Survey 8 2015: Analysis

14 December 2015 · News

Our analysis of networks and cities is below.

Refresh this page during the day to get the latest updates.

See the raw results and twitter discussion here.

 

Analysis

Southern Cross Austereo

The hit network

If all eyes were on 2Day FM and Rove & Sam’s first outing, then the headline would be, “there’s nothing to see here folks.” While 2Day lost an inconsequential – 0.2, the Breakfast shift gained just 0.1 to put them on a 3.0 share. All eyes now are on next year.

In Melbourne, FOX was a standout for the hit network, pulling further away from its FM rivals and into double digits (Mon-Fri) with Fifi and Dave’s Breakfast putting on a 1.3 spurt to easily take the FM crown from Triple M’s Hot Breakfast.

In the other caps, the hit brand was fairly steady, with Adelaide the biggest movement at – 0.6 down.

Triple M

Steady in Sydney with a nice little rise for the Grill Team in brekky, but Triple M Melbourne took a bit of a beating, down – 0.8 to land on a 6.7 share overall, which puts them dead last in the commercial FM race. Unimaginable just three surveys ago.

Brisbane didn’t fare much better, down -0.7 overall while Adelaide was down -0.4. Meanwhile in Perth, Mix94.5 continues to dominate on a 15.0 share, down a tad from last time but still a full 3.2 ahead of nearest rival, Nova
 

 

Nova Entertainment

smoothfm

smoothfm’s climb to the top took a rough turn for the first time today with the brand losing significant share in both its markets.

While Sydney’s 95.3 shed just -0.5, its Melbourne counterpart, 91.5, tumbled -1.1 leaving both stations in the high sixes. Still an impressive outcome for a brand that costs so little to run, but far from the 8.0+ results it has previously enjoyed.

Nova

A steady result for Sydney’s 96.9 staying in the low sevens. Even better for the hard working breakfast team of Fitzy and Wippa, who managed a 0.2 gain to sneak into the low sevens.

In Melbourne, a mere -0.2 loss was enough for Nova 100 to drop out of the sevens in overall share and into the high sixes. With a new Breakfast show slated for 2016, no one will be paying much attention.

In Brisbane, Nova 106.9 continues to take the fight up to market leader 97.3FM with a healthy 1.4 rise on the back of a 1.2 gain contributed by Breakfast’s Ash, Kip & Lutsy.

Adelaide too had a great result with a 1.1 gain, while Perth was steady.

 

 

ARN
 
KIIS
 
In Sydney, KIIS gained 1.2 to place them back on top of the FM heap on an 8.9 share. Kyle and Jackie O also bounced back, as they always have, with a 1.2 gain into double digits for their Breakfast shift.
 
Melbourne also had a significant rise ahead of a breakfast shakeup slated for 2016. The 0.9 gain was enough to get the station off the FM wooden spoon in that market and beat Triple M.
 
A loss of -0.3 in overall share for 97.3 in Brisbane wasn’t enough to topple it from the #1 spot despite big gains from Nova and the ABC. In Adelaide, a much bigger loss of -1.7 was still not enough to dislodge entrenched market leader MIX102.3.
 
Meanwhile, in Perth, ARN’s latest acquisition, 96FM continues to lose ground and is down to a 7.7 share.
Pure Gold
 
What goes up, must come down – although with ARN’s KIIS and WSFM in Sydney, the opposite seems just as true. This time, while Kyle and Jackie O went up, Jonesy and Amanda went down, taking the station with them. They dropped -1.5 while the station shed -1.0 to land on a 6.5 share overall, which puts them behind every other commercial FM station except Triple M.
 
GOLD – another Melbourne station which will change its breakfast line-up for 2016 – remained steady and well placed as #2 FM on an 8.2 share. Brisbane’s venerable 4KQ edged into an 8.0 share to be #2 on the AM band. ARN’s other AM station, Cruise1323 in Adelaide also remained steady, returning an 8.5.

 

 

Macquarie Media and other Talk
 
In Sydney, some things never change – or they haven’t for a long time anyway. 2GB remains #1, up 0.8. Alan Jones and Ray Hadley continue to bring in the big ratings and the big dollars that go with it.
 
On the other hand, 2UE continues to struggle with gains made in one survey usually wiped out in the next. So it was this time. Having climbed to a hard fought 5.0 overall, now they are back to a 4.6. And having reached a 6.0 a couple of surveys ago, their breakfast duo of John Stanley and Garry Linnell are now on 5.2.
 
Melbourne’s 3AW remains #1 despite a fall of -1.1.
 
Problems remain, though in Brisbane where 4BC has dipped back to a 4.6, a full 8 share points behind rivla talk station ABC612. While 6PR in Perth has been doing much better, it shed 0.9 to land on a 7.8 share overall.
 
In Adelaide, NovaEnt’s only AM talker, FIVEaa has gone up a smidgen – enough to put it into double digits, returning a 10.2 share overall.
 
In sports talk, with summer upon us, as expected both SEN Melbourne and Sydney’s Sky Sports Radio dipped to arrive at a overall share of 3.9 and 0.7, respectively.

 

Magic & 2CH

 
The main worry for Macquarie with 2CH is not so much whether the station goes up or down (it went down just -0.2, thanks for asking), but whether the government changes the ownership laws before the next year’s deadline to sell it. They’d dearly love to keep it as the Magic flagship in an east coast network.
 
Melbourne’s Magic 1278 went up by 0.3 while in Brisbane, 4BC’s problems seem to have rubbed off on Magic 882, which fell -1.0 to land on a 3.2 share.

 

 

ABC
 
Local Radio
 
The network took off like a aeroplane.
 
From a standing start on the tarmac in Sydney where 702 remained steady in second place on a 10.3 share, it became airborne in Melbourne where 774 gained 0.5 to also be on 10.3. By Brisbane ABC612 had risen by 1.3 to reach a 12.6 share, finally getting to a height of 12.4 in Adelaide where 891 had climbed a staggering 2.1 (breakfast rising 3.3) before levelling off in Perth with a 0.6 gain and a 9.6 share for ABC720.
 
Happy landings all ‘round.

 

triple j
 
The js eased a bit nationally, shedding -0.5 in Sydney, -0.1 in Melbourne, -0.4 in Adelaide, steady on a heady 11.3 share in Perth while gaining 0.7 in Brisbane.

 

 

Cities

Sydney

WS FM lost most this survey, dropping 1 share point to 6.5, while stablemate KIIS gained the most, up 1.2 to 8.9%.

Top station 2GB gained 0.8 to 12.8% in Sydney, followed by ABC702, steady at 10.3%.

Third placed KIIS scored 8.9%, followed by Nova, down 0.1 to 7.1%, then triple j, down 0.5 to 7.0%.

Nova won 10-17s, triple j won 18-39s, KIIS won 40-54s and 2GB won the over 55s.

2GB won breakfast ahead of ABC702 then KIIS. Mornings and afternoons were won by 2GB.

ABC702 won drive ahead of KIIS, Hamish and Andy in the 2Day drive timeslot slipped further. 2GB won evenings and smooth won post-football season weekends.

 

Melbourne

3AW dropped most this survey, down 1.1 share points to 13.4%, but still easily retained its lead in the Melbourne market.

Second placed ABC774 gained 0.5 to 10.3%. Fox was third, up 0.3 to 9.7%.

Smooth was in fourth place, dropping 1 share point to 7.1%, followed by KIIS and Nova both tied on 6.8%.

Fox won 10-39s,  Gold won 40-54s and 3AW won the over 55s.

3AW won breakfast ahead of ABC774. 3AW won mornings, evenings and weekends.

Fox won afternoons and drive, with Hamish and Andy.

 
 

Brisbane

Nova and ABC612 had the biggest increases in Brisbane, with Nova up 1.4 and ABC612 gaining 1.3. Magic 882 dropped most, down 1 share point to 3.2%.

97.3FM was top of the market, down 0.3 to 13.5%.

Nova pulled slightly ahead of ABC612 to win second place by 0.1 of a share point. Nova scored 12.7% and ABC612 was third on 12.6%.

Hit105.3 was fourth, down 0.2 to 10.7% and 4KQ was fifth, up 0.2 to 8.0%.

Nova dominated 10-17s, hit won 18-24s, Nova won 25-39s, 97.3 won 40-54s, 4KQ won 55-64s and ABC612 won the over 65s.

ABC612 won breakfast ahead of 97.3FM and Nova.

97.3 won mornings, while Nova and 973 tied in afternoons. Nova won drive and evenings, 973 won weekends.

 

Adelaide

ABC Adelaide (pictured above) had the biggest rise of any station in Australia this survey, gaining 2.1 share points overall to 12.4%.

Mix 102.3 was the top station in Adelaide, down 1.7 bit still retaining its lead with 13.0%.

Second placed ABC891 closed the gap, up 2.1 share points to 12.4% overall.

Nova919 was third, up 1.1 to 11.2%, followed by 5AA in fourth place, up 0.3 to 10.2%. Triple M was fifth with 8.7%, down 0.4.

Nova won 10-17s, hit won 18-24s, Nova won 25-39s, Mix won 40-54s, Cruise won 55-64s and ABC891 won the over 65s.

 

Perth

There was not much movement in the Perth market this survey. 6PR scored the biggest loss, dropping 0.9 to 7.8%, and ABC720 had the biggest rise, up just 0.6 to 9.6%.

Top station Mix 94.5 slipped 0.2 to 15.0%, followed by Nova 93.7 in second place, up 0.1 to 12.0%.

Triple J was third, steady at 11.3%, followed by hit 92.9, up 0.1 to 9.8% and in fifth place, ABC720, up 0.6 top 9.6%.

Nova won 10-17s, triple j won 18-24s, Nova won 25-39s, Mix won 40-64s, ABC720 won the over 65s.

ABC720 won breakfast ahead of Nova and Mix. 
 
Mix won mornings and afternoons. Nova won drive, ABC720 won evenings, Mix won weekends.

Other coverage:
Results and twitter discussion here.
Spin Cycle here.

 

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