UPDATE: Survey 6 results HERE
With NSW to come out of lockdown by next Monday and many restrictions being lifted for the fully vaccinated, the hope was that Thursday’s Survey 6 would be the last to be skewed by the effects of Covid-19. But with the current spike in daily cases in Victoria, it seems Australia still has a way to go before we can say our nation has this Delta strain under control and that radio consumption will resume normal transmission.
Here’s where we stood after GfK announced the results of Survey 5 in August.
Sydney
After losing 2GB’s long-held Breakfast Crown to KIIS106.5’s Kyle and Jackie O in Survey 4, Ben Fordham won it back in spectacular fashion in Survey 5. What’s more, the ABC’s Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck put on a spurt to take second place and relegate K&J to third. Despite Aunty’s spectacular performance, it’s been reported that Wendy and Robbie won’t be back next year. Radio moves in mysterious ways.
If this all has to do with NSW going out of lockdown and then going back in as the Delta strain bit, then the station rankings for Survey 6 should stay much the same as for Survey 5,
Melbourne
The top three stations, 3AW, ABC MEL and Gold 104.3FM are the only ones in double digits, commanding 48.5 per cent of the Melbourne audience (10+, 5:30-Midnight, Mon-Sun) between them. Given that Melbourne only recently went back into lockdown, the ‘peloton’ led by FOX and smooth could stage a resurgence in tomorrow’s Survey 6. If so, with Covid on the rise again, chances are the leaders will regain any losses by Survey 7.
Brisbane
It couldn’t be more crowded at the top with three stations, Nova106.9, 97.3FM and the venerable 4KQ tied for the lead on a 10.2 share with both B105 and Triple M less than 1.0 behind. With no covid to speak of in the Sunshine State, it’s anyone’s guess as to who the winners will be this time around.
Adelaide
Without much Covid to speak of, MIX102.3 has retained its mortgage on the top spot, yet positions 2 and 3 are currently occupied by news/talk stations ABC ADEL and FIVEaa on the AM band – in a city that usually has music stations occupying the majority, if not all of the top positions. Nova and Cruise are best placed to retore the balance.
Perth
Perth is a music city, through and through, with FM stations occupying the top four positions. Here it’s been a drawn-out shootout between the historic leader, MIX94.5 and the challenger, Nova93.7. Currently, MIX leads Nova by a mere 0.3 as 96fm clings to third spot, just 1.3 behind Nova.
As in all surveys, only one of three things can happen to a station; they’ll either go up, go down or stay the same. But the rankings can change dramatically for any number of reasons.
Join us this morning, on radioinfo at 9:30 am when GfK Survey 6 is released to find out who went up, down or stayed the same on AM, FM, DAB+ and where good radio stations are heard.