Off the back of the third radio ratings survey of 2022 being released, Mediaweek caught up with Nine Radio‘s head of content Greg Byrnes about how he feels about the broadcaster’s results as they approach the mid-year mark.
Nine’s talk radio stations recorded some of their best ever results for a survey 3, with 1.919 million listeners tuning in weekly across 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR – up 10% year-on-year.
“The base is there now, that we’ve built off the back of Covid,” said Burns. “With listening habits changing we’ve built some really big bases there. To be able to maintain those bases is really impressive. That’s just recognition of the hard work that that all the breakfast guys do.”
Radio Ratings: Local Markets
The results were led by Sydney’s 2GB and Melbourne’s 3AW, with both #1 in their respective markets. 2GB posted a winning share of 13% while 3AW achieved a 14.7% share of People 10+.
This was 2GB’s 141st consecutive survey win as the station has increased its cumulative audience by 21.3% when compared to survey 3 of 2021. The station is led in the breakfast slot by Ben Fordham who has finished again as the #1 program in the daypart ahead of his show’s two year anniversary in the timeslot. Burns said that he was always confident that Fordham would find success.
“We were always confident that Ben would build an audience. If you look at those figures today, that’s been the case, he’s up about 16% year on year and share wise he is up just under 10% year on year. One of Bens’s strengths is his work ethic and he’s determined to keep building.”
In Melbourne, 3AW remains No. 1 across Breakfast, Mornings, Nights and Weekends. 3AW has boosted its cumulative audience by 9.5% when compared to the same time last year with 821,000 people tuning in each week. Burns pointed out, in particular, the success of the breakfast and morning programs in Melbourne.
“Ross and Russ are back into the 20s and we throw those numbers around but that is a lot of ears turning on each morning in Melbourne.
“Neil (Mitchell) has also held pretty extraordinary numbers, being #1 across the board in Melbourne.”
3AW’s Ross and Russel
In Nine Radio’s other markets, 4BC in Brisbane was down 1.1 points after a dip of 1.3 points in the survey prior, while 6PR in Perth was down to 6.2%. When asked about these stations, Burns said that these markets were always going to be more of a challenge to establish than Sydney and Melbourne which had long histories of local talk radio.
“We’ve said all along that it’s going to be tough. We’re trying to re-establish talk brands in those markets. It’s going to be a battle and we just need to make sure we’re always putting the listener first and identifying campaigns and the mood of the community. The election campaign may have had an impact in Brisbane and Perth, hard to say. We just need to keep focusing on what we’re doing day after day.”
Radio Ratings: Content impact
One area that Burns thinks has been impactful to Nine Radio’s positive results in this survey, was the fact that this was the first full survey that featured NRL and AFL coverage.
“The football teams are number one across all shifts. We talk about primetime seven days a week with Darren James on a Saturday, Sunday morning in Melbourne, and Chris Smith on a Saturday, Sunday morning in Sydney. It reinforces that if you can get your weekends right it has a flow on to your Monday to Sunday figure. Couple those strong tentpole programmes on weekends with strong football and that’s pleasing on a day like today when we look at those AFL and NRL shifts and see that they are number one in a pretty competitive market.”
Another factor that Burns acknowledged that may have affected ratings was the federal election, with the high volume of political ads being an area of contention for listeners.
“Listeners are pretty quick to let us know what they think of the advertising. And I think that’s across all media. That has had a TSL impact, you can only hear certain ads so many times before it makes you want to turn the radio off. People also want to be informed and that’s when they turn to our content. Ben (Fordham) has said that it was a little bit like two seagulls fighting over a chip and he’s glad to see the back of the campaign.”
Demographics
In the 25-54 demographic, Nine’s radio stations have boosted their audience by 8% across its brands, an area that’s Burns said that Nine Radio has made a concerted effort.
“We’ve certainly reset somewhat without trying to turn away our core audience. We will probably continue to see a trend toward younger listeners. We’re also very much aware that we’ve got very loyal listeners who are of more mature age and we don’t want to give them a reason to turn off. We’ve said all along, that we’re looking for that next generation of hosts and the next generation of listeners. That’s the trick, finding the balance.”