i think 97.3 is split 50/50 between ARN and Nova? Or has that changed?
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Yes but programmed by ARN. The reverse is true of Nova in Perth.
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97.3 is a joint venture between ARN and Nova. ARN currently manage it, but thereâs technically no reason they couldnât launch Smooth 97.3 rather than Gold 97.3, if both parties agreed. I doubt Nova would have any objection.
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looks like theyâve fixed the headline 
https://radioinfo.com.au/news/radio-ratings-survey-6-2/
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Nova should just buy ARN and be done with it. Keep 97.3, Adelaideâs 102.3, 96fm Perth, Hot Tomato on the GC and HOFM. Sell off the rest.
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Given the success this survey with 4BH and seeing increase at 2UE, I am sorry to see that there still isnât any payoff for the Melbourne stations. They are good stations, well presented â even if much of it is pre-recorded or voice tracked â and while I donât drive a lot I do tend to flick between them when in the car. But they just arenât resonating with people, even with the target 40+ crowd although they are slightly higher in 65+.
Both stations are probably suffering from the sins of past owners that trashed them with dud formats and have left Ace virtually having to rebuild from scratch which is going to be a hard sell for two AM stations in a market with many choices.
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Yes they are half owned by Nova Entertainment
Itâs early days but not a good start for The Rock in Brisbane. Hopefully they can crack the 10k mark next survey in Brisbane and have even higher cume in Melbourne.
NE owns a 50% share of KIIS97.3 and has no say or influence over programming. Exactly the same arrangement as ARN owning 50% of Nova93.7 in Perth - ARN has no say or influence over the programming of Nova93.7.
Iâve said it before and Iâll say it again - as much as some people want it to not be the case, these are joint ventures for the purposes of commercial sales arrangements and nothing more. Unless the joint venture is dissolved and NE gets full control of 97.3 from ARN, Smooth97.3 will never exist.
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No mentions of Fifi, Fev and Nick this survey (unless I missed it). Expecting Fifiâs absence didnât do them any favours.
Fifi, Fev and Nick edged up 0.3 from the last survey to 9.2, just 0.1 behind Jase, Lauren and Clint.
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The change to FM still hasnât done ABC Perth any favours.
3.7 is the stationâs lowest share since at least i started recording Perth numbers (8/1996)
Although it did rate some 4-ish shares a couple of years ago (it got down to 4.2 in 8/2024)
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Was it supposed to without changes in programming or things like that?
I donât think any station has people flocking in listening just because it sounds better.
The switch to FM was hoped to address discrepancies in AM reception IIRC, so yes some increase may have been expected. Though at the very least i would have expected it to at least be steady-ish compared to pre-FM. But from its first FM survey it has had 4 consecutive drops and has literally halved its audience. (it was 7.4 in S2/2026)
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An unusually comprehensive report on the radio ratings in Brisbane from Seven highlighting 4BHâs first win since 1984 and BBQ Bob broadcasting from a home studio.
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Indeed, its lowest since regular measurement began in 1951.
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Ha! I noticed the same thing. Another big miss by RadioInfo.
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The existence of Gold 104.3 is probably the main reason. Why would people want to listen to Magic when Gold 104.3 plays similar songs and is on FM. Obviously, people would choose the FM option immediately due to the sound quality.
how similar are their playlists these days?
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Firstly, Gold probably still plays some of the 80s tracks that Magic would also play, but it is easier to convince someone to tune in to FM than AM for any type of music.
If nothing can be done to improve the ratings, then perhaps it is time for Magic and 3MP to cease transmission on AM and go digital only.