Yes, I’m afraid I’ve already extracted as much data as possible from the SMH archives, Trove, and the National Archives. The rest will probably have to surface from sources that have yet to be digitally archived or even personal collections.
I moved back to Brisbane to live with my family in early 1980 (before FM104/Triple M were on air)after living in Cairns and Townsville 10 years prior to then.I guess I missed out on the glory days of 4IP in the 70s then
Yes I wish I’d experienced the glory days of 4IP in the 60s and 70s too. I moved to Brisbane for uni in 1986 and by then Stereo 10 was starting to struggle. I must admit that although I absolutely loved FM104 at the time, Stereo 10 was still my guilty pleasure. In fact I only had AM radio in the car so it was always on Stereo 10 or occasionally 4BK.
FM104 really ruled the airwaves at that time though and it was an awesome station which I doubt we’ll hear the likes of again unfortunately.
1 Like
SURVEY 2 1980
- 4BC - 20.9
- 4BK - 20.2
- 4BH - 19.5
- 4IP - 12.4
- 4KQ - 10.2
- 4QR - 8.3
- 4QG - 5.4
Other FM - 2.4
Other AM - 0.7
What strikes me about this survey is the figures for “other” stations were so low. What are they now, like 10 or 15% percent?
I’m also surprised at how well 4BK did in those days. When I moved to Brisbane in '86 they were a real “also ran” station although my landlady at the time had them on constantly and I didn’t mind them. I just never thought they were overly successful like 4IP, 4BH or even 4BC.
I also wonder was 4KQ doing their country thing in 1980 or what was the format then?
IIRC a lot of 4BK’s success at the time was on the back of Wayee Poo Roberts’ breakfast show.
2 Likes
there were a lot less “other” stations in those days. I don’t know about Brisbane in 1980 but In Melbourne at that time the only “other” stations would have been ABCFM (not surveyed in those days), 3RRR, 3MBS and 3PBS on the FM band; and 3EA and 3CR on AM, plus any fortuitous reception of outer stations like 3GL from Geelong or 3UL from Warragul which was probably not significant
1 Like
The other FM figure would have mostly been 4ZZZ
My best guess would be 4KQ was country from 1983 – 1987
and ABC FM?
Didn’t start in Brisbane until about August 1980 I think
Didn’t realise they were had such a late start in Brisbane. They were up and running in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide from 1976.
I think 4KQ still had a country music format in early 1980 but it was so long ago I’m not sure .4IP were OK back then,I remember they played current hits ,this was before they changed their call sign to Radio 10 about March 1982,after that they never rated very well,the arrival of FM 104 to the airwaves in August 1980 really hurt them
Looking at those early Sydney ratings it is obvious that Sydney can in fact balance with three commercial talkback stations. Even 2SM on a slightly acceptable 2%.
Surely these days the market could do better if 2UE offered a point of difference.
1 Like
While we’re at it here - any Kiwi radio buffs around? I’ve have great luck unearthing Aussie metro shares going back 40+ years, however the TNS/Research Int’l data for NZ prior to 2005 is practically non-existent, whether through the internet archive or the archives of NZ newspapers or libraries.
In a way aren’t 2UE doing that now with lifestyle as opposed to news/talk on 2GB.
True. What I probably should’ve said is the fact it is interesting that all 3 commercial talkback stations were at one point able to rate, even though 2UE were clear number 1.
I’m sure these days MRN would be happy with 2GB clear no.1 and 2UE around a 5 mark.
From “Metro Ratings - Survey 8, 2016” thread:
Since I have the ratings for that particular survey, here’s how the station’s went, which could compare well to the recent survey:
Sydney - Survey 7, 2007
- 2GB: 11.1
- 2DAY: 10.4
- Nova: 9.2
- ABC702: 8.6
- 2CH: 7.8 (
) - 2UE: 7.6
- Mix 106.5 (now KIIS): 7.1
- WSFM: 5.9
- Triple M: 5.3
- Vega (now Smooth): 4.1
- JJJ: 3.2
- ABCFM: 2.2
- 2RN: 1.6
- NewsRadio: 1.3
In breakfast (top 5):
- Alan Jones (2GB): 13.4
- Kyle & Jackie O (2DAY): 11.6
- Adam Spencer (ABC702): 10.7
- Merrick & Rosso (Nova): 9.4
- Mike Carlton & Peter Fitzsimmons (2UE): 7.4
In the 25-39s:
- Nova: 17.0
- 2DAY: 15.7
- Mix 106.5: 11.4
- Triple M: 9.4
- Vega: 5.6
And in the 40-54s:
- ABC702: 11.8
- WSFM: 9.5
- 2GB: 9.4
- Triple M: 8.2
- 2DAY: 8.0
2 Likes
The more things change in Sydney radio, the more they remain the same. Wouldn’t 2DayFM, 2CH and 2UE all love to still be getting their 2007 ratings now?!
But on the flipside, I’m sure that Smooth 95.3 (it’s incredible to think that they’re one of Sydney’s top FM stations now when little under a decade ago during their Vega days, they were last amongst the surveyed commercial stations!), KIIS 1065 and WSFM would vastly prefer to have their current ratings.
And a big difference is that it’s biggest competition was 2UE back then at 7.6 while these days it has been decimated and is only has 3.5.
1 Like
With Talking Lifestyle replacing Magic in Melbourne that led to a big ratings fall in the space of two surveys this year (down 2.4% from Survey 1 to 3), I’m being reminded of the time of when SEN replaced 5DN in Adelaide back in early 2005 as part of an ill-fated expansion into the market. 5DN had a classic hits/talk format.
.
In the last full survey as 5DN on Survey 8 of 2004, it scored a 6.4% share. By its first survey as SEN, it lost more than half of its audience, sliding down to 3.1% in Survey 1 of 2005. In the next survey, it lost almost another half of its audience, going down to 1.6%, then went down slightly to 1.4% in the following survey. In Survey 4, it rated an asterisk, by which point SEN had stopped broadcasting into Adelaide & was temporarily replaced by an AM simulcast of Mix 102.3 before launching Cruise 1323 in November, which debuted with a 5.2% share in Survey 1 of 2006.
3 Likes
I remember that expansion well. SEN did their best to promote 1323, certainly on air much to the annoyance of their Melbourne listeners. They soon learned the hard way that South Australians didn’t want to listen to a Victorian radio station discussing Victorian football teams being piped in to Adelaide, and voted with their feet. Meanwhile in order to accommodate their new market SEN slowly burnt their existing Melbourne listeners to the point where that fledgling station nearly went belly-up not long after
Needless to say, once 1116 and 1323 went their separate ways, things picked up for both. Cruise 1323 was an instant success and still kicks on these days with a ~10% share, while SEN 1116 remains a sports talk station that caters for a small but loyal Melbourne audience. Maybe there’s some lessons there for Macquarie management?
2 Likes