Radio ratings: ABC sinks but holds on to brekkie lead
A volatile ratings period has seen ABC Radio Adelaide, SAFM and ratings leader Mix all lose listener share, but the public broadcaster has held on to its lead in the closely-watched breakfast shift.
ABC Radio Adelaide's breakfast presenter Ali Clarke. Supplied image: ABC
Survey three of this year’s Adelaide radio ratings saw some huge swings, with SAFM having a particularly disastrous survey, losing 1.5 percentage points of listener share to cement its position as the worst-performing local station.
SAFM’s owner, Southern Cross Austereo, will be pleased, however, with the performance of stablemate Triple M, which had a very competitive survey.
ABC Radio Adelaide has lost share in every survey this year, sinking from joint second place to sixth in today’s figures.
The station’s breakfast announcer Ali Clarke remains its brightest light, winning again despite losing listener share (14.4 per cent, down from 15.4).
Her nearest rivals, FIVEaa’s David Penberthy and Will Goodings, edged closer, rising from 13.5 to 13.8.
Overall Adelaide radio ratings. Source: GfK radio ratings. Survey period: Sun Feb 28 to Sat Apr 3 & Sun Apr 18 to Sat May 22
FIVEaa had a good survey overall, recording the biggest increase in listener share of any station.
Mix, the perennial leader, remained in overall number one position despite losing some share. Nova overtook a virtually unchanged Cruise to take second position, while FIVEaa bounced up from fifth to fourth. Triple M moved from sixth to fifth.
The survey is marked by some relatively huge swings that, in a few instances, look anomalous.
In breakfast, the following pack behind the ABC and FIVEaa includes a surging Triple M team of Chris Dittmar and Mark Ricciuto who put on a whopping 2.1 percentage points to come in just behind third-placed Mix.
In mornings, Mix holds the lead, but FIVEaa’s veteran announcer Leon Byner put on two percentage points to move to clear second.
In the afternoons, Mix holds the lead, while Drive is owned by Nova.
The evenings also saw huge swings, with FIVEaa’s lineup of Jon Blake followed by Matthew Pantelis recording a huge 3.6 percentage point surge to cement the stations’ dominance in the shift. SAFM lost an astounding 4.6 percentage points in evenings.
Monday to Friday and Breakfast shift ratings. Source: Gfk. Survey Period: Sun Feb 28 to Sat Apr 3 & Sun Apr 18 to Sat May 22
The ABC continues to have a ratings problem in the Drive shift. Jules Schiller sunk to 6.3 per cent, down from 7.4 in the previous survey, to rank eighth out of 11 surveyed stations. He was outpointed by youth stablemate Triple J (6.7) – a regular occurrence over the past few years. Only the ABC’s news radio, classic music and national talk stations rated lower.
However, commercial station FIVEaa also has issues in Drive which would have management searching for answers.
In the full swing of the football season, FIVEaa’s Drive show, hosted by Stephen Rowe, lost ground to be overtaken by Triple M. Of the commercial stations, FIVEaa only beat SAFM in the shift.
The Triple M/FIVEaa drive battle was once a pure sport-versus-sport affair, but Triple M have opted for a messy combination of Mick Molloy’s syndicated program followed by the “Rush Hour” sports show, with Greg Blewett, Andrew Jarman and Bernie Vince, from 6-7pm.
Triple M increased its share to 8.8 per cent – overtaking FIVEaa which fell to 8.1.
