Alan Jones hit with fourth ratings dip

Nine CEO Hugh Marks flags why breakfast radio host Alan Jones suffered his fourth consecutive ratings dip.

Alan Jones at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day. Picture: Stuart McEvoy.

Macquarie Media’s 2GB breakfast host Alan Jones has suffered his fourth consecutive dip in radio ratings, as new owner Nine flagged the advertising boycott prompted by his inflammatory comments had affected revenue.

Jones remains the ratings leader in Sydney, but fell 0.7 per cent in the latest radio ratings from GfK, bringing his share to 16.1 per cent; the lowest since survey two this year.

At Nine’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, Nine chief executive Hugh Marks flagged a profit downgrade for Nine, referencing the market conditions of the radio and television industry.

READ MORE: New radio boss Tom Malone ready to handle Jones, Hadley | Nine forecasts first-half earnings fall of 10pc

“Radio has experienced similarly soft market conditions in the current half exacerbated for Macquarie by the advertiser boycott around the Alan Jones’ program on 2GB. We are confident that full ownership by Nine from November will underpin improved performance, both in terms of reduced costs and the potential for incremental revenue on a medium-term basis,” Mr Marks said.

2GB colleagues Ray Hadley and Steve Price also saw drops in audience, both dropping by 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile, 2GB’s Ben Fordham and John Stanley saw their audiences grow in the drive and evening timeslots. Overall 2GB remains the top station in Sydney, ahead of Nova’s Smooth FM.

Jones’ decline in ratings follows a call made by the broadcaster in August for Scott Morrison to “shove a sock down the throat” of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Sydney’s 2GB and Brisbane’s 4BC programs are under review after the comments caused more than 80 advertisers including Coles and Ikea to pull their advertising spending and publicly distance themselves from the network and station.

The ratings come amid a period of major change for Macquarie Media and its stations, which were brought under Nine ownership and new managing director of radio, Tom Malone, on Monday.

Mr Marks has flagged changes to the company, which recently axed its Macquarie Sports Radio talk shows.

KIIS FM’s Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, which have similarly been caught in controversy over comments made about the Virgin Mary, also saw a dip in audience, down 0.4 points to 11.2 per cent. They remain the leading FM breakfast show in Sydney.

2DayFM Sydney, which recently axed its breakfast show and replaced it with an all music line-up, had a 2.6 per cent share.

KIIS FM’s Kyle Sandilands. Picture: Supplied

Meanwhile ABC Radio Melbourne’s Jon Faine marked the end of two decades on air with his highest audience share in almost four years.

Faine, who retired after 23 years in October, grew his share by 1.4 points to a 13.2 per cent share in mornings, according to the latest radio ratings from GfK.

The survey, which ran from August 18 to September 21 and September 29 to November 2 and included the final broadcast on October 11, was the highest for Faine’s morning show since the first survey of 2016.

GfK’s survey period also includes the first three weeks of new mornings host Virginia Trioli, however the final survey of the year will be a better indicator of her performance.

Faine’s show was the third most popular in the mornings slot, beaten by 3AW’s Neil Mitchell on 15.8 per cent, and Gold FM’s Craig ‘Huggy’ Huggins, which had a 14.1 per cent share.

In breakfast, 3AW’s Ross Stevenson and John Burns held as Melbourne’s ratings leaders, on 20.6 per cent, followed by the ABC’s Jacinta Parsons and Sami Shah on 10.4 per cent.

Meanwhile Gold FM breakfast with Christian O’Connell has become the leading FM breakfast show, with a share of 9.1 per cent.

O’Connell’s program is now more popular than Fox FM’s Fifi Box, Brendan Fevola and Bryon Cooke, Nova’s Chrissie Swan, Sam Pang and Jonathan ‘Browny’ Brown, Triple M’s Hot Breakfast with Eddie McGuire, Luke Darcy and Wil Anderson and KIIS FM’s Jase Hawkins and Polly ‘PJ’ Harding.

3AW remains the leading station in Melbourne, on 15.2 per cent, while Gold FM sits in second on 12.5 per cent.