There are radio guys, and then there are radio guys.
They’e the ones who’ve clawed their way up from the ground floor – jock, panel op, announcer, EP, whatever was going – the people who’ve touched every moving part of a station before they ever got near a corner office.
Matthew O’Reilly is a radio guy.
Which is probably why the former Head of Content for Triple M, now Head of Broadcast Content, doesn’t breeze past the sore points in Survey 7 for Southern Cross Austereo’s (SCA) Sydney station, 2DayFM, with some flippant, laminated line. He doesn’t hide behind cliché. Instead, he’s honest – properly honest.
He’s honest because he knows exactly what it takes to get a show, especially a breakfast show, to air every day. The 3am alarms. The sacrifices families inherit by proxy. The relentlessness of building something that works not just once, but every single morning when the red light goes on.
So, when Mediaweek asked O’Reilly about the most recent radio ratings results – specifically The Jimmy & Nath Show with Emma – he doesn’t sugarcoat it.
“Opening up the survey pack and seeing a 2.9% there is definitely rough. And I think everyone felt that way,” he said.
“And they’re even tougher because I was in Sydney last week and seeing how hard everyone is working – that’s when it’s really tough. And that’s when you’ve just got to grind it out.”
It hasn’t been an easy year for the show. The move from a long-running duo to a trio back in January was designed to stabilise the show, but the ratings simply didn’t respond the way the network had hoped.
With speculation swirling of a change, Mediaweek put the question directly to both, O’Reilly, and his predecessor, Dave Cameron: is the show safe, and are changes coming?
The response from both was firm – and identical. O’Reilly reiterated the company’s position without hesitation, confirming the broadcaster’s faith in the team hasn’t wavered: “they’re staying.”
High hopes
In Melbourne, 101.9 The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick posted an 8.7% share in breakfast, down from 9.5% last survey – a softening that O’Reilly says would have caused an immediate jolt when the team opened the book.
“I think they would have got those results this morning and went, ‘we’ve gone down’. That’s never a good feeling.”
But he stresses the result needs context, particularly around commercial radio’s most valuable demographic. “I think that they’d be very happy they’re number one 25–54.”
Despite the slip in the topline figure, the show remains a powerhouse with its core audience.
O’Reilly credits that to relentless visibility.
“They are always doing something.” He points to their latest local activation – “They announced yesterday that Sheppard is joining with the next Brekky and the Burbs” – that’s just one example of how aggressively The Fox continues to feed its ecosystem.
For O’Reilly, the key indicator is growth across the full year rather than a single percentage point swing. “We speak 25–54 and they’ve had really incredible growth since survey one this year, both breakfast and station.”
In Adelaide, Triple M extended its strong run, with breakfast climbing to 16.2% from 14.6% – one of the standout results of the survey.
O’Reilly said the station’s dominance isn’t a fluke. “They’ve had a really good run for a couple of years now. They’ve got number one breakfast show, number one drive show, and number one workday in Adelaide.”
Brisbane followed a similar pattern, with Triple M Brisbane holding a solid 11.9% in breakfast despite a slight dip from 12.6%.
O’Reilly views the performance as further proof the network’s strategy is landing. “Those are some really solid results as well. So we’re very happy with both those stations.”
But Brisbane is also facing the next major variable in the market: Craig ‘Lowie’ Lowe – the incoming KIIS 97.3 breakfast host for 2026. O’Reilly acknowledges the shift will open up an opportunity – but he insists the team won’t rush a response.
“I don’t think you’re doing your due diligence if you’re not looking for any chance to grow your audience. I think every change means there is going to be an opportunity for audience to change. So if we’re not having meetings about that, I don’t think we’re doing our job properly.”
He stresses any move the network makes will be grounded in data, not panic.
“But besides the change or whatever, we’re not going to make rash decisions. Everything will be considered. Everything will look at the data and we’ll assess what the best opportunity is for us.”