Australia’s radio survey schedule is quite different to other English speaking markets.
In the US, Nielsen Audio radio surveys are conducted all year. They got rid of what they called “sweeps” months in favour of continuous measurement, though there are key reporting periods.
In the UK, RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) surveys run for 50 weeks of the year with just two weeks over Christmas and New Year not recorded.
In Australia GfK surveys of the metro markets in 2026 commenced on Sunday January 18 with two additional weeks off in April, two more in late September / October and it finishes on December 12. That is nine weeks across the calendar year.
The advantage of nine weeks out of survey is literally more time off. The disadvantages are that those dates are usually school holidays and don’t allow for a sneaky week away in an off-peak period. Additionally, the BBC is likely to be more tolerant of a spontaneous day off for illness or family care when every day is measured anyway. Australian radio execs might ask you to book your hospital procedure for a non survey period. Seriously.
This week – Sunday April 12 – Saturday April 19 most of the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide metro talent are taking an Easter break. Some have had two weeks.
All states are also on school holidays – but just because it is school holidays, it doesn’t mean that it’s not business as usual for a large percentage of us, completing our usual routines, perhaps dropping the kids at vacation care instead of school and worrying about the cost of fuel while doing so.
Breakfast presenters need breaks, however these last two weeks feel like an opportunity missed, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, with Kyle and Jackie O’s significant audience looking for alternatives.
An example of a seized opportunity is the podcast Mamamia Out Loud.
In August last year Mamamia founder and long time co-host of the podcast, Mia Freedman, took long service leave. She didn’t wait till Christmas and backed the the podcast’s listenership would not be impacted by her departure. It wasn’t.
When she returned refreshed at the end of the year the podcast, unlike most others, didn’t take a break. In fact, based on the current branding (see main image), it upped its hosts from 3 to 6.
Across all of last year, on the Triton Australian Podcast Ranker, Mamamia Out Loud was in the top five each month. Usually behind Hamish and Andy, who took their annual ‘government mandated break’ in January and February 2026.
Mamamia made hay while the sun shone, literally. People were clearly looking for something to listen across the festive period, and as a result Mamamia’s monthly downloads went from 1.6 million in November and December to 2 million, for the first time, in January 2026 and an even better 2,374,000 in Feb.
In radio, 2GB‘s Ben Fordham (who is taking a break with James Willis covering this week) went on leave on December 12 2025 like most everyone else. On Sunday December 14 the awful shootings occurred at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah gathering.
That evening Ben and Morning presenter Mark Levy were both back at work covering the developing and truly horrible story. Then they both were on air in their normal spots the next morning, for Sydney and their listeners.
Ben was not the only presenter who returned that day and this emergency situation varies immensely from this Easter, but in GfK Survey 1, 2026 Ben was up 1.7 to a 16.6% audience share, and top of the Sydney market in breakfast, Mark was up 1.1 to 14.1 too, second behind smooth.
When you show yourself to go above and beyond, listeners notice.
It’s not straightforward for a radio announcer, especially if part of a team, to tell management that they’ve decided to work over a mandated break. Management’s response could vary from we’re not paying you to are you crazy? But there is value, to listeners and to clients, in being a familiar voice on a dial when the others are unavailable.
GfK Radio 360 Survey 2, 2026 is out next Thursday, April 23. It is the first with only half the time measured including Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS 101.1 Melbourne and 1065 Sydney. We will start to see where else people are looking, and who has best seized this opportunity.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo. You can get in touch via [email protected]