Ben Fordham wins Sydney radio ratings, Erin Molan drops

Ben Fordham has taken a big hit in the latest Sydney radio ratings but held off the ABC to remain breakfast king.

Ben Fordham has taken a hit in the latest radio ratings but remains by far the top show in Sydney.

The 2GB breakfast host registered a leading 15.5 per cent share of the overall Sydney market, well ahead of his nearest rival but down 2.6 points overall, which represents a 14 per cent decline since the last survey.

Fordham’s biggest competition came in ABC Sydney, which registered a jump of 0.5 of a percentage point to a share of 13.2 per cent of the breakfast market.

On top again … Ben Fordham. Picture: John Feder

“Despite the drop, today’s result for 2GB’s Ben Fordham is nothing to worry about,” Radio Today Publisher Jake Challenor said. “The appetite for breaking news and rolling coverage of the pandemic is likely starting to wane. Ben is still the clear frontrunner in Sydney, and that’s very unlikely to change anytime soon.”

Overall across all stations and all timeslots, 2GB fell one percentage point to a share of 13.4 per cent, ahead of ABC Sydney at 11.8 per cent (down 0.4), smoothFM at 9.3 per cent (down 0.1) and KIIS 106.5 at 8.9 (up 1).

It is the second radio ratings survey of 2021, released by GfK eight times a year detailing how particular stations and shows are performing at regular intervals. It is common for ratings to fluctuate greatly between surveys.

Elsewhere in the all-important breakfast sector, KIIS 106.5 duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O were the third most listened-to station with a share of 10.9 per cent (up 1.1).

Kyle and Jackie O were third overall.

Ray Hadley remains top of the ratings in the 9-12pm slot.

Dave Hughes, Erin Molan and Ed Kavalee recorded a small dip. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

The duo were followed by WSFM’s Brendan ‘Jonesy’ Jones and Amanda Keller with their 7.7 per cent share, representing a jump of two percentage points, smoothFM at 7.5 per cent (up 0.2), Nova 96.9s Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli at 6.9 per cent (up 0.4) and Triple M’s Moonman in the Morning at 6.7 (up 0.3).

It wasn’t a great result for 2Day FM’s new team of Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes, Ed Kavalee and Erin Molan, who fell 0.6 of a percentage point to a share of 3.8 per cent.

“Southern Cross Austereo (2Day FM owner) won’t be thrilled with the performance of the new 2DayFM Breakfast show,” Challenor noted. “Station management were betting on Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes, Ed Kavalee and Erin Molan to take a few listeners from rival stations like Nova. Instead, the station went backwards. It will be hard slog to rebound from today’s result.”

Picking up from Fordham at 9am is Ray Hadley, again a clear leader with a 15.5 per cent share (down 0.6).

In the drive afternoon shift, ABC Sydney led the pack with a share of 12.2 per cent (down 1.1), ahead of KIIS at 10 per cent (up 1.5), smoothFM at 9.8 (up 0.9) and Nova’s Kate Ritchie, Tim Blackwell and Joel Creasey at 9.7 per cent (up 0.8).