'There's more growth to come': Why SCA's dedication to keeping the faith is beginning to pay off

If you really had to guess, what would you say radio’s biggest advantage over Spotify is?

Sure, it's live, it's intimate, and it's a companion for so many; heck, if you want to get poetic, you could even describe it as an ephemeral social thread, tying everyone and everything together through thoughts and honest discussion.

But for Southern Cross Austereo’s head of broadcast content, Matthew O’Reilly, its biggest advantage is that you can touch it.

“Our competitive advantage is that with radio you can touch it,” he told Mediaweek in our usual post-ratings chat. “On radio, they’re talking about what’s happening in the city you live in, right now.”

SCA kept its lead among listeners aged 25–54 for a 42nd consecutive survey in GfK Survey 6, 2026, and grew breakfast share across its Hit and Triple M networks. Combined with ACE Radio, the networks took a 37.5% commercial share in the demographic. SCA reported a national radio reach of 9.26 million listeners across metropolitan and regional markets.

Triple M led among men aged 25–54 for the 30th consecutive survey. The Hit Network won among women aged 25–54 for the sixth survey in a row.

“And the more that we lean into that, the more we lean into our competitive advantage in the industry,” the refreshingly honest O’Reilly said. “Like, yeah, we have to do that stuff, or we lose our edge.”

Where SCA sits in each market

SCA’s network wins came with only one market crown. smoothfm 95.3 kept the lead in Sydney on 13.2%. 3AW held Melbourne on 13.4%. AM station 4BH 1116 took Brisbane with 12.3%, and Nova 93.7 pushed its Perth lead out to 18.3%.

Triple M Adelaide is SCA’s only overall market leader. In the other capitals, SCA’s gains came in breakfast and in the minor placings.

Triple M Melbourne’s Grand Final correction

Triple M Melbourne had the largest station share increase in the market among listeners aged 10 and over, rising 1.2 percentage points to 7.3%. Its breakfast show, Mick in the Morning with Roo, Titus & Rosie, had Melbourne’s largest breakfast share gain, up 1.1 points to 6.5%.

O’Reilly said the result made up for previous surveys.

“I think the secret is that Triple M was probably harshly rated in the last few surveys. This is a bit of a correction,” he said. “I still think there’s more growth in Triple M Melbourne.”

The survey period included the NFL game in Melbourne and the AFL Grand Final, and Triple M ran broadcasts and parties around both.

“That audience connection and being in front of the audience and interacting with the audience is a massive focus for us,” O’Reilly said. “I thought we did a really great job as an overall business of seizing the grand finals.”

READ MORE: Sydney Radio Ratings Survey 6 2026: smoothfm holds the crown, while KIIS plateaus

READ MORE: Melbourne Radio Ratings Survey 6 2026: 3AW keeps crown as GOLD feels the heat

Sticky listeners or a footy bounce?

Footy finals can inflate a sports station’s numbers, so the question is whether those listeners stay once the season ends. O’Reilly thinks they will.

“Sometimes that’s the case, but I don’t think it is here,” he said. “Sometimes we also have surveys where we will cover the Grand Final, and we think the survey for Triple M is going to be fantastic. And it doesn’t fall that way, which is why you look at trends.”

He is planning for the quieter months anyway. “I don’t want to use the word dead patch, but we’re in an off-season for football and cricket, so we’re not operating at full capacity.”

Triple M is covering horse racing on Saturdays through the spring carnival for the first time, and it has launched the Triple M 1000.

“That is just to make sure that there is no dip post-footy season and we’re always active across the 12 months of the year,” O’Reilly said.

Brisbane’s one-two

In Brisbane, Triple M and B105 finished first and second among FM stations and breakfast programs, and both sat behind 4BH overall. Triple M’s station share rose 0.4 points to 11.3%. Marto, Margaux & Dan climbed 1.9 points to 13.6%, the market's top breakfast share. B105 fell the most, down 1.4 points to 10.6%, and Stav, Abby & Matt dropped 1.7 points to 12.5%. B105 still has Brisbane’s largest weekly audience, at 634,000.

O’Reilly was asked how two stations with the same owner keep their own identities. “They know what they are. And I’m sure it’s tough for them in the market when, like B105, loses the number one spot to Triple M.”

“As someone who looks after both brands, it’s fantastic to have a one-two station in the market. I wish we had more markets like that,” he said. “It’s always felt very fluid. Today, we’ve created a bit of breathing space for ourselves, which means we should be able to hold it for some time.”

READ MORE: Brisbane Radio Ratings Survey 6 2026: 4BH grabs Brisbane crown as B105 slips

READ MORE: Adelaide Radio Ratings Survey 6 2026: Triple M widens its Adelaide lead as Nova and FIVEaa slide

Adelaide keeps its lead

Triple M Adelaide ranked first overall on 14.0%. That was down 0.3 points, but Nova 91.9 fell further, so Triple M’s lead grew from 2.3 to 3.2 points. Roo, Ditts & Loz kept the breakfast lead on 14.3%, down 0.9 points. It was the show’s 28th breakfast win in 29 surveys, and it finished more than two percentage points ahead of Nova’s 12.2%. 

“They’re not slowing down in terms of energy, passion, or commitment,” O’Reilly said. “I would think they can hold it for a significant period of time going forward.”

Meanwhile, The Rush Hour with JB & Billy held the number one drive spot for a fourth consecutive survey.

Perth’s slow build pays off

Triple M Perth saw the biggest market share gain, up 1.2 points to 11.0%. That puts it within reach of second place. Xav & Katie rose to second in breakfast, up 0.8 points to 12.2%, and reached 246,000 listeners. It was the station’s largest breakfast audience since Survey 8, 2020.

“I think it’s a good show for starters,” O’Reilly said. “I think Fremantle’s run in the finals probably helped a bit. The whole city was certainly embracing that.”

He said the result had been long overdue. “It hasn’t been an easy road for Triple M Perth,” he said. “It took a lot of time to find its audience, and hopefully now that we’ve got it, we can keep it and even grow it.”

Sydney’s duopoly

In Sydney, 2DayFM lifted its station share from 4.9% to 5.2%. 

Nath & Emma grew their breakfast share for a fourth consecutive survey, reaching 4.9%. Triple M Sydney slipped 0.2 points to 6.1% and lost 17,000 weekly listeners. Its breakfast show, Beau Ryan, Cat & Woodsy, still rose 0.2 points to 6.1%. 

“I’m extremely happy with the Sydney Duopoly,” O’Reilly said. “We have seen pretty phenomenal growth for both stations - 2DayFM and Triple M - in the last 12 months.”

“The vibe around the show is just amazing, so is the culture in the team,” he said of 2DayFM’s breakfast team. “Every time I’m there, it’s high energy. They’re always building towards something.”

Ready for the new arrivals

Two new breakfast shows are about to launch, with ARN replacing Sydney's breakfast spot, held by Kyle and Jackie O, with the untested team of Chris Brown, Amy Gerrard and Jack Charles, while in Melbourne, the new team of Ash London, Isaac Smith and Elliot Garnaut is taking the reins. 

But for O’Reilly, while the changes will mean SCA would “check its strategy”, he doesn’t expect to change much.

“We would be stupid not to look at the fact that it’s launched and ask: is there anything about our strategy that needs changing? That’s just normal due diligence,” he said.

“We can’t be going and changing what works for us for something that’s relatively unknown. I would think for the most part, 95 to 99% of our strategy will remain exactly the same.”

By his own maths, that leaves 1% to 5% open for change.