Nova's Brendan Taylor insists latest Breakfast survey wins are no fluke

It's been a big survey for Nova Entertainment, and Group Programming Director Brendan Taylor isn't shy about it. 

Nova969 added 42,000 to its Sydney cume and pushed Breakfast to a 9.4% share - but with Kyle & Jackie O's old timeslot still finding its feet, Mediaweek wanted to know whether Nova's gains were genuine growth or just displaced listeners waiting for somewhere better to go. 

Down in Melbourne, the numbers left even less room for scepticism: Nova100 posted the highest reach of any station in the market, with its breakfast show now the most-listened-to in the country.

Taylor talks Mediaweek through the survey, the Sydney-Melbourne one-two punch, and why he's not worried about Nova and smooth stepping on each other's toes.

Mediaweek: Let's start with Nova969 in Sydney. Breakfast added 42,000 to its cume, with the show now sitting at a 9.4% share (down from 9.5% in the previous survey). That's a decent bump in cume — did you expect that?

Brendan Taylor: With the changes in the market, there was no doubt there would be some sampling across a variety of stations. From a Nova perspective, and even a smooth perspective, it's really encouraging to see that cume growth. Naturally, we want to convert that into listening through TSL (Time Spent Listening), but I look at where we were a year ago and where we are now. This time last year, we recorded a 7.1% share in Breakfast; now we're at 9.4%, with 660,000 in cume and over 1.2% as a station.

Mediaweek: OK, but do you think the Breakfast figures are legitimate? What we mean by that is - are these simply Kyle & Jackie O orphans looking for a place to stay until a new show pops up in their place? 

Brendan Taylor: No, I don’t think so. When I'm looking at the changes in the market now, that is, increased TSL, increased stickiness and that connection with the new show - the signs are there that the audience is here to stay. 

READ MORE: Sydney Radio Ratings 2026 Survey 4: smoothfm holds #1 as GOLD sheds share, KIIS breakfast slips

READ MORE: Melbourne Radio Ratings 2026 Survey 4: 3AW stays #1 as ABC Melbourne surges, NOVA 100 overtakes on cume

Mediaweek: Is there ever any internal competition between you and smooth? 

Brendan Taylor: We complement each other really well. From an audience and commercial perspective, it’s really important and appealing to show that Nova and smooth combined reach more audiences across Sydney and Melbourne than our competitors. For those who are partnering with us, that means they’re getting maximum reach. 

Mediaweek: Let's get into Melbourne now - that was a very tidy survey result. Nova100 added 0.9 percentage points to hit 8.9%, while its cume rose a huge 140,000 to 1,349,000, now the highest reach of any station in the market. How are they feeling? 

Brendan Taylor: They’ve been a standout breakfast show since they joined the network. It's so competitive in the Melbourne market, as we know. In the last survey, there was a 0.6 difference between #1 and #2. In this survey, we gained 1.0, bringing us to 10.4%, and were also up by 77,000 in cume. 

And, you know, from a most-listened-to perspective, it's the biggest breakfast show in the country. When you think about it, the team has 738,000 people tuning in. It's absolutely amazing. They're also one of the hardest-working and dedicated teams. They're a force. They're amazing.

Mediaweek: With a result like that, what do you think it says about audiences and their responses to ‘live and local’ Breakfast shows? 

Brendan Taylor: It just reinforces the importance of live and the importance of local. It's that connection that, you know, you can have it. A local live and local breakfast show really does resonate.