No surprise a presenter who scolded Victorians for protesting Covid-era policies is unpopular

The 3AW brains trust are finding that simply putting a younger host with an Instagram following into the crucial drive timeslot will not see younger listeners migrate en masse to AM radio.

Radio station 3AW is finding out the hard way that Instagram followers, whether real or purchased, do not equal ratings success.

The decision to appoint an Instagram influencer, reporter and brand ambassador, Jacqui Felgate, as drive host has been an unmitigated disaster, but an entirely predictable one.

The latest ratings, released on Thursday, show the drive timeslot plummeting to unprecedented lows for Melbourne’s number one station.

The 7.6 per cent figure is the lowest since the introduction of the current ratings system in 2014.

Jacqui Felgate’s drive program has plummeted to unprecedented lows for Melbourne’s number one station. Picture: Instagram

And, it’s a further drop to the disastrous first radio ratings survey of 2024 that saw Felgate record 8.2 per cent.

A number of industry sources were shocked that the station has lost even more rusted-on listeners, some predicting that drive’s ratings will stabilise or at least record a “dead cat’s bounce” in the next survey, while others expect to see the freefall continue.

Did the head honchos in Sydney really think the 3AW audience would embrace a drive host who appears to lack deep convictions and the few opinions she puts forward are more likely than not to be at odds with the audience.

Felgate appears to lack deep convictions. Picture: Wayne Taylor

As I wrote after the year’s first radio survey, it’s no surprise that a presenter who scolded Victorians for protesting against draconian Covid-era policies and was so enamoured with Brett ‘lockdowns’ Sutton that she promoted mugs featuring his face is proving unpopular.

The 3AW brains trust are finding that simply putting a younger host with an Instagram following into the crucial drive timeslot will not see younger listeners migrate en masse to AM radio.

What it has done is see the station lose 99,000 listeners.