Historical Metro Ratings

Thanks. The format change occurred around Aug 81 so I am tipping this is the drop from 8.2 to 6.4 but then strangely increases the next 3 surveys.

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Might as well bring the rest of the metros into the party!

BRISANE 1/84 (4/83)
4BH 15.6 (20.6)
4KQ 15.6 (15.3)
FM104 14.8 (16.9)
4BC 13.8 (12.6)
4IO 13.3 (14.2)
4QR 12.6 (8.5)
4BK 6.0 (5.7)
4QG 4.2 (2.4)

ADELAIDE 4/83 (1984 surveys not available)
5DN 21.1
5KA 20.2
SAFM 18.1
5AA 15.8
5AD 12.5
5AN 6.2
5CL 3.5

PERTH 4/83 (1984 surveys not available)
6PM 24.1
96FM 17.5
6PR 15.8
6KY 12.9
6WF 12.1
6IX 11.6
6WN 3.1

CANBERRA 1/84 (1983 survey not available)
2CC 52.2
2CN 20.0
2CA 16.4
2CY 4.6

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Was that one of the final surveys before FM began to dominate each market?

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First #1 FM in each market:
BRISBANE - FM104, S3/84
SYDNEY - Triple M, S4/84
MELBOURNE - EON, S2/85
PERTH - 96FM, S2/85
ADELAIDE - not available

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gosh even in 1983, 6IX was still around the bottom of the ratings, although at least with a share that it would kill for these days. Was the station higher in the Perth rankings say in the 70s or has it just alway been loitering near the bottom?

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Thanks for posting!

There’s a station missing for Brisbane though - 4BK?

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You’re right, my bad:
4BK 6.0 (5.7)

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6IX topped the Perth ratings twice: S2/79 and S3/81, and it was a contender for most of the span from '78 through '81. It also ranked second to 6PM from '73 to '75.

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Here are parts of the 2UE guide for survey 2, 1984. This was given to their current and potential advertisers. I love all the extra detail it provides, such as cumes for each shift.

It also shows a multi station buy will give you access to a certain percentage of the market. For example, a 2WS and 2UE ad buy will gain enable you to reach 45% of the 25-39 year old demographic.

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It’s Survey 3 in 1983. These results from B&T magazine also show some of the age demos and time sessions.

The ABC is No.1 in Melbourne at breakfast. The advertiser friendly 25-39 demo is owned by 2WS in Sydney and 3KZ in Melbourne. Teenagers are still largely tuned to AM radio with 2SM and 3XY on top. 2UE’s Garry O’Callaghan is under increasing pressure at breakfast from 2GB and the ABC. Triple M ruled the 18-24 age group in Sydney - much more so than EON in Melbourne. This was back when MMM aimed to win in a demographic and programmed with a clear focus and sound. Now of course MMM’s aim is more niche than mass market.

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During that era, Mix 106.5’s audience share went like this:

S1/1996: 7.5% (5th; 3rd FM)
S2/1996: 7.5% (4th; 3rd FM)
S3/1996: 6.8% (5th; 4th FM)
S4/1996: 6.8% (5th; 4th FM)
S5/1996: 5.9% (8th; 5th FM (beaten by JJJ))
S6/1996: 8.4% (5th; 4th FM)
S7/1996: 8.0% (5th; 4th FM)
S8/1996: 7.1% (7th; 4th FM)
S1/1997: 7.6% (6th; 4th FM)
S2/1997: 7.8% (5th; 4th FM)
S3/1997: 7.8% (6th; 4th FM)
S4/1997: 6.9% (7th; 4th FM)
S5/1997: 7.5% (7th; 4th FM)
S6/1997: 7.8% (7th; 4th FM)
S7/1997: 8.7% (4th; 3rd FM)
S8/1997: 9.3% (4th; 3rd FM)

During that time, 2WS was generally at around #2 or #3 FM, whilst 2Day was well ahead, battling with 2UE for the #1 overall spot.

From what I can see on the figures, the changes that occurred on Mix would’ve happened after Survey 4 of 1997, as its audience share increased steadily from that point on, ultimately reaching 10.7% in Survey 6 of 1998, in which it came 2nd on among the FM stations. As for 2WS though, its audience share fell from the beginning of 1998, down from 10.5% in Survey 1 to 7.1% a year later (S1/1999), by which point it had evolved from a “Best Songs of All Time” to a “Classic Hits” format.

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A rare analysis of Australian ratings (S1/1981) from Billboard magazine.

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that’s a pretty epic debut for 96FM – 12.9. I know Perth only had a handful of rival stations at that time but to have a new station on the FM band have that share on survey 1 is pretty impressive.

Incidentally, I think they might have the numbers for Fox FM the wrong way around. According to my numbers, Fox went from 3.4 to 3.0, not the other way around?

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Correct, Fox went 3.4 to 3.0

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Completely agree, spot on analysis as always @Brianc68

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3AW took a bit of a hit in this survey, falling from 12.0 (3rd) in Survey 4/89 to 9.3 (6th) in Survey 1/90. I am not sure what was happening in programming terms but IIRC this was around the time that the station tried to upmarket its image a bit with the branding “3-AWARE. The Thinking Person’s Radio Station”.

3AW improved in 2/90 with 11.0 (5th), then 11.4 (5th) in 3/90 and 11.3 (4th) in 4/90. It didn’t hit #1 again until 1/93 (14.0).

And KZFM’s triumphant win in 1/90 turned out to be a one-off. Fox was back at #1 next survey, and by the end of the year KZ was down to 5th on 10.8.

3XY’s rating of 1.7 in Survey 1/90 came as the station tried to undo its Easy Rock format and go back to Top 40/contemporary. It managed to only beat JJJ making its Melbourne survey debut with a rating of 1.2.

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Was KZ on FM by then?

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Yes, the started on FM on January 1 1990.

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It was S8/2001 when 2UE last beat both 2Day & 2MMM, and that was after Nova had come on the air earlier that year. 2UE was the #1 station in that survey, but they were soon about to lose their top-rating breakfast host Alan Jones to 2GB the following year.

The last time 2UE beat ABC Sydney was S6/2007, in which they ranked 4th behind 2GB, 2Day & Nova. This was the same survey where (then) AM music station 2CH beat FM stations Mix 106.5 (now KIIS), 2MMM & Vega (now Smooth). John Laws was still presenting mornings on 2UE, but would end his stint there at the end of that year, before returning to radio on 2SM in 2011.

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