Radio survey #2: smooth sailing for NOVA, JJJ lands after Hottest 100 high

Music stations have made their mark on the latest national Radio Survey, with NOVA Entertainment-operated smoothfm being crowned the #1 FM station in both Sydney and Melbourne.

The popular easy-listening station rose 1.6 to 9.9% in Sydney among 10+ listeners, while in Melbourne, smoothfm also took 9.9% of the overall 10+ listenership, up 0.5. Its biggest gain was in the Drive slot: hitting 10.6%, up 2.7, enough to usurp NOVA 96.9 at the top.

ABC’s triple j posted steady results with 1.926 million people listening per week in the five surveyed cities, compared to 2016’s average of 1.937 million. triple j Content Director Ollie Wards notes that while ratings have edged down slightly since the last survey, this is a typical trend this time of year.

“Every year triple j dips in Survey 2 after the Hottest 100 boost, so while some of the results today are down, they’re not surprising,” Wards explained in a statement.

“We always look at the patterns and trends over longer periods of time, rather than individual surveys, to get a more accurate reading of the ratings. So we’ll continue to work on connecting with our audience all over Australia throughout the year.”

Wards was particularly pleased with new Breakfast team Ben & Liam who recorded minimal, though significant gains in Sydney and Perth: “Like any new breakfast show they’ll take a good part of the year to settle in, so we’re happy with how they’re performing this early in the year,” he said.

Elsewhere, ARN delivered strong results across the board with Sydney’s KIIS 106.5 coming in at #2 with 7.8% among 10+ listeners, despite a marginal drop of 0.2. KIIS 101.1 Melbourne rose 0.6 to 6.5% while at Breakfast, KIIS 1065’s Kyle & Jackie O is two points ahead of any other Breakfast show in Sydney at 9.3%.

In Brisbane, NOVA 106.9 and Hit 105 are the top two FM stations with 13.8% and 11.5% in the 10+ category. NOVA managed a notable rise of 2.8%, bumping up two places from the previous Survey as a result of 97.3FM’s 2.8 point plunge.

Mix continues its dominance in Adelaide and Perth, prolonging its stay at #1 in both markets. Another ARN success story, Mix 102.3 in Adelaide gained further momentum with a rise of 0.5 to 12.5%. In Perth, Mix 94.5 now holds a lead of just under two and a half points in the 10+ category.