Building 4BC from scratch
Nine Radio’s head of content, Greg Byrnes says off the back of a string of departures seen at 4BC in the last month, including Laurel, Gary and Mark in Breakfast and Peter Gleeson in Drive, the station will be returning to something “audiences clearly want”.
“I think it’d be safe to say that we’re returning more to news and opinion [at 4BC],” he told Mediaweek following the release of the sixth radio ratings survey of the year.
“Audiences have made it fairly clear that’s what they’d like to have at 4BC and I think given the changes, certainly Peter [Fagan] into Breakfast and Gary [Hargrave] into Drive, that’s playing to that strength. News and opinion is their default.
“While we obviously need the entertainment and the companionship [aspect in our programming], you will find going forward that news and opinion will be at the core with a strong ingredient of entertainment and companionship.”
Laurel, Gary and Mark
4BC rose 0.4 points in this survey for a share of 5%. In one of their last surveys, Breakfast with Laurel, Gary and Mark rose 0.8 points for a share of 5.1% while Peter Gleeson’s Drive was up 0.3 points for a 4% share.
Laurel, Gary and Mark made the move from 4KQ to 4BC just over two years ago and saw them replace Neil Breen in the breakfast slot.
Before joining 4BC, Laurel, Gary and Mark had been part of the morning routine for millions of Brisbane listeners for over 30 years.
Byrnes visited 4BC last week during Laurel, Gary and Mark’s last week on air and says it was pleasing to to see how the team had been accepted within the station itself.
“We are building pretty much from scratch in Brisbane, so the culture we need [is there] and while ratings this year have been pretty tough, within just the corridors of the station, there’s [already] a great sense of teamwork and commitment for success.”
2GB’s tumble: ‘Don’t just blame the Olympics’
2GB saw a notable slip in this survey, with the station dropping 3.1 points for a 10.2% share. Breakfast saw a 3.4-point drop to 12.2%, but Ben Fordham’s flagship program remains firmly on top in talk.
Ray Hadley once again made history in Sydney, recording his 160th consecutive survey win in the Mornings slot with a 12.4 share.
“Despite the 2GB fall overall, Ray is still number one in Mornings and it signals 160 straight. [It’s] a lifetime worth of commitment to post results like that,” Byrnes said.
The Daily Telegraph’s Brenden Wood reported this morning that Ben Fordham told him he knows what listeners prefer to hear.
Ben Fordham
“The Olympics provided lots of memorable moments but they also interrupted our normal programming and that pushes a few people away”, Fordham said in a text message sent to Wood.
“2GB listeners love news and opinions and when you take those things away and replace them with live sport there’s a risk they’ll switch off or listen to something else. The good news is that everything is back to normal now so hopefully the results will reflect that by the end of the year. If not, we’ll just have to work even harder.”
However, Byrnes told Mediaweek that as a result of Melbourne’s success this survey, it paints a slightly different picture.
“If you look at Melbourne, [the Olympics] had a wonderful impact but if you look at Sydney, it’s somewhat soft. I don’t think we can just blame [yesterday’s] 2GB result solely on the Olympics,” he said.
“In Sydney, and for the first time ever, positions one to four are only separated by 0.6 points! It’s a great time to be in talk radio.”
3AW: ‘Remarkable what the team has managed’
In Melbourne, 3AW’s Ross and Russ further increased their lead as the undisputed No.1, rising to a 23.0 share (up 1.3), while Tom Elliott cleared the Melbourne Mornings slot with a winning 18.3.
“3AW was a standout. Ross and Russ have had a great result and it’s quite remarkable what the team at 3AW has managed to do in Melbourne,” Byrnes said.
Ross and Russ recorded their largest audience in over 18 months and also gave 3AW its best breakfast radio ratings share since Survey 1, 2023.