Upon the release of radio ratings survey four, Nine Radio’s head of content Greg Byrnes says Ray Hadley‘s 20th year of consecutive survey wins in mornings is “truly remarkable.”
“He’s not just gotten over the line, he’s had a 1.1 point increase for a 16.4% share, it’s really wonderful to see him get that recognition,” Byrnes told Mediaweek.
“We’ve even marked the occasion with a staff cake during the 10 o’clock news. He’d be the first to thank his hundreds of thousands of listeners who tune in every day right around the country.
“The survey also revealing number one results in Sydney and Melbourne, along with the record cume result in Perth, highlight the strength of our always-on, live and local content.”
In Sydney, 2GB recorded a 14.0 share (up 0.7) and in Melbourne, 3AW recorded 13.7.
In the breakfast shift, 2GB’s Ben Fordham Live was #1 in Sydney with a share of 17.0 (up 0.4) and 3AW’s Breakfast with Ross and Russ was #1 in Melbourne with 19.6.
This week, Nine confirmed a sub-licensing agreement that will allow the ABC Local Radio network to broadcast the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to listeners on 891 ABC Adelaide, 105.7 ABC Darwin, 936 ABC Hobart, 666 ABC Canberra and DAB+ channels in those markets.
Byrnes says the agreement is extremely important as it ensures that every Australian can have access to the Olympic Games.
“From a strategy point of view, we wanted to maintain exclusivity around streaming and commercial rights, and we’ve certainly done that.
“But the ABC partnership is important because there are markets that we don’t broadcast into, and the ABC does, so we’re more than happy to come to an arrangement with the ABC.”
Today marks two weeks until the Olympic Games start across Nine, and Byrnes states he is pleased with the “wonderful and solid” foundation that has been laid across the year in the leadup.
“The results from this survey show we have a strong foundation for the Olympics, and our brand new Olympic studio at 2GB in Pyrmont will be our hub, along with 20 odd people on the ground in Paris. It’s an exciting time for us.”