Sydney 

• 2GB and smoothfm again lead market
• Alan Jones and Kyle & Jackie O best in breakfast
• Moonman and The Chaser continue Triple M turnaround

UP: Sports Radio/Triple M/smoothfm +0.1
DOWN: 104.1 2Day FM -0.6

Read full report: Sydney Radio Ratings: GfK Survey 7

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Melbourne

• 3AW and Gold are the new leadership double
• Christian O’Connell now #1 FM breakfast, overtakes Fox
• Ross and John partnership secures 3AW another 20%+ breakfast

UP: 3AW +1.3
DOWN: 101.9 Fox FM -0.8

Read more: Melbourne Radio Ratings: GfK Survey 7

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Brisbane

• Nova 106.9 strongest of four FM stations all around 11%
• Breakfast war: Stav, Abby & Matt level with Ash, Kip, Luttsy & Susie

UP: 4BC +0.5
DOWN: Nova 106.9 -0.9

Read more: Brisbane Radio Ratings: GfK Survey 7

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Adelaide

• Hold the front page – Nova overtakes Mix and #1 overall
• Nova’s Kate, Tim and Marty dominate drive with massive 16.4%

UP: Nova 91.9 +0.7
DOWN: Mix 102.3 -0.4

Read more: Adelaide Radio Ratings: GfK Survey 7

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Perth

• Nova continues to rule with leading 10+ and breakfast shares
• Fred & Lisa lift at 96FM, but daytime share looses some recent growth

• UP: Hit 92.9 +1.4
• DOWN: 96FM -0.8

Read more: Perth Radio Ratings: GfK Survey 7

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Melbourne’s Gold 104.3 is the #1FM station and The Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show is the #1FM breakfast show. With 1,105,000 listeners, Gold now has a larger audience than any other station in Melbourne and its highest audience in history.

In Sydney KIIS 1065’s Kyle & Jackie O and WSFM’s Jonesy & Amanda are the #1FM and #2FM breakfast shows.

ARN’s national content director Duncan Campbell told Mediaweek that Christian O’Connell’s performance to get to #1 so quickly was very impressive.

“He arrived as an unknown presenter from the UK. He was somebody with a different accent, and his show got traction very quickly. Combine that with a strong station overall and you have a winning combination. Melbourne has proven to be ready for something a little bit different and Christian has been embraced by the market very quickly.”

As to the broadcaster’s style, Campbell said: “He communicates with listeners as he would an A-list personality. He contacts the listeners himself rather than having producers doing it. Listeners feel very much like they are part of the show and he makes you feel that way.

“Some of the anecdotal feedback we get from focus groups is that people feel like he is in the car with them when they are driving to work. It is part of the intimate connection that radio has with its listeners. In that environment, habitual listening is established very quickly.”

Campbell agreed that O’Connell has some old school radio qualities in that an intimate connection with the audience is very important. “Because Christian is so consistent with that sort of stuff, it can be very hard to break the listening habit once it has formed.

“His success will get people to re-think previous assumptions and that it is possible to put people like him into new markets and they will work if they are the right people.”

While ARN is enjoying the fruits of its labour at Gold, sister Melbourne station KIIS 101.1 has slipped again despite all the hard work from Jase and PJ.

In Sydney, WSFM has had one of its lowest shares in the past four years.

“We are looking at WSFM and that station should be performing better,” said Campbell.

“We know where the issues are and we will fix them relatively quickly. Music is part of it and is relatively easy to fix.”

Campbell was not too concerned about the slip to second spot for ARN in Adelaide. “Mix remains a very strong station and we were just pipped there by Nova. A result like that is always a wakeup call to fix any issues you might have.”

Will and Woody continue to perform well with another #1 FM in Sydney and #2 in Adelaide. “That show has gotten a lot better in 2019 and we expect that to continue into 2020. They had a big job in taking on the slot and they have learnt a lot of the last 18 months and they are sounding a lot better and more focused.”

The ratings continue to build for the reformed Botica’s Bunch in Perth at 96FM with cume and share up again. “The music is doing its job and breakfast is building nicely. To be #2 for a second survey is a great result in such a short period of time.”

Comparing rival networks can be confusing. Like ARN, Nova is claiming to be #1 network in share, and cume.

Nova Entertainment’s chief programming and marketing officer Paul Jackson told Mediaweek: “This is the first time we have ever had all those stations ranking so well, making this one of Nova Entertainment’s best books ever. We win every single demo nationally. If smoothfm Sydney wins one more book it will make it eight surveys in a row this year which is astonishing. Nova Sydney has also had the #1 cume for a year.

“In Brisbane is has been very tight this year, particularly this survey, but Nova has won seven in a row. In Perth we have won four in a row, something we haven’t been able to do historically against Mix.

“These are heady days for Nova overall.”

“In Adelaide Nova has been on the increase nearly all year and it is a great result to win both share and cume. It’s a great result for the Nova brand and hopefully it can hang on through survey eight to give [new breakfast announcers from Triple J] Ben and Liam a great start in the new year.”

Jackson said Nova is well positioned for next year with Adelaide the only line-up change across both radio brands.

“We have a lot of very strong shows with no weak links. We have #1 cume and share in Sydney (FM), Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth and we hope to maintain that performance into the first quarter of next year.

“We will keep taking a closer look at Melbourne because that is the most intense and exciting of the marketplaces.”

If Jackson has a wishlist, it might be for a better performance in Sydney and Melbourne mornings where Nova has brought in experienced announcers Kent Small and Matt Tilley.

“There is now so much choice. With Nova it is understandable that after breakfast some people will choose to go to Spotify or other places. In a more fragmented world our offering needs to be very sharp.”

smoothfm continues to dominate the FM music breakfast space, something that SCA has so far been unsuccessful breaking into with its new 2Day FM music breakfast. “There is only one feel-good station in Sydney and that is smoothfm. The audience believes in it and trusts it and it has been #1 for over a year. To try and mirror that and to play a lot of similar songs is difficult. A station needs to find its own lane and do something different, which we found with smoothfm after we started.”

This year’s cast has gone through a rollercoaster of emotions with multiple re-couplings for a better chance at love and unexpected couples breaking up in front of the audience.

The head of entertainment at ITV studios Majella Wiemers spoke to Mediaweek about the format of Love Island, the quick 24-hour turn-around schedule, and how this show differentiates from other dating shows in Australia.

The program screens four or five times a week on Nine’s primary channel and on 9Now.

Love Island received about 10,000 applications this year and Wiemers said the applicants have to be in that sweet spot between 18 and 29 years old. “In the first stage of the application, we look at the photos, we get video from people, we do a national casting tour. It’s a long process, and applications are always open – so we’re even casting when we’re on-air for the next series.”

Couples from last week (starting from left) Margarita and Blake, Jessie and Todd, Anna and Josh, Cynthia and Aaron, Cartier and Matthew

Wiemers said the producers are looking for a mix of people when casting the islanders. “When people talk about diversity they narrow it down to just diversity of race or diversity of state; but we look at race, state, background, occupation, goals, relationship history. We want to put as many people into the villa that are different and also that are a bit unexpected.”

Love Island is one of the hottest formats in the world right now. “At last count it’s in 12 or 14 territories around the world. Everyone will know the UK version because it’s done so well. It sky rocked from its series three and has continued to go up and up – in fact, the show is now doing a summer and winter series.”

The American one is a different vibe, and Wiemers said it has already been commissioned for a second series after a successful first series this year. “What we do well on this show in Australia is we’re good at taking the piss out of ourselves. Also, the beautiful voice-over of Eoghan McDermott and the style of the show is well suited for an Aussie audience. With our version we don’t want to get too wrapped up with not keeping it true to Australia and we’ve especially nailed it through the satirical, ‘take-the-piss’ voice-over by Eoghan.”

Eoghan is actually really good mates with the Love Island narrator from the UK – Iain Stirling. In fact, Eoghan auditioned for the UK series and was their second choice. “When we started Love Island Australia, we auditioned a whole heap of people for that voice over and we finally got Eoghan, and he was perfect. He isn’t Aussie himself – he’s Irish – but he just seamlessly fitted in straight away. There’s something about that Irish larrikinism. It just marries with us and what we do.”

Last year, season one of Australia’s Love Island was filmed in the mediterranean – specifically, Mallorca in Spain. This year however, season two has been filmed in Fiji. “The biggest reason for changing location this year was just timing. Last year we pushed our episodes in May, and this year we started later. If we were to be in Spain in September/October, it would’ve been too cold. You wouldn’t have bikinis, you would have blankets.

“The other thing is we can mobilise them really quickly from here. When we were casting for Spain, we had to factor in a lot more travel time when we wanted to mobilise cast, whereas for Fiji we can have them over in 48 – 72 hours after they’ve been cast. It lets us be completely reactive to storylines and see what romantic solutions and more romantic challenges we might want to pop into the villa.”

Wiemers explained to Mediaweek what the daily process is like when creating a show that’s formatted like Love Island. “We cut a show around every 24 hours, so that means we do some screenings in the middle of the night. We do some screenings with the network via Skype and the network is amazing because they see usually segment one and segment two has had probably around 12 hours on it so it’s looking okay, and by the time we get to about segment three, four and five, there’s lots of ‘ah, we’re still working on this’ because it really is right up to the wire,” she laughed. 

“We play out about an hour before it actually transmits. The only other sort of show that operates in that style currently is I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and prior to that there was Big Brother. It hasn’t had nine weeks in post-production, it’s a 24-hour turn-around process – and I think that’s part of the charm of Love Island. In the space of morning to afternoon, storylines can change and people’s feelings can change.”

Australian reality TV icon Sophie Monk hosted the first season, and again has hosted this season of Love Island. Wiemers said she can’t decide who she laughs more with – Love Island presenter Sophie Monk or the man behind the voice-over, Eoghan. “Sophie is the superfan. Literally, every time I see her she’s pummeling me for information, asking ‘did that really happen?’ or ‘I want to know what happened here and what happened next? I didn’t see this bit!’ And she’s hilarious. I guess that’s the other thing about the nature of ‘taking the piss’; Sophie manages to do that really well. 

“She knows exactly who she is, she knows who her audience is, and she nails it every time. The islanders really look up to her, and I think even more so this series than in last years’. ‘When the Monk is on the prowl’, something is going to happen. It’s also great to work with a host who loves the show – it does make a difference. She does sometimes even struggle with the awkwardness at the firepit when delivering bad news to the islanders, because she does truly care so much.”

“People say to us at the end “oh my god, how can they be dropping the ‘L-word’? They’ve only been in there for six weeks!’. For them it feels like they’ve had a year of isolation in Fiji having this relationship with someone where they’re sharing a bed with and seeing them every day and night. That’s what gives Love Island that sense of immediacy, but also gives that sense of ‘If I don’t watch tonight, what am I missing out on?”. With Love Island, you can be left behind pretty quickly if you don’t catch up.”

The grand finale of Love Island will be on Thursday, November 14 at 8:30pm on nine or stream on 9now. 

In this new role Fordham will lead News Corp Australia’s audio network strategy. He will work alongside the company’s brands and editorial teams on original audio content development and production, designed to build audience engagement and commercial growth.

Reporting to News Digital Networks Australia general manager of commercial networks and head of NewsCast, Ainslee O’Brien, the role is effective immediately.

O’Brien said: “Del will be instrumental in driving the acceleration of our audio network and continued investment in high quality audio storytelling. With bold ambitions for NewsCast and our commitment to delivering a market leading audio network for our consumers and our customers, we’re thrilled to have Del leading the next phase of expansion.”

Fordham said: “I’m excited to be joining News Corp Australia at this time of rapid growth in audio. I’m passionate about original productions, on-demand content and bringing together different creators and content pillars to create synergies. Our growth strategy and upcoming original content slate will only build on the great momentum NewsCast has.”

Fordham is an experienced audio content executive producer and manager with a career spanning 15 years locally and internationally. He has worked in content creation, aggregation and innovation with radio stations, podcast networks, on-demand platforms and audio production companies such as Global Eagle, Global Radio (UK), the ABC, Southern Cross Austereo and Nova Entertainment.

News Corp Australia has an extensive podcast portfolio across news, sport, travel, food, lifestyle, health, finance and the popular true crime genre. Recent successes include Who The Hell is Hamish?, Life and Crime with Andrew Rule and The Matty Johns Podcast, along with The Teacher’s Pet which became the number one podcast across the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

News Corp Australia announced a strategic podcast collaboration with Nova Entertainment in October that will provide extensive amplification and reach of their podcasts and commercial scale for business partnerships.

Fox Sports host Tara Rushton was joined by head of Leagues Greg O’Rourke along with the stars of the Westfield W-League and members from the Matildas’ squad recently to officially launch the season.

Speaking at the launch, O’Rourke said: “This season will again see the Westfield W-League showcase some of the best home grown and international female footballer’s right here in our own backyard.

“20 of the 23 Matildas from our 2019 World Cup squad and players who represented Brazil, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland and Spain at that tournament and other players from Iceland, Japan, Serbia, America and the United Kingdom will also take part this season.

“I urge all football fans to get out from Round 1 and cheer on their team and witness first hand where Heroes Are Made.”

Fox Sports’ Brenton Speed, Tara Rushton and Adam Peacock

Head of Fox Sports Peter Campbell said: “The Westfield W-League is a top class competition that showcases Australia’s best female footballers, including current and future Matildas as well as some of the world’s best players.

“The 2019/20 season promises to deliver football fans more great action and Fox Sports is again proud to provide live and ad-break free coverage for Foxtel and Kayo customers.”

Hersday Night Football returns on Fox Sports this season with Tara Rushton joined by a who’s who of Australia women’s football for 14 Thursday night clashes throughout the season.

Fox Sports will also broadcast 14 Sunday match-ups, including five Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League double-headers. The Sunday games are also broadcast on ABC TV.

Fox Sports will also show every game of the Westfield W-League finals series.

Fox Sports will broadcast two games live in Round 1, including the season opening clash between Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide United on Thursday, November 14 at 7.30pm AEDT and Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory on Sunday, November 17 at 4.00pm AEDT.

In addition to their Hyundai A-League duties, Andy Harper, Brenton Speed, Tara Rushton and Adam Peacock join the Westfield W-League commentary team this year.

They will combine with a rotating roster of some of the most respected names in football, including former Matildas Georgia Yeoman-Dale, Michelle Heyman and Grace Gill, the Matildas’ record goal scorer Kate Gill and the newest addition to the Fox Sports’ team Amy Chapman.

WESTFIELD W-LEAGUE ROUND 1

Thursday, November 14: Western Sydney Wanders v Adelaide United at 7.45pm
Sunday, November 17: Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory at 4.00pm

Filming in Victoria, the six-part Stan Original Series welcomes back its stars from the first season, including Jacki Weaver, Bryan Brown and Phoebe Tonkin.

Also joining the cast for season two is a mix of rising stars and Australian screen legends including Jacqueline McKenzie (Stan Original Series Romper Stomper), Gary Sweet (House Husbands), Bella Heathcote (Strange Angel), Toby Schmitz (Black Sails), Jackson Heywood (Home and Away), Scott Lee (Home and Away), Ed Oxenbould (Puberty Blues) and Lucy Barrett (Neighbours).

Series one favourites Genevieve Morris (Stan Original Series No Activity), 2019 AACTA nominee for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Drama, John Stanton (The Doctor Blake Mysteries), Anne Charleston (Neighbours), Terry Norris (The Dressmaker) and Thomas Ersatz (The Wrong Girl) will also return.

L-R Greg McLean, Phoebe Tonkin, Bryan Brown, Glen Dolman

In the first season of Bloom, the residents of a small, country town, Mullan, were left reeling after an inexplicable “fountain of youth” appeared in the wake of a devastating flood. A mysterious plant with luminous berries offered a second chance to return to your prime, which proved miraculous for some, while others were corrupted and fought to possess it.

In season two, time has passed, and news of the miracle has spread, but this time around the plant itself has transformed and the experience and its side effects are far more severe. With miracle-seekers arriving, a battle between science, nature and faith erupts.

Stan Original Series Bloom is created by Glen Dolman and produced by Sue Seeary. The drama will be shot by Geoffrey Hall with Greg McLean (Stan Original Series Wolf Creek) and Sian Davies (Stan Original Series The Gloaming) both set to direct the series.

L-R Scott Lee, Gary Sweet, Genevieve Morris, Nick Forward, Greg McLean and Glen Dolman

The series, which recently received five AACTA award nominations, and won the 2019 Logie for Most Outstanding Miniseries, is currently filming in various locations across Victoria and will premiere exclusively on Stan in 2020.

Stan’s chief content officer Nick Forward said “We’re thrilled to be working with Playmaker and Sony for the return of this award-winning Stan Original Series. With Glen’s vision, Greg and Sian’s direction, and the return of Jacki Weaver, Bryan Brown and Phoebe Tonkin, alongside an incredible line up of new characters, Bloom season two is set to deliver audiences another captivating season in 2020.”

Playmaker’s David Maher said “It’s incredibly exciting to see the cameras now rolling on Season Two of Bloom. The characters of Mullan and their second chance at youth had viewers hooked in series one. Our story takes a gripping turn in series two with human remorse caught in a struggle between science and religion. We can’t wait to bring the next instalment to life.”

Stan Original Series Bloom is produced by Sony Pictures Television’s production company Playmaker for Stan in association with Screen Australia. Financed with support from Film Victoria.

The Netflix series’ success has extended to New Zealand with the show reclaiming top spot on both TV Demand in NZ as well this week.

There has been some movement in the charts this week thanks to returning shows and some new releases which sees a new platform also join the charts.

The highest riser on the digital original charts this week was Atypical after releasing its 10-episode third season on November 1. The series revolves around 18-year-old Sam Gardner who tries to navigate both high school and being on the autism spectrum, while his family also deals with the series of changes in their lives.

Joining Atypical on the Digital Original charts is the first entry by Apple TV+ to join the TV Demand charts in the sci fi show See which was released on the first day of the platform on November 1. The series is set in a distant future where humans have lost the sense of sight and the world has to adapt. However, this is thrown into turmoil as a set of twins are born that can see. The series is lead by Jason Mamoa known for his work on the TV shows Game of Thrones, Frontier, and Stargate: Atlantis and most recently for his work as the DC character Aquaman, including the standalone film Aquaman in 2018.

The other show to join the Digital Original charts this week is Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan which premiered its second season on  October 31 on Amazon Prime Video. John Krasinski (The Office) stars in the latest incarnation of the character from Tom Clancy’s book series joining the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine.

The biggest riser on the Overall TV charts was the HBO series Watchmen which is available to watch in Australia on Foxtel’s Showcase channel. The show is based on the DC Comics limited series of the same name created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The show is created by Damon Lindelof with an ensemble cast of Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Andrew Howard, Jacob Ming-Trent, Tom Mison, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Louis Gossett Jr., Jeremy Irons, and Jean Smart. 

The sequel series is set 34 years after the events of the comic book series and within the same universe. The series focuses on events surrounding racial tensions in modern day Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to the new characters introduced the show features returning characters such as Doctor Manhattan, Silk Spectre, and Ozymandias.

The Good Place joins the Overall TV charts as it currently airs its fourth and final season premiering the first episode of its final run on September 26.  The show tells the story of Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), who wakes up in a utopia like version of the afterlife and meets the architect Michael (Ted Danson) who explains this is a reward for her good and moral life. However, Eleanor realises that a mistake was made and she must hide her morally imperfect behaviour while trying to become a better and more ethical person. The final episode is due to air on November 21.

A precursor to a future entrant to the Australian TV Demand charts may have been seen in NZ this week with Rick and Morty joining the Overall TV charts. The show aired the first episode of its longly anticipated fourth season on November 11 and should be due to rejoin the TV demand charts in the next few weeks.

Tuesday Week 46 2019

• Seven News 1,027,000/1,006,000
• Nine News871,000/875,000
• A Current Affair746,000
• ABC News741,000
• 7.30572,000
• The Project279,000/453,000
• 10 News First399,000
• The Drum188,000
• SBS World News128,000

Breakfast TV

• Sunrise329,000
• Today209,000

Seven

Home and Away did 636,000 after 640,000 on Monday.

Bride & Prejudice: The Forbidden Weddings was on 605,000 after 575,000 on Monday and 453,000 on Sunday.

A second episode of The Rookiethis week did 364,000.

Nine

A Current Affair jumped from 678,000 on Monday to 746,000 last night with bushfire coverage expanded with a number of reporters across the impacted areas.

Paramedics got the 7.30pm timeslot with a repeat episode on 379,000.

Love Island then did 236,000 after 263,000 on Monday.

10

The channel was experimenting with its 10 First news bulletin last night with a 90-minute special edition reporting on the bushfires that ended at 6.30pm. The audience was 399,000. News then The Project seems a much better segue at 6.30pm.

The Project started with detailed bushfire coverage and then returned to it again in its second half hour. The show started with 279,000 and then lifted to 453,000 after 7pm.

The sixth episode of The Amazing Race was again in Mongolia with 608,000 watching after 651,000 on Monday. It was the end of the race for Queensland sisters Hayley and Mikayla, who failed to make up time after a major setback.

One Born Every Minute then did 334,000, its biggest audience ever.

ABC

Coverage of the women’s international football match between Australia and Chile took over the channel from 8pm with 243,000 watching. The first match on Saturday afternoon had a metro audience of 75,000.

SBS

Scotland from the Sky did 229,000 at 7.30pm followed by a repeat of Insight on 234,000.