ABC’s Radio National Breakfast program has lost more than 120,000 listeners since Karvelas took over in 2022
The taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s flagship political radio program has seen ratings continue to fall in the past two years, shedding more than 120,000 listeners.
ABC Radio National’s flagship breakfast program led by Patricia Karvelas has shed more than 120,000 listeners in the past two years and more than half of those tuning out are in Sydney, the last radio ratings survey of the year shows.
Official ratings data released by GfK on Tuesday shows Karvelas has lost listeners in all five markets since Fran Kelly departed RN Breakfast at the end of 2021 – Kelly’s had 372,000 listeners across the five major cities, but this has now fallen to 250,000 under Karvelas’s reign, equating to a loss of a third of the audience.
Kelly had a cumulative listenership (the number of different people reached at least once by a station during a set period of time) of 111,000 Sydney listeners in her last survey in 2021, but this has nearly halved to just 62,000 listeners in Sydney.
Karvelas has repeatedly vented her frustrations this week over the reporting on her ratings demise, labelling it a “hit piece” in a series of posts on her social media accounts including X, formerly Twitter and Instagram.
Kelly will return to RN next year as part of the weekend line-up, hosting Saturday Extra at 7am.
ABC Sydney’s breakfast program led by axed host James Valentine finished the year with an audience share of 7.8 per cent (down 0.6 percentage points) and rated fifth.
Valentine is being replaced by comedian Craig Reucassel, whose appointment has been met with serious doubts over the ABC’s ability to regain listeners and was described to The Australian by one source as replacing “giggle with giggle.”
Valentine will return to his former timeslot of afternoons in 2024.
In the same timeslot, KIIS1065’s Kyle and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson remained in top spot with an audience share of 16.7 per cent (up 0.4), finished ahead of rival and 2GB host Ben Fordham who finished the year on 16 per cent (down 0.2).
Mornings’ 2GB host Ray Hadley also remained the dominant broadcaster, winning his slot with an audience share of 14.1 per cent (down 1.1).
In Melbourne, Nine Entertainment's station 3AW’s breakfast duo Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft won the slot easily with an audience share of 18.1 per cent (down 0.4).
Neil Mitchell, who hung up his microphone after 34 years, also won the mornings slot again with an audience share of 16.3 per cent (up 0.6), while ABC Melbourne mornings’ host Rafael Epstein, who has permanently taken over from Virginia Trioli, had an audience share of 7.9 per cent (down 0.9) and was fifth in the slot.
In the afternoons slot, 3AW’s Jacqui Felgate and Tony Moclair, who have separately been hosting the show during the survey 8 ratings period, drew an audience share of 10.6 per cent which is down from when Dee Dee Dunleavy was axed in the middle of the year – she had an audience share of 12.9 per cent.
Felgate repeatedly came under criticism after The Australian revealed she had 15 lucrative paid partnerships with many companies and sporting organisations that the station failed to declare – the matter remains under investigation by the media regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Moclair is now the permanent host of afternoons, while Felgate will take over from Tom Elliott in the drive slot next year, and he replaces Mitchell in mornings.
Elliott’s last survey of the year was stable at 10.2 per cent.
In Brisbane, 4BC's breakfast program led by Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine fell again, recording an audience share of 6.4 per cent (down 1.6).
In Adelaide Triple M’s breakfast show led by Mark Ricciuto, Chris Dittmar and Laura O’Callaghan won the slot with an audience share of 16.3 per cent (down 0.6), ahead of FIVEaa’s David Penberthy (also a senior writer at The Australian) and Will Goodings at 11.4 per cent (up 0.5).
Axed ABC Breakfast pair Nikolai Beilharz and Stacey Lee recorded an audience share of 11.8 per cent (up 1.7) – Lee has moved to FIVEaa and Beilharz will move to afternoons on the ABC.
The pair will be replaced by Sonya Feldhoff and Jules Schiller in 2024.
In Perth, NOVA’s 93.7 breakfast show hosted by Natalie Locke, Nathan Morris and Shaun McManus remained the dominant force with an audience share of 17.2 per cent (up 1.5).
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