ABC breakfast radio slips in most markets; Ray Hadley, Alan Jones surge

The ABC’s gamble on mass changes to its breakfast radio schedule has flopped, with ratings falls in almost every market.

Wendy Harmer hosts the breakfast show in Sydney with Robbie Buck. Picture: AAP

The ABC’s breakfast shows around the country have suffered falls in every market except Brisbane, after the public broadcaster made sweeping changes to its radio schedule this year.

ABC Sydney, which teamed breakfast presenter Robbie Buck with mornings host Wendy Harmer for one show from 6am to 10am, fell 0.4 points in the breakfast slot to a 9.5 per cent share in the in the fourth survey of the year, while holding steady in the morning slot with a 7.8 per cent share, according to ratings agency GfK.

Melbourne’s breakfast show with Sami Shah and Jacinta Parsons fell 0.4 points to 9.2 per cent, taking it more than two points lower than the same time last year when its long-serving former host Red Symons was still in the chair.

ABC Melbourne’s morning slot fell 0.7 points to an 11.4 per cent share in the survey, which covers the period from mid-April to June 30.

The ABC’s radio programs do not fall neatly within the 5.30am to 9am breakfast and 9am to 12pm morning slots measured in the ratings survey.

In Melbourne, Mornings with Jon Faine runs from 8.30am to 11am, straddling both timeslots. It is followed by the Conversation Hour with Jon Faine.

All of the ABC’s breakfast shows break for news at 7.45am, followed by the half-hour current affairs show AM, hosted by Sabra Lane, from 8am.

 

During the morning slot, a new segment called Focus airs at 10am with a different host in most capital cities.

The show, which is hosted by Cassie McCullagh in Sydney, was launched in January with the aim to “provide clarity and context to the stories making news, as well as how we live our lives”.

Conversations with Richard Fidler airs from 11am in most markets, taking up the final hour of the ABC’s morning slot from Monday through Wednesday.

Sarah Kanowski was appointed this year to host the program on Thursday and Fridays.

In Brisbane, the ABC morning is now shared between Craig Zonca and Rebecca Levingston from 6am to 10am, then Focus with Emma Griffiths from 10am to 11am.

The ABC increased its share in both slots, by 1.2 points to 7.2 per cent in mornings and by 0.3 points to 9.1 per cent in breakfast.

Brisbane’s ABC breakfast slot has won back some of the ground lost in survey two when breakfast slumped 2.5 points to an 8.6 per cent share. It had regained a tentative 0.2 of a point in survey three.

In Perth, the addition of Paula Kruger as co-host of Peter Bell’s ABC breakfast show resulted in a modest fall of 0.1 points to 11.5 per cent.

The ABC Perth morning slot, which fell 0.6 points to 7.1 per cent, is divided into three segments.

Kruger’s new solo show airs from 9am to 10am, followed by the hour-long Focus with Nadia Mitsopoulos, then Conversations.

In Adelaide, FIVEaa’s David Penberthy and Will Goodings stole the ABC’s breakfast crown, after the duo boosted their audience share by 1.8 points to 14.4 per cent.

ABC Adelaide’s breakfast with Ali Clarke and David Bevan fell 2.1 points to a 13.5 per cent share.

Clarke and Bevan host together from 8.30am to 9am, while Clarke hosts solo from 6am to 7.45am, then Bevan from 9am to 11am.

The morning slot suffered a 0.7 points slide to a 9.9 per cent share.

An ABC spokesman said the public broadcaster was “comfortable with the performance of its metro stations which have all had significant line-up changes”.

“The ABC sees the results of this survey as steady, with minor movements across all programs and markets around the country,” the spokesman said.

2GB radio hosts Alan Jones and Ray Hadley continue to dominate their timeslots. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Meanwhile, 2GB breakfast host Alan Jones has increased his audience share by a further 1.3 points to 16.6 per cent, marking his 212th consecutive Sydney survey win, having rebounded by a point last month after slipping 1.2 points in the previous survey.

His 2GB stablemate Ray Hadley, who hosts the 9am to 12pm morning slot, increased his share by 3 points to 18 per cent.

Should he repeat this increase next month, Hadley would once again become the most listened-to radio announcer in Australian radio, a title he first won in May 2011 when his share hit 20.1 per cent.

3AW Melbourne breakfast hosts Ross Stevenson and John Burns currently claim that honour, but their share slipped 0.8 points to 19.2 per cent this survey.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Hendersen have taken a ratings hit, with their Sydney breakfast show’s audience share falling 0.9 points to an 11 per cent audience share.

While the Kyle and Jackie O Show retained the number one FM breakfast slot in the city, the decline dragged on Kiss FM’s overall result, which fell 0.4 points to 8.4 per cent.

Over at the controversial duo’s former station, 2Day FM, breakfast with Em, Grant and Ed fell six points to 4.3 per cent, suggesting that attempts to revive the struggling show have fallen flat.

The addition of Grant Denyer and Ed Kavalee, who have reportedly struggled to get on with Rusciano, came after her previous co-host Harley Breen quit in November.

Gold FM remains the number one FM station in Melbourne, with its new breakfast host Christian O’Connell — imported from Britain last month — boosting his audience share by 0.8 points to 8.7 per cent.