Analysing the DAB+ trends in GfK Radio 360 Surveys sometimes feels like having to choose a Christmas present for five friends with totally different tastes. Broadly speaking Sydney love CADA, Melbourne their 80s Gold, Perth likes it smooth, so too Adelaide and Brisbane, who appear to also enjoy a smorgasbord of tastes and styles. I think I’ll buy a Coles Radio gift card.
Let’s start in Sydney:
CADA, who are going to sound very different in 2024, gained 20,000 listeners and led the DAB pack. Also with more than 100K listeners were TikTok Trending, smooth relax, KIIS 90s, Coles Radio, ABC Sport (the only metro besides Adelaide where sports saw any gain post the AFL / NRL seasons) and, most surprising of all, iHeartAustralia. Sydneysiders are listening to Aussie music and liking it, with the station picking up nearly 50K listeners and very nearly usurping CADA. CADA’s biggest gains were on the weekend. Disrupt Radio‘s third survey was much the same as last time, but with losses in breakfast listening.
Melbourne:
Gold 80s was marginally ahead of smooth relax in Melbourne with KIIS 90s and TikTok trending the only DAB stations with more than 100K listeners. CADA has not made an impact into this market with no measured listening audience to their breakfast program. This was iHeartAustralia and iHeartDance’s debut to the Melbourne survey with iHeartAustralia already reaching 78,000 people and particularly popular on weekends. Despite more options overall listening to DAB was down for all audiences 10+ by 67K.
Brisbane:
smooth fm Brisbane is the clear leader of DAB listeners with a mix of 973 KIIS 80s and 90s, DANCE HITS, Coles Radio, TikTok Trending, OLDSKOOL 90s HITS, MMM Classic Rock and particularly Nova 90s not far off. Nova 90s picked up an additional 16,000 listeners, the same amount that smooth lost. Disrupt Radio didn’t find an audience in Brisbane this survey. Double J collected 10,000 more, particularly on Breakfast and weekends. Overall DAB listening remained the same.
Adelaide:
Adelaide DAB listeners remained consistent and continued to grow with another 28K cumulative audience 10+, smooth fm Adelaide grew to a 50,000 audience with Coles Radio and RnB Fridays Radio second and third.
Perth:
Even with a drop of 14,000 listeners Perth still likes smooth fm best. Listening to DAB dropped by 29,000 for all audiences 10+ so most stations saw losses, especially ABC Sport. OLDSKOOL 90s HITS was second just ahead of 96FM 80s grew their audience by 10K.
