Sydney radio 2GB rocked in ratings carnage

Sydney talkback station 2GB has copped a major blow, attracting one of its worst radio ratings in the past two decades.

Talkback station 2GB has copped a major blow, attracting one of its worst radio ratings in the past two decades.

The station has dropped to fourth overall in Sydney with an audience share of 10.2 per cent, down 3.1 percentage points.

KIIS FM is the No.1 station in Sydney with an audience share of 10.8 per cent (down 0.1), followed by WSFM at 10.7 per cent (up 1.3) and smoothfm at 10.3 per cent (up 1.0).

Industry insiders provided several insights into why 2GB had dropped so significantly, some claiming it was simply an “anomaly” in a year where eight surveys were released.

Others suggested stalwart listeners turned away from 2GB during the Olympics as they had sought out regular programming.

2GB’s Ben Fordham fell behind KIIS FM duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson.

Today marks the sixth GfK survey ratings of 2024.

“In Sydney, and for the first time ever, positions one to four are only separated by 0.6 points,” 2GB’s Greg Byrnes said.

“It’s a great time to be in talk radio and our loyal listeners know they can rely on us for Australia’s best live and local news, opinion and entertainment.”

2GB’s stalwart listeners may have turned away during the Olympics as they’d wanted regular programming.

Ray Hadley on mornings starting at 9am and John Stanley in the evening shift starting at 8pm were the only shows on 2GB to come out on top, in stark contrast to previous surveys where the station usually dominated across all timeslots.

Hadley registered his 160th consecutive win, with an audience leading share of 12.4 per cent (down 3.3), while 2GB evenings came in at 14.4 per cent (down 4.8).

KIIS duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson have enjoyed a boost in Sydney.

Hadley said his team was celebrating the victory while acknowledging that one day they may come out on top.

“To those listening to the program, thank you for your support. We emerge again No.1 for 160 surveys.”

“We accept that nothing lasts forever. Well done to the people who’ve won surveys … but what we’ll do here (if that happens) is dust ourselves off and have another crack for survey seven and survey eight.

In the all-important breakfast market, 2GB’s Ben Fordham fell behind KIIS FM duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson with a share of 12.2 per cent — a decline of 3.4 percentage points.

Kyle and Jackie O meanwhile came in at 13.7 per cent, down 0.6 of a percentage point.

The number of overall listeners for 2GB breakfast fell 50,000 to 436,000, compared with those for KIIS FM, which fell 15,000 to 735,000 listeners.

Fordham believes that while it was a phenomenal Olympics for Australia, some listeners missed hearing news and analysis on the station.

Ray Hadley on mornings for 2GB came out on top. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“The Olympics provided lots of memorable moments but they also interrupted our normal programming and that pushes a few people away,” he said.

“2GB listeners love news and opinions and when you take those things away and replace them with live sport there’s a risk they’ll switch off or listen to something else.

“The good news is that everything is back to normal now so hopefully the results will reflect that by the end of the year. If not, we’ll just have to work even harder.”

For Kyle and Jackie O, it has been a volatile yet interesting year as they moved into the Melbourne breakfast market in April.

This survey, their audence declined almost one per cent to a share of 5.2 per cent from 6.1.

Kyle and Jackie O replaced Lauren Phillips and Jason Hawkins on KIIS Melbourne, after the previous hosts Nova and have been triumphing ever since.

They came in this survey at 9.6 per cent (down 0.3).

On ailing 2Day FM, Dave “Hughesy” Hughes, Erin Molan and Ed Kavalee were replaced by Jimmy Smith and Nathan Roye in the breakfast slot.

Their bosses will be happy that the new team held on to the audience with steady result of 4.2 per cent.

It was a good survey book for smoothfm, WSFM and ABC Sydney, all of which rose overall.