2GB slumps to another poor radio ratings result, ABC Melbourne rises

Talkback station 2GB has lost further ground to Sydney’s leading radio station, SmoothFM, but it’s a different story in Melbourne, with 2GB’s sister-station 3AW continuing to dominate the airwaves.

The differing fortunes of the two networks, bought by pokies and pubs baron Arthur Laundy and his family this year, have only widened since the business was sold earlier this year. 2GB slumped to an 11.2 per cent share in the fifth radio ratings, down 0.5 percentage points.

The station is a distant second in Sydney to Lachlan Murdoch’s SmoothFM which rose 0.1 percentage points to a 13.5 per cent share.

2GB’s Ben Fordham continued to lead in the breakfast slot with a 14.8 per cent share, but Mornings host Mark Levy remains in second, behind Smooth’s Ty Frost.

The result marks the sixth straight survey since 2GB was the clear number one station in Sydney. The Laundy family purchased the suite of talkback stations from Nine (the publisher of this masthead) earlier this year for $56 million, creating the new radio business called Tapt Media.

3AW remained the clear number one station in Melbourne with a 14.1 per cent share, down 0.1 percentage points. Its breakfast show hosted by Russel Howcroft and Ross Stevenson again led the slot with a 19.5 per cent share despite dropping 0.6 percentage points. 2GB and 3AW traditionally benefit from their extensive coverage of the winter sports codes in their respective markets, the NRL and AFL.

There was little movement across both markets in the survey period which spanned May 24 to June 27 and then July 12 to August 15.

Of the non-talkback commercial stations in Melbourne, GoldFM led once again with an 11.4 per cent share, up 0.6 percentage points. It is likely to be a welcome result for owners ARN Media, with KIIS FM languishing in both Melbourne and Sydney while the market waits for the company to appoint permanent breakfast hosts in the wake of the exits of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson.

Speculation has continued to mount that KIIS will announce Dr Chris Brown as its new Sydney breakfast host. In Sydney, the station’s breakfast show had a 6.9 per cent share while its Melbourne breakfast show had a 5.1 per cent share, the same figure as delivered by The Kyle and Jackie O Show earlier this year.

The ABC’s local stations in both Melbourne and Sydney had minor gains. In Sydney, the station grew from 5.3 to 5.5 per cent overall, while in Melbourne, the station grew 0.5 percentage points to a 6 per cent share. Both breakfast shows also had positive results, with Craig Reucassel’s show up 0.7 percentage points to a 7.8 per cent share, while the Melbourne show hosted by Bob Murphy and Richelle Hunt grew 1.3 percentage points to a 6.6 per cent share.