Radio Ratings
The radio industry is now at the halfway mark of the radio ratings survey, following the release of survey 4. Mediaweek has caught up with content executives from around the industry to get their thoughts on how their networks are performing.
Mediaweek caught up with Nova Entertainment’s chief programming and music content officer, Paul Jackson about how the Nova and smoothfm brands are fairing so far in the market this year.
Following Survey 4, Nova is the most listened to metro network with 4,113,000 listeners. Kate, Tim & Joel (4:00pm – 6:00pm) is also the #1 drive program nationally with 11.10% share and most listened to nationally with 1,547,300 listeners.
See also: Dave Cameron on SCA’s survey 4 radio ratings results
The Nova radio brands two best markets were Perth and Brisbane. Nova 106.9 is the number one station 10+ (12.6% share) in Brisbane and most listened to with a record cume for Brisbane of 700,000. Nova 93.7 is Perth’s #1 station with a record share of 15.5% and a record cume for the Perth market with 631,000 listeners. Nathan, Nat & Shaun, are also Perth’s #1 breakfast show with a record share of 18.4%.
“In Brisbane, we smashed our own records and did a 700,000 cume, which is the highest of all time,” said Jackson. “The previous survey was also a record cume as well. Ash, Lutsy and Susie O’Neill who do the breakfast show, have been there for more than a decade now and have a great heritage in the marketplace. They are sounding fresh and do fantastic work connecting with the local marketplace.
“Over in Perth we’ve had running jokes over the years of just about how successful the radio station has been in Perth and clearly the connection that it has with the audience there. But this is taking it to extremes, to have the sort of breakfast show that we have touching on an 18% share, we really only ever see that in talk radio stations, that’s something 3AW might do at its absolute peak. I don’t know a music station anywhere in the world that can do that. At the peak of most music stations you have a 10, 12, or 13% share maybe but this is ridiculous.”
Jackson said that part of Nova’s success has been the consistency of the brand over many years, and producing long-running programs in key slots.
“Nathan, Nat and Shawn have been 14 or so years in breakfast. Ash and Lutsy have been there a good 13 or 14 years and Susie for the last six or seven, they are obviously very well-known personalities in Brisbane and across the country. Often it can be not so much about what you do, there’s so much change happening around you that over the years, you’re the most familiar one with listeners, you’re the most connected, and they know what they’re gonna get from you.”
The smoothfm brand also had a successful survey where it was the #2 FM station in Melbourne with a 9.2% share and the most listened to FM station in Sydney with 1,270,000 listeners, an increase of 137,000, and record cume for the Sydney market. Jackson said this was a very promising sign for the smooth brand as it continues to inch towards record numbers.
“smooth seems to be bouncing back to its absolute high numbers, pre-COVID. Smooth 95.3 in Sydney just recorded the highest cume of any station in the country as well with 1.270 million. Even our DAB+ station smooth relax just playing the ballads did about a 120,000 cume in Sydney and nearly 100,000 in Melbourne.”
Jackson also said that it wouldn’t be fair to talk about his station’s strong results without acknowledging the success of the competition, mentioning KIIS’s Kyle and Jackie O show in particular.
“To be fair with Kyle and Jackie O’s breakfast number on KIIS I would be remiss to not mention that it is a very strong number in a market like Sydney when we’re talking about how well we do in Brisbane and Perth. In a more difficult market where there are more stations competing in Sydney that’s a very dominant number too. At any other moment, smooth would probably be a number one station and beyond breakfast, it pretty much is a number one.”