The radio industry is now at the halfway mark of radio ratings surveys, 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 spoke with ARN’s chief content officer Duncan Campbell about how the brand’s stations and shows are looking and what the rest of 2022 looks like.
It wouldn’t be a radio survey without Sydney’s Kyle and Jackie O dominating headlines, this time landing their 28th consecutive survey as #1FM.
“It’s a powerhouse of a show, it just keeps getting better in my view,” says Campbell. “Cume is very high, with 685,000 listeners. The multimillion dollar question is really, how high it can go? I like to say to people, anything’s possible – and they certainly work hard at what they do, so stay tuned.”
In Melbourne, Gold FM isn’t too far behind with its winning streak, with survey four seeing it earn the title of number one FM station for the 20th consecutive survey. In Campbell’s opinion, “that station is one of the best sounding stations in the country, and possibly the world.”
“It’s number one FM Breakfast and number one FM Drive, the day times are very strong, and cume is over a million. Sue Carter and the team have done an amazing job down there.”
ARN’s Sue Carter, Duncan Campbell, Jack Post, and Christian O’Connell
In Breakfast on Gold FM, Christian O’Connell‘s show had the strongest growth in the market, up 1.2%, to an 11.2% share.
“Christian O’Connell, the man they said would never work, continues to produce number one FM Breakfast results every survey – now 17 in a row. He’s proven that you don’t have to be born in this country with an Aussie accent to work on the radio. He’s really unique, and he’s a great broadcaster.”
See More: Why Christian O’Connell has had “the most exciting four years” of his life
In Brisbane Breakfast, July marks six months since Kip Wightman joined Robin Bailey and Terry Hansen, sliding into the spot left after the departure of Bob Gallagher. Campbell says that the addition of Wightman to the team was “a great get.”
“He came across from Nova, so he’s added a younger, more contemporary feel to that Breakfast show – which is what was needed. He’s fitting in very well. Both Robin and Terry are interacting with him in a really positive and productive way, and we’re getting more out of Terry and Robin as a result.
“The Breakfast show continues to edge forward in the ratings. It’s a very competitive market, Brisbane is no longer a two horse race. He’s doing well, Kip’s contribution to Breakfast has proven to be hugely beneficial.”
Terry Hansen, Kip Wightman, and Robin Bailey
At the other end of the day, the national Drive show of Will and Woody has continued kicking goals for ARN – including taking number one overall Drive in Sydney at 11.0%, up 1.5%
“They’ve been on the air now as the national Drive show for several years. That’s what builds great radio shows: time, strong content, and the audience’s familiarity with them as presenters. They’re a great couple of guys, and they deserve the success – they do work very hard at it.”
The Pure Gold Network has kept the Drivetime success rolling.
“Drive on Gold and WSFM are number one and number two FM respectively. They are solo announcers on there – Steve Fitton on WSFM and Dave Higgins on Gold. I think it’s great. There aren’t many solo Drive shows in the country that do so well, so it’s quite an achievement for those guys.”
See More: “I’m feeling awesome”: Dave Higgins on settling into Gold FM Drive
It was a big survey for ARN’s newest station, CADA, which saw the Breakfast show’s Kian & Yaz grow their audience by 3,000 to 29,000, and Keeping up with Avneesha and Flex and Froomes for Drive up 2,000 to 35,000.
“The CADA format is something very different for ARN, and it’s a different approach to radio,” says Campbell. “The vision that the team had for that station as a multi platform, audio visual medium is really quite exciting. But the key to that is to get the broadcast side of it right, and that’s what we’re working on at the moment.
“CADA will only get better. It’s early days, and it’s improving with every survey that comes out. A lot of work is going into CADA, and it’s going to be very exciting.”
From a new station to a station with 75 years of history, survey four marked the last survey under ARN for Brisbane’s 4KQ. Selling the station to SEN to ensure compliance with Australia’s media ownership laws, Campbell says it’s the end of an era.
“4KQ is unique, it’s an iconic brand that people have a real affinity with. People have personal connections with talent, Breakfast shows, and Drive shows – but it’s quite rare for an audience to have a personal connection with a radio station. That has happened at 4KQ.
“It was a bit of a grieving process for the listeners as they lost their station, but there are some great memories there for them. It will go down in history as one of radio’s great iconic brands.
“Change is inevitable and we move on, but they’ve ended their reign with some great numbers. The whole team should be very proud of what they’ve achieved.”
With six months of 2022 in the rear view mirror, Campbell says that the next six months will present a few challenges for ARN, but they’re more than up to the test.
“We will lose 4KQ next survey, so we drop a radio station which will make it more difficult for us to maintain the number one network position. But if we take survey four’s figures and we exclude 4KQ from them, we would still be the number one network both including DAB and excluding DAB. It makes it a bit tighter when you include DAB, but that’s the challenge for us in the next six months.
“If we can improve Adelaide – which is having some issues with getting traction on the Breakfast show – and we can keep 96FM buoyant, then we should be able to maintain the number one network position for the rest of the year. But it will be challenging.”