Rummaging through the radio ratings
As promised, some further analysis of the Brisbane radio Survey 1. Oh, and we're going to have a federal election, apparently
The big winners in the Brisbane radio ratings are the commercial FM music stations and their local Breakfast teams.
So, once again, congratulations to them — especially B105, which held off the challengers, including refreshed line-ups on Nova 1069 and KIIS, and claimed first place both overall and with its well-established Breakfast show featuring Stav, Abby and Matt.
Nova says it is happy with the addition of Nikki Osborne to the Breakfast team of Ash and Luttsy, but I can’t help thinking that, high cumulative audience notwithstanding, the bosses would’ve liked a bounce in share to begin the year.
Osborne may be new to radio, but she has a big online following, and I imagine Nova’s preferred narrative would not have included the 0.1 point drop the show experienced.
That 0.1 may be statistically negligible, but it was the only thing between the Nova trio and Triple M’s Marto and Margaux, who pipped them for second place in the Breakfast race, Triple M was also second overall, narrowing the gap with sister station B105.
Adding Corey Oates to the KIIS Breakfast show may not have caused the 0.5 point drop that relegated it to fourth place, but it did coincide with it. One theory is that Robin Bailey and Kip Wightman, presumably with management approval or encouragement, have been sharing too many personal stories in other media, including stressing the fact that they will lose their jobs unless they rate well.
It’s well known Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson are waiting in the wings, and that the station’s owners, ARN, are vigorously pursuing a policy of networking (despite hitting a roadblock with the continued lacklustre performance of the Kyle and Jackie O Show in Melbourne).
I don’t think that using what some may interpret as a form of emotional blackmail on the audience is a great strategy. The show’s stars should instead be playing to their strengths.
Moving on, it wasn’t the best survey for 4BH and its Breakfast anchor “Barbecue” Bob Gallagher, but BH still leads the pack on the AM band — yes, I know all stations are now available on DAB+ and streaming, but that doesn’t entirely level up the playing field.
Despite making a gain (or was it a correction?) in Breakfast, the worst performer among the main AM contenders (i.e. not including sports station SEN or the national ABC networks) was 4BC.
In a media release largely about the successes of 3AW and 2GB, Nine Radio devoted just nine words to 4BC, noting: “In Brisbane there’s been a solid increase in breakfast.” *
Of course, Breakfast host Peter Fegan’s rating of 4.5 is still not a great figure, it just compares favourably with the rock bottom 3.3 he registered in the final survey last year.
Having said that, somebody who listens more than me says the show does sound slicker this year, so maybe Fegan’s going to have a Lazarus-like comeback. His regular spots on Channel Nine’s afternoon news on Thursdays — a healthy instance of Nine leveraging its assets — might be helpful (although this week’s call about hating mangoes could prove divisive).
Bill McDonald managed to claw back some audience share in Mornings (up to 4.9), but the ratings tailed away again in Afternoons (3.9) and Drive (2.7). Those numbers are deceptive though, because 4BC’s sessions don’t exactly line-up with the dayparts registered in the official survey results.
I believe Sofie Formica’s Afternoon ratings are higher for the period she is on air, but the published number is held back by Gary Hardgrave’s more modest results in Drive.
Hardgrave’s numbers are, in turn, impacted by the extremely poor performance of Wide World of Sports, which airs from 6-7pm and, according to my sources, has less than a 1 per cent share of available audience. I’ve said it before: 4BC is vastly overestimating the radio audience’s appetite for sport. (As an aside, SEN’s numbers are also terrible, but sport is their thing, and they’re stuck with it.)
I also understand that Olympia Kwitowski’s last survey in the Weekend Breakfast slot (6-8am on Saturday and Sunday) garnered some healthy ratings for 4BC — well above the station average. Will Paul Burt’s Step Outside program be able to match or beat those numbers? Or was it a mis-step? Only time will tell.
Last but not least, ABC Brisbane improved across the board in Survey 1, and it remains comfortably above 4BC, its news-talk competitor, in every weekday session and on weekends. Best performers are Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan in Breakfast and Kelly Higgins-Devine in the Evenings shift.
Imagine what the ABC team could do if they were permanently simulcast on the FM band, as they were during the Cyclone Alfred emergency.
Mister Brisbane is free to read, but if you appreciate what I’m doing here,
and/or at The Wrinkle, you can buy me a coffee. Don’t feel obliged.
Congratulations, Kate
All my best to Kate Gould, who is leaving her leadership role at the Brisbane Powerhouse to run the Festival Centre in Adelaide.
No doubt an orderly queue is already forming for her old job.
Off to the polls
I won’t be weighing in too much on politics, but since Anthony Albanese called a federal election for May 3 just before I was about to hit send on this newsletter, I thought I best mention that I’m on top of it.
May it be an honest, fair and respectful contest and may we not go down the extremely divisive political path we’ve seen tear apart communities elsewhere in the world.
*Update: A subsequent 4BC media release mentions only the Breakfast show.
Disclaimer: Brett Debritz used to work at 4BC and has recently been a guest on ABC Brisbane.