Its been just over a year since David Kidd took up the position of Program Director at Sydney’s number one station, 2GB. Nielsen handed him a nice anniversary present on Tuesday with Survey 2 which showed not only that 2GB retained the number one spot yet again but it was number one in every shift from Breakfast through Night.
When asked whether a clean sweep like that happens often, Kidd’s answer was: “Not often enough! Breakfast, Mornings, Afternoons and Nights always take the top spot but Drive (3 to 6pm) remains competitive with the FM stations often performing very well. That said, in the past two years, we have been number one in every daypart six times so we certainly look forward to making it a permanent occurrence.”
radioinfo: Given that he is in the winning Drive shift, is Ben Fordham the find of the decade?
David Kidd: Ben is definitely one of the great discoveries in talk radio. He is an exceptionally talented broadcaster, who like everyone here at 2GB, sets extremely high standards and goals for himself. Ben asks questions, listens to advice and takes guidance well. He is an extremely motivated person and is always willing to try new things.
radioinfo: In Survey One, when GB had lost quite a bit of ground (-2.0) over summer, were you at all concerned?
David Kidd: Any loss of share is a cause for concern for a program director but at the end of the day you have to look at the big picture. Survey One often throws a few curve balls; sometimes you benefit, sometimes you don’t.
The result was a little perplexing as we hadn’t made any changes to what is, I believe, Australia’s strongest line-up of personalities and there were no significant strategic moves by competitors in the market place.
It was interesting that 3AW also took a hit in similar areas that we did. When I drilled down on the data, there were a few odd numbers which didn’t make sense but you have to take those anomalies on the chin – it’s all part of the market research process.
There are many people in the radio industry who spend far too much time analysing one survey in isolation without understanding how the numbers came about, what they mean and ignoring underlying trends. We never lost faith in the product and we were always confident that the station would rebound.
2GB is a great radio station thanks to an awesome line-up of stars: Alan Jones, Ray Hadley, Chris Smith, Ben Fordham, Ross Greenwood, Steve Price and Brian Wilshire. Their work ethic is incredible and they never rest on their laurels.
radioinfo: As you said, 3AW in Melbourne also took a similar hit in Survey One, but they haven’t bounced back in the way GB has…
David Kidd: 3AW is a very good station and I am sure that they will bounce back quickly.
radioinfo: While Ray Hadley enjoyed a spike of 2.1 to regain much of the audience he lost over the summer months, Alan Jones only managed to pull back about 0.3, does that hold any concern for you?
David Kidd: Not at all. In the most competitive shift in Australian radio, Alan’s share of 15.7 places him 3.9% ahead of his nearest rival. This is the biggest lead over a competitor for any breakfast show in the country. I normally don’t like making predictions but I think Alan will have an even stronger result in survey 3.