Off the back of the first radio ratings survey of 2022 being released, Mediaweek caught up with Nine Radio‘s head of content Greg Byrnes about what he thought of his broadcasters results, and what this means for their plans for the rest of the year.
Byrnes said that he would describe the results as a very strong start to the year for Nine, especially in Sydney and Melbourne where their stations 2GB and 3AW were the #1 ranked broadcasters.
“It was the best network cume since the new data system came into play in 2004. We were really strong in the 35-64 demo which is a focus for us. And the breakfast results in Sydney and Melbourne were quite remarkable.
“Ray Hadley celebrated 20 years on mornings last week. He was number one today it was his 139th consecutive number one in Sydney. Number one in Brisbane in his 20th year in the slot It’s wonderful recognition for him.”
When asked about the success of 2GB and 3AW and if they could continue to grow their audience past the winning share that they already have, Byrnes pointed to the fact that both shows are still fairly new to the market.
“There’s always room to grow and they’re both relatively new programmes. The cume figures show that an increasing number of people have sampled us and they like what they are hearing. It’s habit-forming, which is talk radio, and we’re creating new habits. And the figures today are very encouraging.”
Brisbane’s 4BC also had a successful start to the year with the best result in a Survey one since 2009, which Byrnes credited to being live and local.
“We were fairly confident from the outset that it would work in Brisbane, as in all of our markets. For a long time, 4BC had not been live and local. For Breeny (Neil Breen) to be up two points year-on-year is great. It’s the best start to the year for 4BC since 2009, at 8.2%. Ratings bounce around but the recent floods and storms in Brisbane have shown what we can achieve. And it’s been so encouraging for me to see that on the Saturday morning when we really got an indication of what was unfolding before us, I’d suspect 95% of the staff made themselves available on that Saturday and then proceeded to work effectively for about 14-15 days straight.”
6PR in Perth was down compared to survey 8 at the end of last year, but Byrnes said that he was encouraged by the year on year growth of the show.
“The year-on-year cume is up 27% in Perth. Gareth (Parker) has held and Liam’s (Bartlett) held. Those programmes are only just turning 12 months old, to be increasing that cume is wonderful. We obviously need to do some work on TSL (time spent listening) but we’re now a player in Perth, and Gareth particularly is is right up there with the leading breakfast shows.”
When asked about where Nine Radio goes from here, Byrnes said that they need to remain relevant, relatable and continue to set the agenda.
“We’ve got a federal election coming and we’ve got a state election in Victoria. We’ve got flood recoveries across two states. Borders and transport is a daily issue in our capitals. We need to be able to remain agile and just keep doing what we’re doing. Some of the TSL figures in some of the states are through the roof, particularly in Melbourne but that’s something that we will keep a close eye on because when people sample us they like what they hear.”