Ray Hadley manages to rise in radio ratings while pulling marathon shift to cover Alan Jones

RADIO star Ray Hadley has managed to increase his share of the market in the fierce morning timeslot, even while pulling a marathon 5.5 hour shift on air to cover absent colleague Alan Jones.

RADIO star Ray Hadley has managed to increase his share of the market in the fierce morning timeslot, even while pulling a marathon 5.5 hour shift on air to cover absent colleague Alan Jones.

Hadley remains king of the morning airwaves capturing 15.6 per cent share of the market, up 0.7 points from the previous GfK survey.

According to the first survey of the year, Hadley has racked up the success while filling in for Jones, who is undergoing his third round of surgery.

Alan Jones and Ray Hadley. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Jones’ timeslot from 5.30-9am experienced a slight drop of 1.6 points. However it still won its timeslot with a share of 12.9 per cent.

Radio executives will no doubt be watching the timeslot closely as they anticipate Jones’ return with no firm date locked in.

Hadley has pulled a double shift covering the slot, working the airwaves from 5.30am to 9am and then 9am to 12pm.

He was assisted in covering Jones’ slot for part of the ratings period by 2GB colleague Chris Smith.

Ray Hadley, John Singleton and Alan Jones. Picture: James Croucher

Hadley’s show is also rating well in Queensland where it has been syndicated since 2015.

The juggernaut station recorded an ­unprecedented 102nd back to back win thanks largely to the morning timeslots and Hadley’s efforts.

Over on the FM dial, replacing Sam Frost and Rove with Em Rusciano and Harley Breen seems to be working for 2DayFM, with the station experiencing a slight lift in market share, according to the first radio ratings for 2017.

While the pair are still trailing behind nine other breakfast teams, Rusciano and Breen have managed to increase their market share by 0.2 per cent, giving the embattled station a 4.0 per cent share of the market.

Ray Hadley. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Kylie and Jackie O held strong with no change to their portion of the market, however their ARN stablemates Amanda Kellar and Brenden Jones’ WSFM program dropped 1.4 per cent, resulting in a 7.3 per cent market share.

Popular Nova duo Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald and Michael “Wippa” Wipfli continue to slowly take a bigger share of the market, lifting 0.1 per cent, with a 7.2 per cent share of the market.