Gold retakes FM crown as ABC Melbourne continues its bounce back

Gold retakes FM crown as ABC Melbourne continues its bounce back

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Gold has retaken its position as the leading FM radio station in Melbourne in the sixth ratings survey of the year, while ABC Melbourne continues its upward trajectory for the third survey in a row.

Gold recaptured losses from the previous survey, lifting its overall share by 3.1 percentage points to 12.7 per cent and leapfrogging the previous leading FM station, Smooth FM (which lost 0.6 percentage points to 9.3 per cent).

Christian O’Connell is Melbourne’s number one FM breakfast host in the sixth radio survey of the year. Credit: Eddie Jim

Gold’s breakfast slot (5.30am to 9am), which includes Christian O’Connell’s show, and evening slot (7pm to midnight) enjoyed the largest gains – 3.8 and 3.5 percentage points respectively.

3AW (owned, like this masthead, by Nine) continues to dominate the rankings, retaining its top position overall. However, it shed 0.9 percentage points during this survey period, bringing its audience share to 15.8 per cent.

The leading station lost audience share across timeslots, most noticeably in the evening slot (including Nights with Denis Walter), which decreased by 1.7 percentage points to 18.8 per cent – a turn from its domination in the previous survey. The breakfast slot, which includes Breakfast with Ross and Russel, also lost 0.6 percentage points (down to 21.7 per cent). Survey timeslots do not always correlate precisely with program timeslots.

3AW has announced significant changes to its lineup that will take effect in January. Neil Mitchell will leave Mornings and former Drive host Tom Elliott will take over. Jacqui Felgate, now filling in on Afternoons, will become the new host of Drive and Tony Moclair will be leaving Overnights for Afternoons.

This survey – which covered July 9 to September 16 – was the fourth completed under the new measurement model, Radio 360. It takes into consideration modern radio listening habits (including traditional AM and FM broadcasts, the DAB+ digital platform, and streaming via devices such as phones and internet-enabled smart speakers), based on regular survey results and information from a 2000-person panel of respondents wearing a meter-watch.

An average of 516,000 people listened to radio during this survey period, up from the previous average audience of 500,000 people.

ABC Melbourne’s proportion of listeners has increased for the third consecutive time this year, jumping from 7.1 per cent to 7.4 per cent. This is largely because of gains in both its breakfast and drive slots.

ABC Melbourne has also undergone major shifts this year, as the broadcaster undertakes a review of all capital city and regional stations. Former Drive host, Rafael Epstein, is now the host of Mornings after Virginia Trioli stepped away from the role, and Ali Moore has taken over as Drive host until the end of the year.

Its performance in the ratings has fluctuated since reaching a record-low in the first survey; however, it has managed to gain some ground and now sits in fifth position overall, compared to seventh in the previous survey.

Meanwhile, Nova suffered the biggest loss in audience share across the board, falling by 1.2 percentage points down to 6.3 per cent. Nova’s drive slot, which includes the Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel Show, shed the most by far, losing 2.3 percentage points to 8.2 per cent.

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