Although it is actually the second survey of 2011, it is the first full survey conducted over an eight week period, not just four as was the case for Nielsen Survey One released back on February 4th, 2011. It is also the first actual survey for Brisbane since the previous one was cancelled in that city due to the Qld floods.

This survey was conducted by Nielsen over the period Sun Jan 30 – Sat Mar 19, 2011. The summaries on the right are audience shares for All People 10+, Monday to Sunday, 5:30 am to Midnight.

CLICK HERE for the latest detailed results including shifts and demographics from Nielsen.

It seems that, for now, Macquarie knows Sydney and Fairfax has it right in Melbourne, but neither network can crack it outside their home base.. The Fairfax owned 3AW went up 2.3 in Melbourne to a whopping 17.3 while its Sydney sister 2UE stayed steadyon 6.0. Meanwhile, Macquarie’s 2GB consolidated its number one status with a 0.5 gain to 15.6 but its great hope in Melbourne slipped back slightly to settle on just a 2.0 share.

Whilst Alan Jones posted another strong result (18.3) it is not quite the 21.0 achieved by Ross Stevenson and John Burns on 3AW. But it is Ray Hadley who impresses with a 19.3 share of Sydney Mornings on 2GB. Long considered lucky to have a huge audience handed to him by the master, Jones, with figures the former king, John Laws would kill for, perhaps Hadley can finally claim to generate an audience in his own right. He can certainly foot it with Melbourne’s king Neil Mitchell who gained 2.0 to be on a 19.9 share of Melbourne Mornings on 3AW.

For Austereo, the difference between markets does not seem to present as much of a problem as their different brands. The good news is that 2Day and Fox remained rock steady to retain their number one FM mantle in their respective markets with their drive programs showing no ill-effects from the 80% departure of Hamish and Andy. In fact both stations recorded increases in audience share for Drive. Indeed only Brisbane’s B105 suffered any significant drop (down 2.4) in Drive. SA-FM Adelaide’s Drive shift went up slightly while 92.9 in Perth slid back a little.

The news is not so good though for the Triple M brand. In Melbourne it dipped slightly to an okayish 5.1 share with Eddie’s Hot Breakfast outpacing the station average at 5.9. But the shifts following him fail to hang on to all his listeners.

The real problemthough is Sydney where The Grill Team is struggling on a 3.7 share and the station as a whole on 3.8 – less than triple j at 5.5 but more than its rival for the Rock tag, Classic Rock 95.3 languishing on a lowly 2.6. Classical music on ABC FM attracts a bigger crowd at 3.3. 

Classic Rock remains a headache (although a relatively cheap one) for dmg in Melbourne with 91.5 slipping under threes at 2.9. The Novas fared a little better with a bit of a rise in Sydney and a tiny drop in Melbourne. Neither station is doing great shakes on 7.0 and 6.5 respectively.

Better results in Brisbane where Nova 106.9 on an 11.7 share is neck and neck with the FM leader B105 on 11.8. The Nova brand in Adelaide is not too shabby either, with Nova919 posting a respectable 10.6 share that puts them in to sixth place. Nova did well in Perth too with the biggest rise of ant station in the market, and the dmg network, up 1.2 to a 10.5 share overall.

Not all of ARN’s Sydney and Melbourne stations went up, but as they say, ‘three out of four ain’t bad. Both WS FM and Mix in Sydney gained a little ground, up 0.2 each to 7.1 and 5.4 respectively. While in Melbourne, Mix level dropped 0.5 to level peg with Triple M on 5.1. GOLD went up 0.1 to 6.4. Yet the two station’s combined can’t match Fox FM’s 12.4 share.

The ABC had a tidy result with its flagship stations up a little in Sydney, down a little in Melbourne, up in Brisbane and Adelaide, down a bit in Perth.

Not surprisingly, due to the floods, talk and news was the dominant format in Brisbane with 4BC capturing a 1.2 rise, ABC612 gaining 0.6 and NewsRadio increasing its audience by a third from 1.2 to 1.6. 4RN also had a surge in listeners from a 1.7 share to 2.3. 

The only other significant gain for music stations in Brisbane came from Triple M  which managed to gain 0.8 to reach double figures at 10.4.

In Adelaide the battle for top spot was between FIVEaa which gained 0.9 and Mix 102.3 which lost 0.9. The 1.8 turnaround wasn’t enough, however to change leaders. Mix stayed number one with a 14.7 share to FIVEaa 13.4.

Perth talker 6PR has regained some respectability posting a modest gain to reach 9.1, perhaps at the expense of 720 ABC which dropped a modest amount.

Apart from that, market leader Mix 94.5 managed to shed more listeners than any other station in Perth (down 1.1) and still retain top spot with a 14.1 share.