Sydney’s yo-yo radio ratings take another twist

Sydney’s enduring battle between AM and FM radio’s top stars has taken another turn with the release of the latest ratings survey.

Ben Fordham is back on top for the first radio ratings of the year.

Clearly showing the volatility of the Sydney market will continue, Fordham trumped KIIS duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson with his leading breakfast audience share of 16.6 per cent and 15.4 per cent for them.

It represents a rise of 0.6 of a percentage point for Fordham on 2GB and a 1.3 percentage point drop for Kyle and Jackie O and sees a reverse on the final radio ratings survey results for 2023.

“It’s a great way to start the year. 2GB listeners are the best and we love them,” Fordham told Confidential. “If you’re not listening, you’re missing out. Big thanks to my team for being the best in the business.”

2GB radio host and Sydney radio no.1, Ben Fordham, pictured in studio after winning the ratings war. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

There are eight GfK ratings surveys released in a calendar year.

Across all stations and all timeslots, 2GB came out on top this first survey with an audience share of 12.7 per cent, up 0.6. Then came smoothfm with its share of 10.8 per cent, down 0.6, nudging KIIS out of second place overall with its share of 10.5 per cent, down 1.0.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O were trumped to top spot. Source: Instagram

Last year, GfK 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.

In terms of audience numbers, Kyle and Jackie O have this survey period drawn a total audience of 851,000 listeners from 5.30am to 9am, down 16,000, compared to Fordham on 2GB at 454,000, down 56,000.

In mornings, picking up from Fordham, Ray Hadley remained steady on top with an impressive leading share of 14.1 per cent, followed by smoothfm 95.3 at 12.7 per cent and KIIS at 11.7 per cent.

It is Hadley’s 155th survey on top.

“We are getting close to 20 years of an unbeaten run,” Hadley told listeners of the ratings result. “It is a big survey. Survey one, coming off the summer, is usually a tough one for talk radio but well done to Ben and the rest of the team. Well done to my staff as well. We are small but certainly diligent.”

Elsewhere in breakfast meanwhile Nova 96.9s Fitzy, Wippa and Kate Ritchie jumped to an 8.4 per cent share of the all important market. That is up 1.3 percentage points.

They are followed by ABC Sydney at 7.9 per cent (up 0.1), smoothfm at 7.7 per cent (down 0.6) and Triple M at 5.1 (down 0.2).

Ray Hadley remained steady on top with an impressive leading share of 14.1 per cent.

There were several major changes across the market going into 2024.

Comedian Craig Reucassel took over from James Valentine on ABC Sydney breakfast with Valentine moving back to afternoons.

ABC Sydney has struggled since the departure of Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck from breakfast in October 2021. Ratings-wise, the pair peaked with a score of an audience share of 15.9 per cent of the breakfast market.

And on 2GB, Michael McLaren took over the 12pm to 3pm shift when Deb Knight stepped down from that timeslot. He scored a 10 per cent share, which is a significant jump of 2.8 percentage points and sees McLaren finish second behind smoothfm in that timeslot.

In the 3pm to 6pm timeslot, Chris O’Keefe on 2GB dropped slightly to 8.0 per cent, finishing fourth behind KIIS at 10.4 per cent, smoothfm on 9.9 per cent and Nova at 9.6 per cent.

Kyle and Jackie O will at the end of this month launch their Sydney breakfast show into the competitive Melbourne market, going head to head with Nova’s Jason Hawkins and Lauren Phillips.

“We’ve started 2024 with 6.4 million Australians listening to NOVA Entertainment across the country, retaining the highest total audience of any metro network,” Nova Entertainment chief executive Peter Charlton said.

“We are delighted to see our live and local strategy succeeding across our stations, including record results from our Sydney Breakfast team. With exciting changes, including Jase & Lauren in Melbourne, still to hit the survey books, we go into the year knowing we can continue to deliver class-leading content for our listeners and a compelling commercial offering for our clients.”