Nova 100 was #1 FM, as well as overall, for two consecutive surveys in 2/2002 & 3/2002, and was #1 FM in 7/2004 & 8/2004, as well as for a single survey on 2/2005. More recently, they were also #1 FM in 7/2013.
By comparsion, the last time Nova 96.9 was #1 FM was way back in 5/2005, which was the end of their 13 consecutive survey wins for that position, which included being #1 overall for the first 3 surveys of 2004 before 2GB took over the #1 overall position, which is still unbeaten to this day.
âOther Stationsâ only had a 5.9% share, as Nova 106.9 were yet to start its test broadcast before officially going to air in April 2005. Also, 4BC was mostly local during the day & night, although they relayed John Laws in mornings from 2UE.
And hereâs the Sydney results from that same survey, which was the beginning of 2GBâs now 15-year long reign at #1.
2Day was stuggling for much of 2004 after Wendy Harmer & The Morning Crew stepped down from breakfast, which resulted in them moving Kyle & Jackie O to breakfast in 2005, where they remained until the end of 2013 when they moved to KIIS (formerly Mix 106.5).
Looking at the results of some of these Sydney radio surveys from 2004/05 and comparing them to more recent figures, itâs probably safe to say that the average listener in this market is considerably older than it was 15 years ago?
âŚalthough Iâd imagine that 2DayFM would love to have âonlyâ 7.7% of the audience these days!
How Bad 3AK got in the Late 1990âs, Itâs 1503 Signal and Ratings wasânt Strong as it once was when it was a Beautiful Music Station, Moving to 1116 in 2001 did Little to Improve the Stations Fortunes.
Iâm not surprised how far ahead 2GB was in the early 1950s as the Macquarie Network was a powerhouse. 2UW was a strong second as they played some popular daytime serials.
This is a telex of Survey 3 in 1983. It was given to me by someone who worked at 2DayFM at the time, thus the handwriting. Survey 2 is printed - Survey 3 is written on the telex.
At the time:
2UE was flying high with Gary OâCallaghan, John Laws, Ita Buttrose, Malcolm T Elliot, John Pearce and Ian Parry-Okedon.
2KY and 2GB were were gaining relevance with Mike Carlton and Ron Casey
2BL / 702 / ABC was struggling.
2SMâs sole focus was Top 40 hits as âThe Powerâ positioning was starting to bite, it was to become the âRock of the 80sâ in 1984
2UW has lost its way and was about to try its luck as Magic 11
2DayFM and Triple M were becoming more commercial
2WS owned the 25 - 39 demo
2CH was Beautiful Music 24/7
And Madonna and George Micheal were becoming household names.
At the 1st survey of 1984, 2WS tied with 2UE for the #1 spot, in which both stations achieved an 11.2% share, with 2CH not far behind at 11.1% & 2MMM with 10.8%. It was also the first survey of the ill-fated Magic 11 (2UW), which debuted with a 6.7% share, which then fell to a 5.8% share the following survey.
The advent of CBC in June 1986 doesnât appear to have bitten 2UE as harshly as it did 3AK.
Also interesting to see the decline of 2SM was more advanced in 1986 than it was for 3XY. I think 3XY did well to fight the flow of listeners to FM which was inevitable.
Also interesting to note that 2BL didnât rate as highly as 3LO did in that time. This was especially evident in Survey 4 of 1985, where 3LO scored 8.5%, whilst 2BL scored a paltry 3.7%, below that of 2JJJ.
Also, 2KY rated very highly compared to Melbourneâs talk/racing equivalent of the time, 3DB.
In those days 2BL/3LO would have also had their schedules interrupted with huge slabs of Parliament which would have done ratings no favours either. I think it was 1988 that Parliament broadcasts moved to Radio National before going to what is now NewsRadio.
3DB had been re-launched in June 1986 with Bert Newton as general manager and taking over as breakfast announcer (7am-9am). Looks like ratings fluctuated a lot with the new line-up starting.