It’s a close race among the top Sydney and Melbourne stations in cumulative listening with very little between No 1, smooth 95.3 in Sydney (1,198,000) and No 7, Gold 104.3 Melbourne (1,145,000). For the first time smooth in Sydney and Melbourne are 1&2 most listened to in the country. To make things even better for the Nova Network Sydney’s Nova 96.9 and Melbourne’s Nova 100 are also in that 7 with Nova 100 seeing the biggest growth in listeners overall.

That being said smooth Sydney dropped the most in cumulative listening, something perhaps attributable to people looking for alternatives to NRL and AFL finals and the Olympics across the last two surveys. That smooth is No 1 & 2 now, and possibly Survey 8 too as we head toward Christmas, is testament to what the station is offering its listeners.

101.9 Fox FM Melbourne lost ground overall but gained in breakfast. While KIIS 101.1 was steady overall, and on breakfast, the network’s normal stronghold of KIIS 106.5 Sydney saw cumulative and Kyle and Jackie O’s breakfast audiences shrink, with the station overall dropping from 1st to 3rd.

Positives for SCA and Triple M with their Sydney and Melbourne breakfast shows growing and big changes to their drive programs in 2025.

This was a tough survey for triple j. The station bled listeners in Sydney and Melbourne with Conchetta and Luka on breakfast now having more listeners in Brisbane than they do in Melbourne. Nationwide the station was down around 150,000 cumulatively. Conversely ABC’s Radio National in Sydney and Melbourne, and Patricia Karvelas’ breakfast audiences grew. Overall this is a sign that younger listeners are turning away from traditional radio to source new music with cumulative listening down more than 400,000.

Full Survey 7 results here.