It is fairly uncommon for two such dominant stations in a region to sit equally among the audience, but that is exactly what has happened in the Xtra Insights survey of Shepparton, Victoria with Hit 96.9 and Triple M Goulburn Valley both the preferred station for 26.7% of listeners. It also means that SCA holds more than 50% of the local ear.

Dan and Christie (pictured main) on Hit Breakfast pulled away from Josh Arthur on Triple M. Hit was preferred in all timeslots except weekends which was where Triple M was the clear winner with local sporting content.

The local ABC, ABC Shepparton, fared poorly and dropped to sit behind triple j, who also saw losses. Breakfast was down to just a 6% saying it was their preferred offering and the station overall down to 5.3%. Additionally it was the only station in the region to see cumulative audience drop and by thousands. However, for the other stations, there was decent increases in people checking out listening options.

SCA Head of Regional Content, Blair Woodcock, said:

“SCA is celebrating a great survey result in Shepparton today, with both Hit 96.9 and 95.3 Triple M finishing as the market’s equal number one stations and delivering their biggest audiences ever. To see both brands growing strongly at the same time is a fantastic reflection of the connection our teams have built within the Goulburn Valley community.

“We’re really pleased to see Dan & Christie continue their incredible momentum with a dominant first survey result in Shepparton (up 3.9 point to 29.3%), while Tom Hughes has delivered standout growth through the workday by creating live and local content for Shepparton (up 4.3 to 25.2% in Mornings).

“Over on Triple M, Josh for Breakfast’s strong local focus and community engagement through initiatives like the ‘Tour de Goulburn Valley’ are resonating with listeners right across the region and have resulted in great audience growth across all dayparts of the station, and an increase in audience for the Breakfast show (up 5,900 listeners).

“These results reinforce the strength of SCA’s live and local strategy across our regions. To reach 78.6% of the Audience That Matters (People 25-54) in the Goulburn Valley and hold the equal number one stations in market is an outstanding achievement, and a credit to our teams both on and off air.”