Kyle and Jackie O back on top as Sydney radio volatility continues

The volatile Sydney radio market continues to rise and fall with Kyle and Jackie O overtaking Ben Fordham in the number one spot in breakfast.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson are back on top as the Sydney radio market flip-flop continues.

The KIIS 106.5 duo jumped back to the number one spot in the market with a leading share of 14.7 per cent in the all important breakfast timeslot, ahead of 2GBs Ben Fordham.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O are back on top of the radio ratings.

It has been a year of much back and forth with both stations number one in varying survey periods.

The sixth of eight GfK Radio 360 ratings survey results for the year show Fordham trailing just behind Kyle and Jackie O with a 14.2 per cent share, which represents a 0.4 of a percentage point slide for the talkback presenter.

For Kyle and Jackie O, the result represents a 0.8 of a percentage point rise for the survey period.

In mornings, at 9am, Ray Hadley on 2GB remains the number one show for the 152nd consecutive survey with a share of 13.7 per cent (up 0.9), ahead of his nearest rival, KIIS, at 11 per cent (up 0.7).

Overall stations though show an increasingly tight race with just 0.2 of a percentage point between long time market leader 2GB and KIIS.

2GB is number one station overall with an 11.1 per cent share, down 0.5, and KIIS right behind at 10.9, up 0.9.

GfK this year began providing accumulative and average audience figures in its initial survey results releases, as well as streaming data. That provides a deeper look at total audience numbers and average audience, which is used by advertising agencies.

2GB host Ben Fordham trails just behind Kyle and Jackie O in the latest ratings.

Ray Hadley's 150th consecutive ratings win and continued dominance as an agenda-setter in NSW. Photo of Ray Hadley in the Hiltons Restaurant Glass. Picture: Tim Pascoe

Traditionally, on the AM dial shares are higher as listeners generally tune in for longer. In overall stations, following 2GB and KIIS comes smoothfm 95.3 at 9.1 per cent (down 0.8), WSFM at 8.5 per cent (up 0.2).

Elsewhere in breakfast, ABC Sydney came in with an 8.6 per cent share (up 0.8), followed by WSFM at 8.5 per cent (down 0.3), Nova 96.9 at 7.3 per cent (up 0.4) and smoothfm at 7.2 (down 0.6).

In August, when the fifth GfK survey of 2023 was released, Hadley issued a please explain over the volatility of the figures and substantial declines across the board in Sydney.

“It is a rather complex issue the radio ratings,” Hadley told listeners, clearly perplexed.

“We are still No. 1 on 2GB Sydney and this program is number one for 151 consecutive surveys but I’ll need someone to explain to me how this all works these days and I think that people on other radio networks across Sydney will be asking the same question about how it all works. It seems a rather convoluted system.”