My very first car,a 1978 Datsun 200B only had an AM radio,My next one,1983 Ford Laser had an AM/FM radio,later on I had a AM/FM cassette player installed in this car…Thats when I started listening to FM 104/Triple M more ,around 85/85 .In my bedroom I had a small AM/FM ‘boom box ,that I also played my cassettes on
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I’ve got the Sydney radio ratings from that time. They made its debut on Survey 4 of 1980.
Here are the ratings from that survey:
#1 2UE: 19.2
#2 2CH: 15.5
=#3 2SM: 11.6
=#3 2WS: 11.6
#5 2BL: 8.8
#6 2UW: 8.3
#7 2GB: 6.0
#8 2MMM: 2.6
#9 2DAY: 2.0
#10 2JJJ: 1.2
And Survey 1, 1981:
#1 2CH: 17.7
#2 2UE: 16.5
#3 2UW: 15.9
=#4 2SM: 8.5
=#4 2WS: 8.5
#6 2BL: 8.1
#7 2MMM: 5.2
#8 2GB: 5.0
#9 2JJJ: 2.9
#10 2DAY: 2.4
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Wow! Thank you TV Expert.
Check out those 2UE and 2CH ratings.
There were only four surveys a year in the 80s. 2UW almost doubled its audience over summer. Now that is a stellar relaunch of an old brand. Take note 2DayFM in 2020.
Triple M gained traction so much quicker than 2DayFM
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My parents car when I was a kid was a 78 Ford Falcon, it had FM-AM and tape.
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And I have to add that both 2DayFM and MMM has a higher inaugural ratings than Vega achieve 25 years later.
And Vega did not have to educate listeners on how to tune to FM.
Here’s the shocker. Triple M basically rates the same today as it did in its second survey of 1981. They really need to set and achieve some bigger long term goals.
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For Melbourne, the first FM survey (4/1980, with survey 3/1980 in brackets)
3XY 15.5 (16.6)
3UZ 12.9 (13.4)
3AK 12.0 (11.9)
3MP 11.7 (11.1)
3AW 10.5 (11.4)
3DB 9.5 (8.0)
3LO 8.0 (9.2)
3KZ 7.2 (6.8)
3EON 4.5 (–)
3FOX 3.4 (–)
3AR 2.5 (3.0)
Other AM 1.3 (1.8)
Other FM 1.0 (2.2)
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Thanks TelevisionAU.
The FM stations had a much better start in Melbourne. A combined 7.9 share with Sydney on a 4.6.
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3AW and 3LO not far off where they rate today.
And then there’s the others. 3XY’s replacement rates less than 1%, 3UZ and 3MP aren’t in the ratings, and SEN is lucky to rate more than a 10th what 3AK did in 1980
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Strangely, both the new FMs suffered drops in Survey 1/1981
3XY 15.2 (15.5)
3UZ 12.8 (12.9)
3AW 11.4 (10.5)
3MP 11.0 (11.7)
3AK 10.3 (12.0)
3KZ 9.6 (7.2)
3LO 8.5 (8.0)
3DB 8.1 (9.5)
3EON 3.8 (4.5)
3AR 3.5 (2.5)
3FOX 3.0 (3.4)
Other AM 1.4 (1.3)
Other FM 1.4 (1.0)
By the end of the year (4/1981), EON was up to 6.8, FOX was 4.7.
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By comparison, in Sydney by the end of 1981, 2DAY rose to 5.7, whilst 2MMM rose to 6.0. Then by the end of 1982, 2MMM rose to 9.2, whilst 2DAY only rose to 6.5, but then 2DAY jumped to 8.6 in S1/1983.
2MMM scored its first double-digit overall share in S3/1983 (10.7), in which they were ranked 3rd overall behind 2CH & 2UE, before scoring its first ever overall #1 in S4/1984 (13.5).
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BRISBANE - S3/80
- 4BK 20.2 - 17.8
- 4BH 19.5 - 16.5
- 4BC 20.9 - 16.3
- 4KQ 10.2 - 13.7
- 4IP 12.4 - 13.1
- ABC 8.3 - 8.6
- 4MMM 6.9 debut
In Adelaide, SAFM debuted with a 7.5 in S3/80; in Perth, 96FM debuted with a 12.9
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Thanks for that. Strong debut for 4MMM, SAFM and 96FM really.
Wonder what 4BH were playing at the time? They were doing the Beautiful Music thing by the mid-80s but wonder when it started.
4BK would have been the Soft Rock format or getting close to it.
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It’s a pretty even split between the top 3 but I’m surprised that 4IP was that low coming out of the 1970s. I just figured it would have been close to the top in those days.
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2CH was Beautiful Music 24/7
Wow they rated number one in 1983 amazing ? And looking through the 80s how well 2CH went.
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Yes 4IP dominated in the 70s. I think they had a bit of a resurgence as Radio 10 in the 80s but FM104 fairly quickly dominated.
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In celebration of our first radio ratings survey release in just over five months, I’ve gone through the relevant pages of archive.org to bring up the results from Survey #6, 2000.
1: 104.1 2DayFM & 2UE 954: Equal #1 with 13.8%
3: Triple M 104.9: 10.4%
4: Mix 106.5: 8.3%
5: 2BL 702 (ABC Sydney Local Radio): 7.9%
6: 2WS-FM 101.7: 7.4%
7: 2CH Easy 1170: 7.2%
8: Triple J 105.7: 5.9%
9: ABC FM 92.9: 2.7%
10: 2KY 1017: 1.7%
11: 2SM 1269: 1.6%
12: Radio National 576: 1.4%
13: ABC NewsRadio 630: 1.3%
Source: ACNielsen.
It was a very different radio landscape two decades ago. Nova 96.9 would not launch until 6-7 months after the release of this survey, while 95.3 was just under half a decade away. One station which was in the surveys back then but not now - 2SM.
2DayFM would be Sydney’s #1 radio station during six out of eight ratings surveys in 2000, with 2UE at #1 in Survey #7 (possibly in part due to Olympics coverage, which I believe 2UE had exclusive commercial radio rights for) and as you saw above, Survey #6 being a tie between the top AM & FM stations.
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OK, I’m going to ask the question: What were Sydney’s radio ratings like 55 years ago when 2BL/ABC Radio Sydney last got a share of 12.2% or more?
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Anderson Survey, Spring 1966
2GB - 26%
2UE - 21
2UW - 20
2BL - 13
2SM - 9
5 or less: 2CH, 2KY, 2FC
(2SM made a big splash when it launched its Top 40 format in 1964, but it quickly declined. For most of the early to mid 60s, it was a two horse race between 2GB and 2UE.)
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I love these old ratings and appreciate you posting them. Wow - 1966.
If anyone has some Sydney ratings from 1982, 1983 or 1987 I would be so excited.
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Well, prepare to do so, because here they are! 
1/1982
2UE: 15.7
2UW: 12.9
2CH: 12.7
2WS: 9.8
2BL: 9.2
2SM: 8.1
2MMM: 7.2
2GB: 6.4
2KY: 5.8
2DAY: 4.3
2FC: 2.4
2JJJ: 1.9
2/1982
2UE: 14.3
2UW: 13.1
2CH: 12.0
2GB: 8.5
2MMM: 8.2
2SM: 8.1
2WS: 7.9
2KY: 6.9
2DAY: 6.1
2BL: 6.0
2FC: 3.2
2JJJ: 2.4
3/1982
2UE: 13.4
2UW: 11.9
2CH: 10.9
2GB: 9.1
2WS: 9.0
2SM: 8.3
2MMM: 8.2
2KY: 7.6
2BL: 7.0
2DAY: 6.5
2FC: 2.5
2JJJ: 2.4
4/1982
2CH: 13.6
2UE: 12.7
2UW: 9.9
2WS: 9.8
2MMM: 9.2
2SM: 7.9
2KY: 7.8
2DAY: 6.5
2BL: 5.7
2JJJ: 3.0
2FC: 1.9
1/1983
2CH: 13.7
2UE: 10.6
2WS: 9.5
2MMM: 8.8
2DAY: 8.6
2KY: 8.4
2UW: 7.7
2SM: 7.5
2GB: 7.3
2BL: 6.5
2JJJ: 2.8
2FC: 2.1
2/1983
2UE: 12.4
2CH: 12.1
2UW: 9.7
2MMM: 9.0
2DAY: 8.8
2WS: 8.4
2GB: 7.8
2KY: 6.9
2SM: 6.8
2BL: 6.6
2JJJ: 3.2
2FC: 2.2
3/1983
2CH: 11.7
2UE: 11.5
2MMM: 10.7
2GB: 10.4
2WS: 10.0
2SM: 7.6
2UW: 7.0
2KY: 6.6
2BL: 6.5
2JJJ: 2.9
2FC: 2.5
4/1983
2CH: 11.7
2WS: 10.9
2UE: 10.8
2GB: 10.6
2MMM: 8.8
2DAY: 8.1
2SM: 7.8
2UW: 7.8
2KY: 7.7
2BL: 5.5
2JJJ: 2.4
2FC: 2.3
1/1987
2GB: 13.9
2CH: 11.4
2MMM: 11.0
2DAY: 11.0
2WS: 9.2
2KY: 8.5
2UW: 7.7
2SM: 6.2
2BL: 5.1
2UE: 4.7
2JJJ: 2.9
2FC: 1.5
2/1987
2GB: 13.5
2MMM: 12.0
2DAY: 11.4
2CH: 11.0
2KY: 9.4
2WS: 9.2
2UW: 7.6
2UE: 6.4
2SM: 4.9
2BL: 3.3
2JJJ: 2.9
3/1987
2GB: 14.0
2MMM: 13.6
2CH: 10.4
2UW: 9.6
2DAY: 9.4
2KY: 8.0
2WS: 7.7
2UE: 6.8
2SM: 4.7
2BL: 4.2
2JJJ: 2.5
2FC: 1.9
4/1987
2MMM: 12.9
2GB: 10.9
2KY: 10.9
2DAY: 10.8
2CH: 10.4
2UW: 9.1
2WS: 7.3
2SM: 5.8
2BL: 5.2
2UE: 4.9
2JJJ: 2.3
2FC: 2.0
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