A year ago 2Day FM changed its sound, promising the ‘hits before they hit’, playing more new music than any other commercial radio station in Sydney and upping their support of Australian artists.

At the release of Survey 2, 2025 the station had a 4.3% share of the Sydney audience and sat 7th among stations surveyed, below the ABC and just above 2UE. In Survey 1 this year the percentage remained unchanged (4.4%) but was a 0.7 increase on Survey 8. Of more significance, the 18-24 demographic increased from 5.3 to 9.8.

2Day FM is owned by SCA. SCA’s focus, survey after survey, is the ‘Audience That Matters’ that is 25 to 54 year olds. The decision in the first place to shake up the music wasn’t a bad one in Sydney where the only competition was triple j. No 1 in the 10-24 demographic has long been KIIS 1065.

But now 2Day have backflipped over the survey break period with Amanda Lee, Head of Hit Metro Content saying:

“Twelve months ago, we introduced a new music format on 2DayFM across all day parts. Since then, the Sydney radio landscape has shifted significantly, with changes across a number of heritage shows on competitor networks, creating an opportunity for new audience sampling not seen in decades. At the same time, listener feedback has been clear, audiences want a balance of familiar songs they know and love, alongside variety and new and Australian music at the right moments throughout the day. Our refreshed format delivers that balance, blending proven hits with discovery in key dayparts to create a more engaging and distinctive listening experience for a broader under-40 audience, while continuing to champion new and local music.”

Below is 10-39 in Survey 1, 2026. Survey 2 is out this Thursday April 23:

It is just one survey but in KIIS 1065’s 18-24 demographic, where a small portion of this survey was sans Kyle and Jackie O, the ‘heritage show’ that Amanda was most likely referring to, they were pipped by Nova 969. The biggest gains there were for smooth 95.3, and 2Day FM.

Survey 1 included the triple j Hottest 100 and breakfast host Concetta Caristo competing on and winning I’m a Celebrity…..Get Me Out of Here which will have upped the broadcaster’s profile. It is usually triple j‘s best result across the year and you can see that above in the 10-17 and 25-39 year olds (not the 18-24s though).

Considering that Survey 2 will more clearly show where exiting Kyle and Jackie O listeners may land, and bearing in mind that Concetta has also announced her departure from triple j in June, I can’t help but feel that 2Day have decided to play it safe when they were finally getting somewhere and starting to stand for something.

Jen Seyderhelm is writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.