, not a great deal of movement, down marginally again this book.
Magic lost ground in their key demo’s with Breakfast and Nights were the only shifts to increase their share.
ABC:
612 ABC held its ground in Brisbane this round. A comfortable 10.7 share, which places them third in the market and way clear of any talk competitor in their space.
While Breakfast surged last survey, this round Spencer lost ground but he is still number one with the slightest of margins.
Every other shift for 612 is up, with nights and afternoons securing the biggest lift of them all.
For tripleJ, they have lost some share again this survey.
They still own 18-24’s in Brisbane but lost out with 25-39’s this round.
tripleJ breakfast is up this book with some of the other shift losing ground as well.
PERTH

ARN
A flat result for ARN’s latest acquisition, 96FM, in Perth today falling a touch to 11.3%.
That said, with Mix94.5 declining by 1%, the margin has narrowed between #1 and #2.
Big demo fluctuations for 96FM though; a massive fall in teens (which they won’t care about), a big jump 18-24, and a pretty sizeable jump 25-39; with equally sizeable hits 40+.
The dayparts, largely, fell. So not a terrible result by any stretch, but probably not the one 96FM were hoping for,
SCA
The monster in Perth that is Mix 94.5 has fallen by a point, yet remains #1 overall by 2.6%.
What will be pleasing for SCA is that the declines were largely driven out of demo, so they will ebb and flow a bit and there's not a lot you can do about it.
In their core 40-54 demo, they're solid as a rock.
92.9 moved up a touch by 0.1%. They've obviously got a hell of a mountain to climb but with all demos either flat or up marginally, that's a win for the station at the moment.
Whilst breakfast remained stubbornly flat on 5.3%, daytimes saw some good improvement.
NE
A small decline for Nova, with the station remaining #3 overall.
Nova win teens, and are #2 18-24 and 25-39 behind triplej with a strong lead over CHR competitor hit929.
A big jump in Breakfast for Nova with the station #2 FM in that daypart.
6IX
A good little jump for 6IX overall, with nearly all demos and dayparts improving.
It's 3% off #1, but in 55-64 6IX is very competitive with the bigger FM stations.
ABC
The ABC really are very strong in Perth, always have been. Both stations have done well.
triplej has improved slightly to 9.2%; well ahead of hit92.9 and 1.9% behind Nova.
A strong bookend performance in bky and drive, with daytimes declining for triplej, but overall a great result.
Much like Triple M Melbourne, ABC720 is heavily driven by Breakfast where they simply dominate. Breakfast is on a 15 share overall; now over 2 points clear of the nearest station, and whilst this strength doesn't flow through the dayparts, it is enough to give ABC720 a great 10+ result of 10.7.

ADELAIDE

This really is quite a spectacular result for Nova 91.9 in Adelaide, the under 40 figures are massive. 38% in teens, 25% 18-24's, and 21% 25-39's. In a market that is notoriously tight for revenue, Nova would be sucking a fair portion of the advertising dollars out of this market.
The dayparts are great. Bookends are very strong, daytimes are good.
Overall, whilst Nova is #2 FM, in the under 40 space it is #1 by a mile.
FIVEaa has also had a great result, up to the 11's again – due no doubt to the influence of footy.
Every daypart up, with Breakfast improving by 1% and again the #1 commercial show (behind the ABC)
A day out for the Nova Entertainment team; it will be Farmers Union Iced Coffee, Haighs Chockies and Coopers Beer all round at Hindmarsh Square today.

SCA

Unfortunately for SCA, probably not as much. hit107 did improve a touch to 6%, driven by 25-39's.
hot107 also grew in Breakfast, Mornings and Afternoons – but fell a little in Drive, and a fair bit at Nights.
So not the result SCA would have wanted for hit107, but given S1, they may have bottomed out and will look to rebuild from here.
Triple M has not had a good day; down by 1.3% overall with a massive hit 18-39 – the 25-39 component of that will hurt.
It looks like a TSL driven result, with Mornings and Afternoons copping it badly for Triple M.

ARN

Mix102.3 remains the leading station in Adelaide on 13.6%, albeit with a slight decline…but nothing ARN will be concerned about.
Mix wins 40-54 convincingly, and at least in the commercial sphere dominates 55-64.
A good improvement in Breakfast – nearly pipping FIVEaa, but just not quite.
Cruise fell by 0.9, driven by 55+ demos – so not great; that said, a low-cuming station such as Cruise will always be at the mercy of where the diaries fall, and for an AM music station to be 8.3% overall in a metro market is pretty healthy by any measure.

ABC

Nice one for triplej – up in every demo, and the #2 station 18-24 and 25-39 (behind Nova).
This was largely driven out of workdays, in particular a big jump in Mornings.
A flat ABC 891 result, but still strong as an ox.
ABC891 is #2 overall on 12.5%, and much like Perth, this is driven out of a powerhouse Breakfast performance with the station winning that daypart by a mile on 18%.

Source: RadioToday