It was a tight race to the finish in Sydney on the FM dial for the final Radio Survey of the year released by GFK for 2018. As per the last 116 surveys saw market leader 2GB in the number one overall position, this survey has seen them take out the number one position for the 117th consecutive time. But as the eighth and final survey is an aggregate of all the surveys throughout the year its fascinating to see how the rest of the commercial stations tumbled in behind.
The results were extremely tight with the number 1 FM station Smooth sitting at a 9.1 share, very closely followed by KIIS at 8.8, WSFM at 8.7 and Nova at 8.6. Nova has seen substantial growth in its cumulative audience with the largest cume in Sydney at over 1m listeners. Alan Jones continues to dominate breakfast regardless of a 1.0 share point drop, he still sits at a convincing 16.5 share points for the session. KIIS’s Kyle and Jackie O took out the FM’s top breakfast spot at 10.5 share points followed by WSFM’s Jonesy and Amanda at 9.0. Nova’s Kate, Tim and Marty lead the Drive daypart at a 12.6 share, an increase of 0.8 on last survey.
Heading south of the border to Melbourne, and 3AW again leads with a strong 14.8 share points. It is noted that there was quite a large increase of over 65’s this survey – an increase of 4.3 share points but a loss of 4.5 share points in people 55-64. Smooth FM 91.5 takes out the number 1 FM station in Melbourne at 10.6 share points giving the Smooth network a double FM number 1 taking in the Sydney and Melbourne markets. The next two stations were neck and neck, Gold 104.3 sitting at 9.7 and Fox FM at 9.6 share. Breakfast was led by 3AW at 19.4 share points followed by Fox at 9.5 share points and Smooth at 8.9. Fox FM has the most listeners in this market, a total of 1,139,000.
In sunny Brisbane, Triple M has retained the top spot from last survey and has seen continued growth. It will be interesting to watch if this station continues its trajectory into the new year. Its nearest competitors are Nova at 11.3 share points and Hit 105 at 10.2. The top spot for breakfast has been taken out be Triple M with a very strong 14.1 share points and drive was dominated by Nova with 14.8 share points an increase of 1.1 on last survey’s results. Nova has the largest listening audience in the market with a total of 576,000 tuning in.
Over in Perth Mix 94.5 has dominated the commercial stations followed closely by Nova 93.7 at 13.7. Nova 93.7 took out the Breakfast daypart with a 14.9 share followed by Mix 94.5 with 13.3 share points. Nova also led Drive at 16.4 followed by Hit 92.9 at 14.0 and Mix 94.5 with a 13.6 share.
Finally in Adelaide, Mix 102.3 held its overall lead position with a 12.9 share. The second place position was very tightly contested with Nova 91.9 at 10.2 just pipping Cruise by 0.1 share points at 10.1. In the breakky session, FIVEaa were the market leaders with a very convincing 13.4 share, their nearest competitors Mix 102.3’s Jodie and Soda at a 12.8. In Drive, Nova had a huge increase of 3.0 share points over last survey and also took out this daypart with a 15.2 share. Mix 102.3 has the largest listenership in Adelaide with 324,000 cumulative audience closely followed by Nova with 322,000.
Nationally, Nova is Australia’s Number 1 metro network with a share of 9.5% and a cumulative audience of 3,537,700.
As the year comes to a close, we thank you for taking the time to review the Australian radio landscape and how radio as a medium can support your media campaigns for growth if planned properly and executed effectively. If there is anything we can do to help with ensuring your business reaches your goals in 2019, please get in touch. The team at MediaSmiths wishes you a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous new year.
Merry Christmas!
Source : GFK Survey 8, 2018
