GfK Radio 360 Survey 6 of DAB+ listening saw CADA climb to near the heights of the days of its early inception (and full complement of staff) in Sydney, Disrupt Radio depart and Priceline Radio debut, in Sydney and Melbourne.
GfK Radio 360 Survey 6 DAB+ cume audience:
CADA was the No 1 DAB+ station in Sydney
Coles Radio was No 1 in Brisbane and Melbourne (increasing its cume audience in the latter) &
smooth fm was the leader in Adelaide and Perth.
It’s been tough going for Disrupt Radio to compete as a DAB+ station against the big networks of SCA, ARN and Nova Entertainment, especially with an all talk format. It’s departure means that the two Radio Maria‘s in Sydney are the only non radio network aligned stations still surveyed. I feel for those involved as competition in radio; digital, internet, AM, FM or otherwise, benefits us all.
My teenage son works for Woolworths. There is hardly a shift that he hasn’t come home and added something he’s heard to his Spotify playlist. He’ll dislike me mentioning this, but for a while there, thanks to Woolworths Radio, part of the ARN suite of digital stations I’ve just discovered, he couldn’t get Olivia Newton John’s Physical out of his head. To alleviate his embarrassment last weekend, in Woolworths, they were playing Daughter, by Pearl Jam, far rockier than anything I hear in Coles.
I was in the pasta aisle, I thought I was alone, and was overcome with the urge to sing along when Eddie Vedder gets to the growling yell part, “DON’T CAAALLLL ME DAUGHTER, not fit to….”
Unbeknownst to me, a man of my vintage and music taste had a similar overwhelm. We both bashfully looked at each other after our unexpected duet and continued shopping. Coles Radio is Katy Perry, Woolworths is Nirvana.
This story has a point. Coles Radio is being serviced by the Nova Network. Nova have considerably less DAB+ stations than ARN and SCA but are No 1 for listening in all metros except Sydney. Now they’ve decided to compete with ARN in the chemist with Priceline Radio debuting in Sydney and Melbourne this survey.
I wonder why Woolworths isn’t in DAB+ surveys to compete with Coles, comparing musical apples with oranges?
In the lead up to Survey 6 it was also announced that Sky News Radio, a live audio stream of its television channel, would become available on digital radio in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with commercial advertising available through the Sky News and NOVA Entertainment sales teams. It has since launched, but not on this survey. This interested collaboration that also includes Nova was direct competition to Disrupt, and digital listeners of 2GB and 3AW too. It gives Nova’s sales team a talk platform outside of FIVEaa in Adelaide.
CADA, available in all five metros, nearly doubled its listening in Melbourne, where an albeit smallish audience shows there is still potential for youth radio away from the smooths and the supermarkets.
The DAB+ results are below:
Sydney:
Melbourne:
Brisbane:
Adelaide:
Perth:
See also GfK Radio 360 Survey 6, 2024 raw results, cumes, spin
Previous survey results here.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo
Whilst the above ratings are for DAB+ digital radio, comparisons are made to the analog simulcasts on AM and FM. The figures for the analog broadcasters actually include those who are listening to the same program on DAB+. Almost all cars imported into Australia include DAB+ reception and often when the car is switched on the DAB+ screen comes up as the first radio screen. The increase in cars started in 2020 when the European Union made reception of terrestrial digital radio in cars compulsory. Australia generally import the UK version of vehicles because they are right hand drive and the UK has extensive DAB/DAB+ networks.