SuperNova: How a ‘consistency is king’ mindset keeps the broadcast juggernaut ahead of the pack

Eight months ago, Nova swapped its Sydney breakfast and drive shows into each other's slots. Survey 6 suggests no one is asking to swap back.

"They're used to the hours now," said Nova Entertainment Group Programming Director Brendan Taylor, when asked about Fitzy, Wippa & Kate, who gave up the pre-dawn alarm for the afternoon commute in February. "I think the audience has naturally reconnected with them after years have gone by since they had their best old hours."

The numbers support him.

Fitzy, Wippa & Kate ranked first nationally in the 4 pm to 6 pm drive slot in GfK Radio360 Survey 6, released on 8 October, with a 10.8% share and a cumulative audience of 1.317 million.

"Kate is so happy. She's in such a great position in life at the moment," Taylor said. "And the relationship between the three of them together on air is incredible, and you can hear it coming through the speakers."

Across the country, the Nova Network recorded the largest cumulative audience of any metropolitan radio network, reaching 4.075 million listeners. That put it 632,000 ahead of its nearest competitor. Its breakfast programs reached a combined 2.24 million listeners, a lead of 470,000.

Cumulative audience counts how many people listen. Share measures a station's proportion of total listening.

Nova announced the reset on 29 January, and it took effect on 9 February. Ryan "Fitzy" Fitzgerald, Michael "Wippa" Wipfli, and Kate Ritchie moved from Nova 96.9 breakfast to a national drive show. Ricki-Lee Coulter and Tim Blackwell took over Sydney breakfast and added a national 6 pm hour. Joel Creasey went home to Perth.

It appears it's been a match, or rather, matches made in radio heaven so far.

Ricki-Lee & Tim find their footing

Ricki-Lee & Tim finished second in Sydney's FM breakfast market with a 9.9% share. They reached 675,000 listeners, making it the city's second most-listened-to breakfast program by cumulative audience. Nova 96.9 recorded Sydney's second-largest station audience, with 1.271 million listeners.

"Naturally, the foundations of Ricki-Lee and Tim's chemistry built for a great show," Taylor said. "It's their best Breakfast result since 2009."

"When you think about the changes, you know, they were very considered, but also very deliberate at a time when we wanted, and we needed to put the right creators in front of the right audiences; the market was screaming out for change."

The pair also ranked first nationally in the 6 pm to 7 pm late drive slot, with a 10.3% share and 593,000 listeners.

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

KIIS reloads

The swap came early. ARN is only now filling the hole Kyle & Jackie O left at KIIS 1065. Chris Brown, Amy Gerard, and Jack Charles take over Sydney breakfast on 9 November, with newsreader Natalie Penfold. In Melbourne, Ash London, Isaac "Issie" Smith, and Elliot Garnaut launch on KIIS 101.1 on 26 October.

"We're definitely not taking anything for granted," said Adam Johnson, Nova Entertainment Chief Growth Officer. "Every day on survey day, Brendan [Taylor], Pete Clay [Head of Programming – Smooth Network], Sarah [McGilvray], and I stand up in front of the business and go through the survey results."

Johnson also has a view on how hard ARN's job will be.

"History suggests that building a show in Sydney, in particular, off the back of Kyle and Jackie O, is really difficult," he said.

"So I'm sure that ARN doesn't underestimate that challenge. And I certainly think that the way that the KIIS brand is so intrinsically linked to Kyle and Jackie O means that that's gonna be a heavy lift for them to come up, I guess, to link their new roster of personalities with the brand."

Two brands, kept apart on purpose

Johnson attributed the result as much to brand discipline as to talent.

"Ultimately, the methodology rewards really strong brands backed up by really strong personalities. When you get those two things right, you invariably see that coming through within the audience numbers," he said.

"There was a point, probably three or four years ago, when our brands were closer together in terms of positioning; now, smooth is built on the pillar of more music and less talk. And Nova is all about don't think just Nova; it's an absolute no-brainer when you want brilliant entertainment and great music."

smooth FM 95.3 is still Sydney's number one station, with a 13.2% share. It has topped the market for seven consecutive surveys, and its 1.45 million listeners make it the largest cumulative audience of any Australian station. Bogart Torelli's More Music Breakfast Show led Sydney FM breakfast with 11.8%, and its 751,000 listeners were the country's largest breakfast audience. In Melbourne, Smooth FM 91.5 finished second among FM stations with 10.4%.

"We feel that we've got that kind of brand stretch just about right to cover as much of the market as we can," Johnson said. "And hopefully what that generates is more audiences for our advertisers to connect with their customers around."

Melbourne: Credit where It's due

Nova 100 recorded Melbourne's largest cumulative station audience, reaching 1.178 million listeners. Jase, Lauren & Clint ranked second among FM breakfast programs with a 9.3% share. The show kept Melbourne's largest breakfast cumulative audience for the 19th consecutive survey, with 620,000 listeners.

Taylor gave credit to the competition.

"It's such a competitive marketplace, and I have to give credit to the competitors, GOLD and Fox," he said. "They've got long histories in the market, and they've got a loyal connection with their audience, and they're true competitors."

"From a cume perspective, I'm not concerned at all because of the quality of their content, how planned they are, and how their executive producer, Sarah McGilvray, has that team working to get the most out of each other towards the end of the year."

The trio's national weekend breakfast program ranked first by share in the 8 am to 10 am slot, with 9.8% on Saturdays and 9.5% on Sundays.

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

READ MORE: Perth Radio Ratings Survey 6 2026: Nova stretches Perth lead as Triple M surges

Perth: Wall-to-wall Nova

In Perth, Nova 93.7 increased its share by 0.7 percentage points to 18.3% and kept the number one spot. It also led the market by cumulative audience, with 692,000 listeners. Nathan, Nat & Shaun led breakfast with 18.3% and 418,000 listeners.

"The success there is down to consistency," Taylor said. "The more time I spend with the Breakfast team there, the more obvious their success is. They're just, they're lovely people. They love what they do."

The rest of the day followed the same pattern. Joel Creasey led lunchtime with 19.2%, Chrissie Swan led afternoons with 19.4%, and Fitzy, Wippa & Kate led drive with 21.1%. The station's weekend share was 18.2%, also the highest in the market.

"The introduction of Joel this year has been just incredible," Taylor said. "Drive is a 21 share. And even Ricki-Lee and Tim, in that six o'clock hour, is a 22 share."

Elsewhere on the network

The Chrissie Swan Show recorded the largest national cumulative audience in the 2 pm to 4 pm slot, with 1.19 million listeners. The Joel Creasey Show led the 1 pm to 2 pm lunchtime slot with 773,000.

In Adelaide, Nova 91.9 recorded the largest cumulative station audience with 349,000 listeners. Jodie & Hayesy led breakfast by cumulative audience with 198,000. In Brisbane, Nova 106.9 recorded the second-largest station audience with 585,000, and its drive program ranked first among listeners aged 18 to 24 with a 19.3% share.

"But I also think that it's gonna hold us in good stead moving forward," Johnson said.

Within a month, ARN will have two new breakfast teams and a brand to rebuild around them. Nova has the swap it once denied was coming, and numbers that make it look like it was the plan all along.