This is not the first time that he’s beaten John Laws, but it’s the sweetest victory for one-time cabbie and former Law’s apprentice, Ray Hadley.

A 2.7 turnaround in Nielsen Media Research’s Sydney Survey 5 has elevated Hadley to an 11.2% share ahead of rival John Laws on 9.6%. What’s more, it was achieved despite a slump in the audience left him by breakfast announcer Alan Jones who slipped from a 16 share to 14.7.

According to Hadley, he won it on “sheer hard work.” He told radioinfo that while his competitors talk about a work ethos, they take a lot of time off, including public holidays. Now at 2GB, not even Alan Jones takes an Easter break. Meanwhile, Hadley is happy to work seven days a week doing the morning shift as well as calling football on the weekends.

Although people warned him that it might lead to over-exposure, so far the survey results prove otherwise. Hadley’s program wins the time-slot for talk during the week (second behind music station 2Day-FM).

On the weekend, it’s an even better story for Hadley’s “Continuous Call Team”. Although Rugby League football was looking like a lame duck for the past few years, Survey Five is the best result for any station since the mid-nvarchar(15)ies, elevating 2GB to number one overall for weekends at 11.7, 0.2 ahead of 2Day and 4.7 in front of 2UE.