Radio ratings for 2GB were reaudited after horror period for Sydney’s major station

The latest radio ratings which saw audiences for Sydney station 2GB plummet resulted in urgent action being taken before they were released.

2GB radio presenter Ray Hadley. Picture: Rohan Kelly.

Radio ratings firm GfK requested that the latest survey results in Sydney be scrutinised again before they were made public after significant falls were recorded by Nine Radio’s flagship station 2GB.

Sources told The Australian that GfK – who has been responsible for the results since 2013 – in a rare move requested that the independent auditor review the results for the Nine Radio station after many programs shed tens of thousands of listeners.

The independent auditor, Dr Rob Hall, who audits the results of every survey was asked by GfK to review the results for a second time before they were released last Tuesday however, it is understood he was not given any reasons about why they needed to be reviewed again.

The latest results for Nine Radio, led by boss Tom Malone, showed 2GB plummeting from the most popular station in Sydney to fourth with an audience share of 10.2 per cent (down 3.1), behind KIIS FM, WSFM, and Smooth 95.3.

Sources told The Australian the commercial radio industry body, Commercial Radio Australia, was also contacted by GfK last Monday afternoon – the day before results were released – to alert it to the fact there were notable falls across some programs for the Sydney station and it would likely draw media attention.

Insiders who spoke on the condition of anonymity said some of the results “just don’t add up” and it appeared to be a “rogue” survey, however no official complaints have been made to GfK or CRA.

The GfK Radio 360 data for the radio surveys is collected from 50,000 respondents annually and includes multiple data sources.

Eighty per cent of the radio surveys are done online while electronic diaries make up 20 per cent of diaries, live streaming data is directly collected from the radio stations and the GfK MediaWatch Panel of 2000, which aid the streaming validation.

A CRA spokesman said the group did not receive any complaints about the data and every survey is reviewed by the independent auditor.

“Every survey is reviewed as a matter of due diligence to ensure the ongoing integrity of GfK Radio 360 as our industry’s ratings system,” he said.

“This is nothing unusual.”

CRA has 260 members and represents 100 per cent of commercial radio licensees on air.

In the sixth survey of the year – eight are released annually – 2GB’s key program including Ben Fordham’s breakfast show recorded an audience share of 12.2 per cent (down 3.4) which was his lowest ratings since he started on breakfast in 2020 and he lost 50,000 listeners.

2GB radio host Ben Fordham. Picture: Sam Ruttyn.

Ray Hadley’s mornings program fell to 12.4 per cent (down 3.3) and shed 38,000 listeners despite remaining the top program in the slot where he won his 160th consecutive survey.

The station’s afternoon’s program, hosted by Michael McLaren, fell to 8.3 per cent (down 2.2) and lost 36,000 listeners, while Drive’s Chris O’Keefe recorded an audience share of 5.9 per cent (down 1.9) and lost 20,000 listeners.

Survey six covered the period from July 7 through to September 14 and during this period both Fordham and Hadley were live from Paris to cover the Olympic Games – much coverage of the event was broadcast from about 7pm AEST to 6am AEST due to the European time difference.

Sources said the shift away from 2GB could be due to listeners not wanting to listen to Olympics coverage and instead turned to other stations which they have since stayed with.

It is expected 2GB will continue to experience lower ratings in survey seven which covers the periods from August 11 to September 14 and September 22 to October 26.

Survey seven will be released on November 14.

Despite the falls, Nine Radio’s sister station, Melbourne’s 3AW did not suffer the same problems and it remained the number one station in Victoria with an overall audience share of 14.9 per cent.

Its two key programs including breakfast with Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft won in its time slot with an audience share of 22.5 per cent (up 1.2), while mornings host Tom Elliott also remained on top with an audience share of 17.8 per cent (down 0.3).

Nine other stations, Brisbane’s 4BC and Perth’s 6PR, had overall audience shares of 5 per cent (up 0.4) and 6.8 per cent (down 0.5) respectively.

It is not uncommon for some programs to experience changes to their listenership in both directions – some previous survey results have shown programs increasing their audience share by more than three per cent.

Last week Hadley took to the airwaves and told listeners the ratings “hasn’t been kind to the station”.

“You take the victories and you take the losses, that’s just the way life is,” he said.

“It’s no good spitting the dummy and there’ll be no dummy spitting.

“What we’ll do here is dust ourselves off and have another crack at survey seven and eight.”

GfK, Dr Hall and Nine Radio were all contacted but did not comment.