Decline of a broadcasting juggernaut: Why local listeners are abandoning the ABC and how they’ll get them back

Listeners are turning off ABC radio in droves, with the latest ratings figures showing a drop across all timeslots. How did it come to this and what are the ABC doing about it?

ABC Radio Adelaide needs to shake-up their breakfast show and restore balance to their news coverage if they want to halt plummeting ratings across the station, industry insiders say.

Audience numbers have nosedived for the once-dominant public broadcaster, with Adelaide programs in all timeslots shedding listeners over the last 15 months.

It’s the same story nationally, with ratings data from research company GfK showing listeners have deserted the network in key markets.

Insiders say alarm bells would be ringing in ABC boardrooms around the country, but a lack of accountability could prevent major changes to their programming.

Since the middle of 2022, ABC Radio Adelaide’s audience figures have crashed with significant losses in every timeslot from breakfast and mornings, to afternoon, drivetime and evenings.

ABC was Adelaide’s most listened to station in the August survey of last year, leading the way with 13.6 per cent listener share to finish comfortably ahead of Mix, Nova and SAFM.

It’s now fallen to seventh place, behind even classic hits station Cruise1323, with only 7.9 share points.

A well-placed industry source said ABC Radio Adelaide’s issues begin with – but are not limited to – their breakfast show, co-hosted by Stacey Lee and Nikolai Beilharz.

“If breakfast isn’t gelling, it’s really hard for the other shifts to do the heavy lifting. It really has an impact. If you turn off for breakfast, you turn off for the day,” the insider said.

ABC Adelaide breakfast team Stacey Lee and Nikolai Beilharz. Picture: Supplied

Lee and Beilharz, who replaced Ali Clarke in January 2022, enjoyed a dream start to the role, securing 18.8 audience share points in their first survey to clearly win the timeslot ahead of FIVEaa’s David Penberthy and Will Goodings.

Fast forward 15 months and ABC’s early morning program has lost almost half its listeners, down to 10.7 share points in this week’s latest survey and in fourth overall behind Triple M, FIVEaa and Mix 102.3.

“It’s still early days for them. Most breakfast shows really take two years to find their market and you’ll always have churn in that first 18 months,” the radio source said.

But the industry source said ABC’s brekkie duo need to urgently re-evaluate their on-air style.

“I think it’s a good show but they need to understand that radio is so different to television, where Stacey has come from,” the insider said.

“You don’t need to be the attack dog. Be measured, don’t be forceful. Be a great interviewer, allowing people to communicate their side of the story and not just take the soapbox and cut them down because that’s your opinion.

“It also comes down to what direction they’ve been given and that’s the one thing we don’t know. If they’re following the direction of their superiors then those bosses need to evaluate the direction they’re taking.”

ABC’s new national head of audio content, Ben Latimer, said they were “continually” looking at ways to improve their programs and engage better with audiences.

ABC drive host Julian Schiller. Picture: James Penlidis Photography

The former Nova network programming boss also threw his support behind Lee and Beilharz, saying recent surveys were encouraging.

“Adelaide is an incredibly tight market, and our breakfast show is less than two points behind the leader,” said Mr Latimer, who started the newly-created position on July 31.

“We are still very competitive in breakfast and are confident the breakfast team can continue to engage strongly with the community.”

ABC’s ratings decline has been mirrored across the country. A recent internal report was tabled into the network’s free fall over the past year, and the struggle nationwide continues.

This week, ABC Radio Melbourne remained in seventh overall for total listener share, well behind leader 3AW, while its breakfast and morning programs have also suffered major dips since the end of 2021. On Thursday, mornings presenter Virginia Trioli announced she was leaving radio to host a new arts show on ABC TV.

It’s a similar case in Sydney where the local ABC station has slipped from second overall to sixth place across the last 15 months. Ratings figures have also plunged in all timeslots across the same period.

A former radio programming director told The Advertiser that the national broadcaster needed to lose the “one-sided government narrative” in its coverage of big topics such as the Voice campaign, climate change, Donald Trump and Covid-19, or risk losing listeners forever.

“People are thinking, ‘Where’s the balance?’ Listeners are genuinely fed up and are now digging deeper to find other news sources,” the ex-programming director said.

“People are starting to see through the narrative and until that changes, the downward spiral will continue.”

The ABC’s core audience have become “disillusioned” with the direction of the station, according to another industry insider.

“Educated people that listen to the ABC are over being told what they should think,” the source said.

“A lot of their talent will voice their opinion and if you don’t agree with their opinion when you call up, you’ll be chastised accordingly.

“The ABC has positioned itself where it tries to have a voice which it never should have had. It should have been a platform for everyone’s voice.”

ABC Melbourne's former mornings radio host Virginia Trioli, who quit on Thursday.

Mr Latimer disagreed that ratings have fallen drastically, and said the ABC “always take a long-term view” of the figures.

“They rose during Covid and have fallen off post-Covid but we are seeing an upward trend at the moment and we are working hard to ensure that trend continues,” he said.

“Our total audience in Adelaide across the week has been remarkably stable … we’re confident we can grow our ABC audiences in Adelaide over coming surveys.”

Mr Latimer said the ABC’s internal review, submitted to the board in June, took a “deep dive” into why their listener share had fallen since the pandemic. He said the network is committed to providing content that is “local, relevant, informative, and entertaining”.

“We know we have work to do and we’re getting on with delivering the best talk station we can for the people of Adelaide,” he said.

But a former radio programming director said it was unlikely anything would change, with ABC staff drowning in “bureaucracy and red tape gone mad”.

“There’s just no accountability at the ABC – unlike what you’d have at a commercial station,” they said.

Another industry source said it was critical that ABC Radio Adelaide management provide strong feedback to the breakfast team to help them “strike the right chord” with listeners.

“I actually think they are a very good team, Stacey and Nikolai. But they need to ask, are they offering a balanced opinion, or are they trying to convince people of their opinion?”

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what radio station you work for, it’s called a show, and you’re paid to put on a show.

“If you’re not communicating effectively, and you’re not appealing to listeners, then they need to be educated on how they can.”