In every radio ratings result, there is one major headline that comes out of the results. For the first radio ratings survey of 2023, that headline was the fact that Sydney’s KIIS 106.5 has ended 2GB’s 18-year streak as the number one station overall in the city.
Alongside the station win, KIIS 106.5 breakfast hosts Kyle and Jackie O have come in as the top overall breakfast in the market.
Mediaweek spoke to ARN’s chief content officer Duncan Campbell about starting the year with a bang.
See Also: Radio Ratings 2023, Survey 1: Highlights + Full Results
For Campbell, the driving force of the KIIS 106.5 result is the station’s flagship show hosts, Kyle and Jackie O, a pair that he calls “master storytellers.”
“At the end of the day, we are storytellers, and stories told by master storytellers like Kyle and Jackie O are what draws us in. They’ve got significant cume tuning into the radio station every day – in terms of cume it’s really the dominant breakfast show in Sydney. Share-wise, for the third time they’ve nudged over Ben Fordham on 2GB, which is unbelievable. It’s nice not to have to say FM after number one.”
Kyle and Jackie O
As for what it is behind the success of Kyle and Jackie O in survey one – and their continuing success in growing their audience – Campbell says that there are multiple factors that play into the show.
“They’re still relevant to the audience which is extraordinary given their ages – but they just love what they do, and their enthusiasm is infectious.
“I think having had the baby, to be honest, has really taken some of the rough edges off Kyle, but not in a negative sense. I think he’s now more accessible than ever before, to be honest, and in a really positive way.”
Being able to take your product to advertisers and tell them that you’ve got the top station overall – and KIIS 106.5 is only one of ARN’s stations – is a good spot to be in. For brands and clients working with ARN, Campbell says that this is just a continuation of the results that the company has delivered.
“Without being arrogant about it, over the last five years we’ve been very consistent with our results, with strong numbers that should give advertisers confidence when they advertise on ARN.
“In terms of Kyle and Jackie O, they really are the must-buy breakfast show – if you’re going to buy breakfast in Sydney, you’ve got to buy Kyle and Jackie O. It means that they can have confidence that there’s a lot of people listening, they can reach a lot of people and make an impact with what they’re advertising. ARN is not a flash in the pan, it’s embedded in strong formats around the country.”
With the results of the survey one result behind them, it’s full steam ahead for Campbell and his team. When asked how ARN would be making the most of the momentum, Campbell says that consistency is key.
“We are very strategically focused – it’s a bit like playing golf, you have to strike that ball exactly the same way every time. We just make sure that we remain true to the strategy, and we try to create moments on air that stand out and connect with listeners.
“Dare I say, more of the same but differently – bigger, better, and trying to excite and engage audiences around the country.”
Pure Gold brands
Another highlight for ARN was the performance of both Melbourne’s Gold FM and Sydney’s WSFM. For Campbell, “the Pure Gold brand in particular has always been very strong.”
“Christian [O’Connell] has elevated Gold FM to a new level, it’s a powerhouse in Melbourne and it’s number one FM in all sessions across the day, and weekends as well. Its cume is very strong. Sue Carter and the team down there have done a great job, Christian has really endeared himself to Melbourne audiences – I think people just feel like he’s a real friend of theirs. That creates habitual listening, which is very powerful.”
Christian O’Connell and Duncan Campbell (credit: SDP Media)
In Sydney, WSFM faces some stiff competition in the form of Nova’s smoothfm 95.3. Whilst smooth pipped WSFM in this survey, Campbell says that one of the strengths of the station is its resilience.
“WSFM is a heritage brand in Sydney as well, Jonesy and Amanda is a heritage Breakfast Show. smoothfm is stronger in Sydney, so it does impact WSFM, but they had a 0.7 increase to 9.5 in breakfast, which means we had the number one and number two FM breakfast shows.
See Also: “It doesn’t feel that long”: Looking back on 18 years of Jonesy & Amanda
“We are hit by sometimes by the marketing that smooth does, but WSFM is a brand that bounces back every single time. We bounce back because of the breakfast show and the format, which like Gold FM is a very strong format that works well and resonates with people. Particularly when times get tough, we like to have familiar music that people know and can sing along to. The Pure Gold format is just gold as far as I’m concerned.”
Melbourne’s KIIS 101.1
Whilst ARN celebrates the achievements of Sydney’s KIIS 106.5, its Melbourne counterpart of KIIS 101.1 had a bumpier time in radio ratings survey one, coming in as the sixth FM station in the market.
“Adrian Brine and the team have done a great job down there, the content has been strong,” says Campbell. “I don’t hear that result when I listen to the station.
“I think we were outplayed from a marketing perspective, but you can’t just stay on marketing forever. Adrian is committed to driving that station forward – I don’t often say it was an unfair result, but it’s certainly a better sounding station than that. But they’re the numbers, we live with those, and the good news is the next result is not that far away.”