News October 27, 2015

Radio Ratings Survey #5: Full analysis

Today marksa big day for the radio sector with Survey 5 released this morning.

Another win in Sydney for 2GB overall but big news for Nova Entertainment with smoothfm now the new Number #1 FM. In Melbourne 3AW are on top, whilst Triple M is now #1 FM outright.

Brisbane sees 97.3 in front again, in Adelaide Mix102.3 still leads, and in Perth Mix 94.5 leads.

Please see below for the full analysis of each metro territory.

SYDNEY

Sydney is the ‘tale of the two bands’ today, with the AM band pretty stable, and the FM’s jumping around a fair bit. To the networks:

NOVA ENTERTAINMENT

Celebrations in Sydney for Nova Entertainment as smoothfm goes #1 FM for the first time with an 8.2 share – and they’re not number #1 by a small margin, they’ve done it in style with a 1 point jump, and lead WSFM by 0.6.
Every demo improved, and smoothfm is now #1 FM in Mornings (equal with JJJ) and Afternoons, and #2 FM in Drive.
A very exciting result for the NE team with smoothfm, and they will celebrate this result all night long Lionel Richie style.
Not as much to celebrate for Nova 96.9 with a decline to 6.6 overall, although with the Sydney FM band being tight this survey, Nova is only 1.6 behind smoothfm.
Dayparts were flat for Nova with not much movement, aside from drive where they have fallen half a point, with the audience appearing to go to a surging Hamish & Andy on 2Day.

SCA

2Day has jumped up 10+ to a 4.4%, off the back of big numbers from Hamish & Andy – and will have their sights on a Nova scalp.
All eyes for 2Day were on Drive, and they won’t be disappointed. Hamish & Andy have added 2.7% to the drive share despite only being on-air for half the survey – which is not good signs for Nova and KIIS.
2Day drive now sits on 6.5%, a point behind KIIS, and 3 points behind Nova – with both of those two stations declining in Drive.
However the flow-on to Breakfast hasn’t been massive. ‘Dan and Maz’ improved 0.6 to 3.9%, still a long way off the pace, and with networks starting to look to 2016, they’d be feeling nervous.
2Day moved up a little in daytimes, but they will be looking for further growth from Hamish & Andy to drive the station’s growth.
Rough day at the office for Triple M Sydney, falling by 1.4%.
25-39’s are solid, with Triple M still #1 – although sharing with triplej, the damage was done 18-24 and 40-54 where the station copped a whack.
The dayparts for Triple M are ugly. Down in Breakfast, and the falls continued through the day like a kind of radio bear market.

ARN

The golden haired child of Australian Radio has been ARN for a while now, but in Sydney today, it is a perfect storm of reality for them.
They’ve lost the #1 FM mantle to smoothfm, with WS falling to #2FM, and KIIS to #3 overall.
And KIIS has been heavily impacted in drive by the return of Hamish & Andy, falling nearly 2 points to see Hughesy & Kate ranked in 2nd last FM position.
KIIS particularly suffered 25-39's with the evaporation of a massive amount of share, and a decent fall teens probably didn't help.
Kyle & Jackie fell 0.8 to sit in the #2 FM position now, behind WSFM.
WS have fallen overall with the declines largely in target, and primarily across 9-4 where the station fell overall.
Drive on WS held up well in the face of new competition and sits with a cluster of stations around the 7 mark.

MRN

Pretty quiet result for the 3 MRN stations with all going up by a little bit – 2CH leading the way with a 0.7 jump.
2GB is, again, #1 overall by a mile driven by a dominant 55+ performance, and a massive Breakfast share from Alan Jones.
2UE appears to be held up by a creditable Breakfast performance (5.4%) and as usual a very strong weekends share.
And the seemingly on again off again sale didn't impact 2CH today with the station up 0.7, driven by workday listening.

ABC

One up one down. triplej has had a ripper result, up to 7% overall – ahead of Nova, Triple M and 2Day.
triplej is now equal #1 25-39, equal #1 FM in Mornings, #2 FM in Afternoons.
A very impressive result in Sydney for the J's today.
ABC 702 fell again, and is now underperforming quite significantly compared to what they would like to be doing.
Falls in the key demos, falls in every daypart (aside from Mornings) make a rough survey for ABC702.

MELBOURNE

Melbourne is an SCA book today…and it's been a while, but a nice one for Craig Bruce to bow out on in this market.

SCA

If anyone doubted that Hamish & Andy still had it, they won't be now. On-air for half the total survey period (both waves), and they've added 1.5% to Drive, and taken the daypart to #1 overall.
Fox have risen off the back of that with Breakfast up half a point to 7.3, and daytimes seeing good increases.
But it's the demos that really tell the story – Fox was already #1 18-39, but now it completely monsters that demo.
Overall, Fox didn't quite get to #1, but you'd have to think it will happen next survey. The station is #3 FM on 8.3, just 0.1 behind Gold and 0.2 behind Triple M.
Triple M also had a reasonably good result – flat overall, but up in target, and a few ups and downs through the dayparts that evened themselves out.
However, any day you are #1 FM, and #1 FM Breakfast, is a good day…so Triple M will be pleased today.

Not a good day in Melbourne for Nova Entertainment, now having the bottom two ranked FM stations in the market.
Nova was in last place prior to the survey, and has fallen further behind to sit on a 6.1 share.
Nova is ranked #2 18-24 behind Fox, and #4 25-39 behind Fox, KIIS and Triple M.
Breakfast on Nova has fallen to a 5.2 share to be equal last with smoothfm, and Mornings and Afternoons are also in the bottom position.
In the context of the overall station performance, 'Kate, Tim and Marty' on drive have done extremely well to be flat on a 8.7% share in the #3 FM position.
And the news isn't much better at smoothfm, who have copped a big whack overall to fall to 6.4% and ahead only of Nova on the FM band.
The key demos were down for smoothfm, although 65+ they improved, but the damage was done in the workday where the station has fallen heavily in what is its heartland listening dayparts.
Whilst NE will be celebrating in Sydney, it's a pretty rough day in Melbourne.

ARN

ARN have had a mixed day in Melbourne. Gold FM fell slightly, but enough to lose the #1 FM mantle to Triple M.
Breakfast fell a touch, and daytimes did as well – but Gold remains #2 FM Breakfast and #1 FM across the day, so not bad there.
Drive held up well in the face of the H&A launch, and improved it's share to 7.9% overall; equal #3 FM.
KIIS has fallen a touch overall, and sits in #4 FM position overall.
The Drive performance was up, and whilst Hughesy & Kate have slipped to #2 behind Hamish & Andy, they have improved their share overall.
For KIIS the workday was off enough to impact overall share.

MRN

A good, if unexciting, day for MRN.
3AW up half a point, and #1 overall – and #1 in Breakfast, Mornings, Afternoons, Evenings and Weekends. In Drive, 3AW is #2 (behind Fox).
Magic up a touch, with daytimes and evenings leading the way.
So a solid, if not spectacular result for MRN – but they'll take that every day of the week.

SEN

Similar story with SEN – right in the guts of the footy season, flatt-ish on a 4.3 overall, with a solid 25-54 performance, and what would undoubtedly be strong male figures.
No real movement of note in the dayparts – just a solid, steady as she goes result for SEN.

ABC

Both ABC stations down in Melbourne; triplej off a touch to be 0.3% behind Nova.
However, triplej improved significantly 25-39 to be #1 in the demo by 4% or so on 17.5%. All other demos fell.
Breakfast has grown on triplej to a 5.5% share; ahead of Nova and smoothfm.
ABC774 fell 0.7 overall, largely driven by 65+ declines.
And the seesaw Jon Faine vs Neil Mitchell battle continues, with the spoils going to Mitchell at 3AW this time in Mornings; Faine slipping 2.2% to 12.6%.

BRISBANE

ARN

Brisbane still sees 97.3 dominate the market, and while they and Nova 106.9 both lost some ground – 97.3 takes the prize.

A drop of .7 this round for 97.3, they still hold a lead over Nova with a 13.3% share.
In 18 to 39’s they had some good increases but the upper end took a bit of hit. There was also a correction in their 10-17’s
97.3 lost their breakfast mantle to Nova this round – down to an even 13% with Nova now half a point ahead.
For 97.3 all shifts are down with the exception of Drive and Nights
Steady as she goes for 4KQ – still an impressive 8.4%, up point one.
55 plus is up for KQ but 40-54’s took a dive
Most Dayparts are steady with some small movements in the positive, breakfast lost half a point.

SCA

For SCA, one up, one down.

Triple M took a hammering in 25-39’s overall, losing close to 6 points in that demo.
They had gains in other demo’s but for them it’s the Male figures that matter.
A half point slide for Breakfast – has them still 4th in the market. triple j just behind.
hit105 up a tad – an 8.6.
Some real positive gains for hit in 25-39’s and 18-24’s – 10-17’s recording the biggest jump for them.
The ground Stav & Abby lost last round in breakfast is back – up nearly a full point to 7.7 share.
Hamish & Andy’s return to hit105, sees a small increase in the drive result but not enough to take out Nova or 97.3.

For Nova 106.9 while down overall, they would be happy to see breakfast go #1.

Nova now holds a half a point lead in breakfast over 97.3, they also bookend the day nicely with the number 1 drive show in Brisbane.
The good news kept coming with good increases in all day shifts.
Nova took a bit of hit in 18-39 demos this round but still lead in commercial stations in the money band of 25-39’s.

MRN

They will be happy with the result for 4BC, up a full 1.2 points.

Alan Jones Breakfast is up a full point to a 6.2 share, best result in a while
Mornings with Ray Hadley had the biggest jump of all, up 2.3 to pull an 8.2 share
Afternoons is up but come Drive, it crashes and burns and then recovers into Nights.
For music brand Magic882, a flat result overall.
Breakfast and Drive down with the other dayparts steady.

ABC

612 ABC down this round and into single figure territory.

612 is now level pegging with hit105 and fifth in the market.
All said and done, Spencer is still a solid offering and is third overall in the market.
Any other 612 shift took a whack.
For triple j, a great increase for them and it see’s them fourth overall.
Up in all dayparts with the standout being the drive show – up a full 1.5 points.

ADELAIDE

SCA

In reality, there remains a long way to go for the two SCA stations in Adelaide – particular hit107 – but Craig Bruce will be very pleased to end his tenure with both stations in his hometown improving, and with hit107 adding 1.1 overall, that will be welcomed.
hit107 has taken it's first scalp, knocking off triplej overall, to sit on 7.8% overall.
The demos have seen big jumps – up teens, up 18-24's, up 25-39's. They don't win any demos yet, and they are still a fair way off the pace, but very nice jumps nonetheless.
A rising tide floats all boats? Hamish & Andy are the rising tide. Improving 1.5% in Drive, with flow-on improvements in each daypart.
Triple M up a touch to 9.1, but importantly for SCA up in the core demos of 25-39 and 40-54.
The Breakfast result was the big one, with Triple M jumping 1.2% overall, and moving ahead of Nova in that daypart.

Both Nova Entertainment stations down in Adelaide; with Nova falling 0.8% to 11.7. Both stations are equal #2 on 11.7% overall.
Whilst Nova's declines were across the demos, they were particularly savage 18-24, so perhaps some poor diaries in that demo haven't helped.
Breakfast down by nearly 2 points, daytimes down, and 'Kate, Tim and Marty' holding up the fort in Drive- same as in Melbourne. Drive on Nova, is now #1 overall with Mix falling heavily in that daypart.
FIVEaa has fallen a touch, with a big hit 40-54 and 55-64 – the perfect storm unfortunately for NE.
Down in Breakfast and Mornings; and heavily in Evenings (although still #1).

ARN

And Mix 102.3 #1 again overall, with an increased lead. Mix is on 14.5 overall, leading the NE stations who are each on 11.7.
Whilst Mix will be rapt with a big jump 40-54; they'll be less happy with a decline of a similar amount 25-39 which appears to be partly Hamish & Andy driven.
Mix was up in all dayparts – except for Drive, and flowing into Evenings.
Cruise is down a touch – but it really was pretty high for an AM music station. Down to a 9.7% – still ahead of Triple M, hit107, and triplej, so nothing to sneeze at.
All dayparts declined a little, driven by a fall 55-64.

ABC

Not the most exciting ABC result today; both stations falling – albeit triplej not by much.
ABC891 has declined by 0.8% to a 10.1 share, falling further behind their nemesis FIVEaa who are on 11.7.
For ABC it was the bookends that hurt. Breakfast down 2 points, Drive down 2 points. And Mornings subsequently down 1 point.
tripelj was largely flat – just down a little….but again, smashed it 25-39 with a jump of over 2 points.
dayparts jumped around a bit, but overall not a bad result for triplej.

PERTH

A down result for Nova Perth today with the station copping a whack in each demo through 18-54; largely through growth to hit92.9.
Nova has slipped back to a distant #3 18-24, however retains #1 commercial position 25-39 – with a reduced margin. It is likely on the Perth figures today that Nova will not be #1 18-39.
With the exception of Evenings, all dayparts dropped – with Drive again the strongest performer, only down 0.1, and #1 in the market.
Nova Perth has performed strongly for some time now, so it will hardly be panic stations – but they will be watching closely the growth of hit92.9.

SCA

Big jump for hit92.9 – up by 2 points overall to a 9.9 share, and now within striking distance of 96FM (10.2).
The growth was driven from drive with Hamish & Andy up a massive 3.5%, and the station all increasing along with that.
hit92.9 #1 again 18-24, and not far off being #1 25-39. They are probably going to be #1 18-39 this book.
Given H&A were onair for only half of the survey (when you include the waves) the SCA team in Perth would be very excited about the rest of the year now.
Mix 94.5 down a touch but still #1 overall.
The demos jumped around a bit, as did the dayparts, but when all is said and done – Mix is #1 with a big margin, #1 FM Breakfast, and #1 daytimes, so they'll be pleased with that.

ARN

It's been a turbulent time for 96FM, new owners, new PD, new-ish lineup. And the station overall has slipped a little today.
Through the dayparts, it actually did okay with Breakfast improving by 1.1%, and whilst Mornings slipped a little, Afternoons went up a touch. The real damage was done in Drive and Evenings. Hughesy & Kate have fallen 2.2% to 8.9% overall in Drive, and in last FM place….that said, it's a new show, up against some well established shows on the other stations, so hardly surprising to shed listeners before it can grow them. ARN won't be rapt about the Drive result, but they won't be concerned by it.
Perhaps of more importance was the growth 40-54 – heartland for 96FM, and this will result in an improved 25-54 result, which is the core objective for ARN.

Capital

Ouch. A dreadful result for 6IX, hammered overall, with big falls 65+ and in 40-54.
Every daypart copped a whack, with daytimes specifically being smashed. So not a particularly fun day at 6IX today.

MRN

As bad a day as 6IX have had, 6PR have had a good one.
Up by 1.5 overall, and in all the demos that matter.
The growth for 6PR was heavily driven out of Mornings, with Afternoons flowing from that.
Whilst not seeing the growth of Mornings, the 6PR Breakfast result is solid – into double figures and snapping at the heels of 96FM.

ABC

A flat result for both ABC stations – neither moving by much overall
triplej down in all the relevant demos – but still #1 18-39 by as massive margin.
ABC 720's result isn't bad. Down under 54, but up 55+, strong jumps 65+ particularly.
That said, all dayparts off a bit – aside from Evenings.

Source: Radio Today