The radio industry is now in the backend of the radio ratings surveys, following the release of survey 6. Mediaweek has caught up with content executives from around the industry to get their thoughts on how their networks are performing.
Having recently returned to Australian soil after attending the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, Duncan Campbell, ARN chief content officer, spoke with Mediaweek about ARN’s results and what they will be working towards next.
Sydney and Melbourne
It’s been a long time coming, but Kyle and Jackie O have cracked their 30th consecutive survey as #1 FM breakfast in Sydney – and achieved the biggest ever breakfast cume for KIIS & Sydney. In Melbourne, Christian O’Connell has clocked up his 19th consecutive survey as #1 FM breakfast, while Gold has hit #1 FM station for the 22nd consecutive survey.
The two ARN powerhouses just keep on delivering, and Campbell says that the plan from here is for those two shows to “keep on doing what they’re doing.”
“It really is special, what they’re doing. Kyle and Jackie O are still very passionate about what they do, and they’ve put a lot of work in – Christian O’Connell is the same. They’re both hungry for success, they’re very passionate, and they want more.
“This business is really about consistency, so the longer they can be consistent, the better. Certainly, Kyle and Jackie O have established habitual listening – they’ve just become a habit, and that’s very hard to break. Christian is on the way to doing that as well.”
Kyle and Jackie O
Perth and Adelaide
Perth’s 96FM has achieved the biggest ever station cume on record, with over 500,000 listeners tuning in. In Adelaide, Mix 102.3 held steady at second overall, while breakfast with Ali Clarke increased 0.3 points from last survey to take an 8.3% share.
“We do a lot of research into these radio stations. We have a lot of confidence in the music foundations, so it’s really the local content directors working with the breakfast shows to try and drive audiences that way,” says Campbell.
“There’s still a little bit to go in Adelaide, to be honest – I want to be number one again in Adelaide, not number two. In Perth, it’s a case of establishing a real trend there.
“We never give up and persevere through the good and the bad, but what we’re really after is trends. We’re yet to see a real trend in Adelaide and a real trend in Perth, but we’ll take these results as being very positive.”
Clairsy & Lisa
Drilling Down
Including DAB+, ARN has recorded an audience of 6.158 million people across its network. It’s good news for Campbell, but he says that the impact is even further reaching than ARN.
“That’s our best cume for the network ever. It’s great for radio too, because cumes are up, people are listening to radio more, and now it’s about each network trying to convert those high cumes into longer time spent listening and greater share.”
Looking ahead, Campbell says that ARN will be setting its sights on the lucrative 25-54 demographic.
“A real focus for us is 25-54, that’s the sweet spot for agencies. That’s what we’re really trying to grow at the moment, and we have some good cume lifts in that demographic. It’s a real goal to be not just number one in 10+, but to be number one in 25-24. To have a double whammy would be amazing for us.”
Podcasts
In the most recent Podcast Ranker, ARN clocked in with five of the top 10 shows. It’s a statistic that Campbell is very proud of, and he says that the team are looking forward to creating more of their own podcasts in the near future. Alongside that will come a push to reach the Australians who aren’t currently consuming podcasts.
“Only about 60% – 70% of Australians have actually downloaded a podcast, which means there’s 30% – 40% of Australians left. So there’s certainly going to be a lot of growth in podcasting, particularly when people figure out how to download them – that tends to be the barrier at the moment. We’re going to be educating people on how to do that via our socials and videos etc, but there’s a great future in podcasting in this in this country and globally.”