Hot Tomato remain on top with 15.9%, despite going down 3.0 from last survey. Triple M Gold was 2nd with 11.4% (-0.9), followed by Sea FM with 8.8% (-0.5), JJJ with 5.9% (+0.9), and ABC Gold Coast with 3.6% (-1.1).
In the demos, Hot Tomato wins the under-55s, whilst Triple M Gold tops the 55+.
In breakfast, Hot Tomato’s Galey & Emily Jade dominate with 15.5% (-3.1), followed by Triple M Gold’s Leisel Jones, Liam & Spida with 11.5% (-1.1), and Bronte & Lakey on Sea with 8.8% (-0.3). In drive, Hot Tomato’s Moyra & Big Trev dominate with 16.7% (-4.1), followed by Rush Hour on Triple M Gold with 11.6% (-0.4), and Carrie & Tommy on Sea with 10.4% (-0.8).
The “Other Stations” share this survey is at 38.5%, up 4.9 from the previous survey.
That is a huge overall share and big change from last survey. Listeners leaving the local commercial broadcasters for other stations.
You’d think that there must be some community station/s like 94.1 or out of area commercials Breeze or Rebel that are outrating the underperforming ABC Local with just 3.3%.
The “Other Stations” share is especially high in the 65+, in which it’s at 64.6%, up 8.2 from the previous survey! 
Because they left ABC Gold Coast and ABC Brisbane.
That’s literally all of it.
There are outside stations catering for them better?
In other notes, JJJ simply cratered with the 18-24, down 8.9%. That’s the largest change - either up or down - of any station in any demo.
And the teens love Hot Tomato even more than the last survey. Imagine saying that an AC station - with a selling point of being local, I get that - cornered 43% of the 10-17.
I would absolutely love to know the figures for 94.1 and Breeze in particular. I suspect 94.1 would be rating higher than Sea FM. I also think Sea’s ratings are affected by the strong youth community stations like Metro and Juice.
The Breeze must be doing well on the GC then!
The Breeze, 94.1 and 4CRB are all doing pretty well it seems. Although there are a lot of listeners younger than that listening to The Breeze.
That is the largest total for “others” in my GC records (going back to 2005), eclipsing the previous high of 34.9 in S2/22. Prior to 2016, that figure hadn’t even topped the 30 share mark.
I know we go on about it a lot here, but that other station figure is just something else.
I wish there was a way for some smuggled raw figures of all stations to see the light of day, it’d be so interesting to see where the listeners are going if they’re not tuning into the listed stations.
And really, it’s such an interesting market with so many options. In addition to those listed, you have a genuine alternative for:
- news talk (Radio 97, on FM on the Coast)
- easy listening/AC (The Breeze and Juice 107.3)
- rock (Rebel FM)
- classic hits/oldies (94.1 and 4CRB)
- urban/dance music (Radio Metro)
- all the Brisbane stations, which come into the Coast at varying levels of strength as well.
There’s a good case to be made that it’s the most interesting radio market in Australia in terms of variety, and it’d be a great example to see how each of the various formats rate in such a competitive marketplace.
On the figures we do have, it’s a pretty underwhelming book for all incumbents really. HT still win which is good for them, but nobody would be doing cartwheels down High Street. And that’s really concerning now for ABC Gold Coast, which has been dropping like this for a while now. Breakfast the only bright-ish spot in a pretty dismal set of results.
Should also mention that Gold Coast now had DAB+ that must be drawing listeners away as well.
Also the geographical spread of the Gold Coast adds another layer. It’s long and narrow, spanning about 60km north to south. If you live in the northern end around Coomera you’ll have Brisbane stations booming in about the same strength as HT/MMM/Sea, and also Breeze and Rebel have local strength signals there. If you’re at the southern end you’ll get next to no Brisbane radio, but Radio 97 is like a local strength.
The Mount Coot-tha signals are fully shadowed south of GC proper.
The survey area is divided into two sample sections, with 77% of the population in the northern half.
Yet the share for ABC stations in that demo is more or less unchanged - ABC Gold Coast and ABC News Radio both had gains above 3%, only just less than Sea FM did. That’s just the tiny size of the subsample showing through. The changes amount to potentially being 1 or 2 members of the survey changing their habits, when you consider the sample sizes.
I have to wonder how much anyone trusts these numbers to make ad buying decisions - if they won’t tell you what 40% of the market is doing, and the rest of the survey has wild variability, what does this tell anyone?