Ray Hadley knocked off top spot after 20 years

Retiring 2GB star Ray Hadley has lost his first radio ratings survey since 2004, breaking a streak of 160 survey wins as he fell to third place in the mornings slot on Thursday.

Hadley, who announced last week he will be hanging up the microphone in December, dropped to an 11.1 per cent share in the seventh GfK ratings survey for the year, down from 12.3 per cent in the previous survey. It is his second last survey at the talkback station.

Ray Hadley’s record-breaking ratings streak has come to an end, in his penultimate survey at 2GB.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Hadley’s record is unmatched in modern radio. A mainstay for the Sydney talkback station, he retained his record in the last survey despite a significant drop across 2GB amid a period encompassing the Olympics, which were broadcast in part by Hadley.

Speaking on-air on Thursday, Hadley offered his congratulations to the newfound victor, WFSM’s Phil O’Neil.

“As winners for 20 years we’ve tried to be dignified, and today we will try to deal with this in the same way,” he said. “There are no sour grapes attached to this. I can assure you when I made the announcement I made last week, today and the ratings were not in the back of my mind … It’s not the end of the world, just the end of a record-breaking run.”

2GB suffered a further drop overall, falling to a 9.8 per cent share, its worst for more than 20 years.

This time, the station was beaten by WFSM, KIIS, and SmoothFM, while Breakfast host Ben Fordham remained second behind KIIS’ Kyle and Jackie O.

In Melbourne, The Kyle and Jackie O Show continued its poor launch into the market, dropping further to a 5.1 per cent share (down from 5.2 per cent), putting them eighth overall in breakfast.

Kyle and Jackie O continue their poor launch into the Melbourne radio market.

An average of 500,000 people listened to radio in Melbourne during the survey period from August 11 to October 26, down from the previous average of 505,000. In Sydney, an average of 446,000 people listened to radio, down from 454,000 previously.

ABC radio performed well in both states, lifting its audience share by 0.3 percentage points to 6.1 per cent in Melbourne and by 0.8 percentage points to 7.5 per cent in Sydney.

ABC Sydney’s Drive timeslot (4pm to 7pm), which is hosted by Richard Glover, recaptured about 8,000 listeners since the previous survey and boosted its audience share by 2.3 percentage points to 7.3 per cent. In October, Glover announced he will leave the station later this month after a 26-year run.

Survey timeslots do not always correlate precisely with program timeslots.

Meanwhile, Sammy J’s Breakfast in Melbourne increased its share from 7 per cent to 7.4 per cent. The comedian announced his departure from ABC radio on Wednesday. He’ll be replaced by former AFL player Bob Murphy and Channel 7 reporter Sharnelle Vella.

2GB and 3AW are owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.

Though 3AW kept its top position, its audience share dropped 0.9 percentage points to 14 per cent, the largest decrease across the board.

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