Yes, they were, although that particular ratings survey that was conducted in 1992 was commissioned by Power FM themselves, not by McNair-Anderson (which later became Nielsen). It even made the front page of the Illawarra Mercury back in June 1992 & had a half-page ad of their ratings success.
In the following year (1st Wollongong survey for 1993, back when they had 2 surveys a year, which that arrangement lasted until 2005), i98 topped the McNair-Anderson ratings with a 25.4% share, followed closely by Wave FM with 25.2%, whilst Power FM was a distant 3rd with 15.2%, which its share was similar to what Wave FM is getting today.
Not quite. Wave FM took back the #1 position in the 2nd survey of 1993 & also won both 1994 surveys. They’ve also won 2 consecutive surveys in late 2002 & early 2003.
Whilst I’m here, it’s also worth pointing out that in evenings, Wave FM managed only 4.8%, whilst ABC Illawarra got 31.1% & i98 got 19.2%. Wave’s share in that timeslot is just ahead of that achieved by ABC Classic FM & WSFM, and was lower than that of 2GB’s!
4TO still holds on to the #1 spot with a 22.9% share, followed by hit103.1 (formerly Hot FM) with 21.8%. Meanwhile, commercial rivals Grant-owned Star & Power 100 went up from last year, with the former going up 3.8% to 12.5%, whilst the latter went up 1.9% to 10.5%.
In the demographics, hit103.1 dominates in the under-40s, whilst 4TO is dominant in the 40-64s, leaving ABC North Queensland to top the 65+. Of note, Power 100 is the #2 station in the 55-64s behind 4TO & was equal #2 in the 40-54s with hit103.1.
Spirit Radio is #1 with a 32.4% share, followed by Red FM with 24.5%, ABC Mid West & Wheatbelt with 22.8%, and JJJ with 12.2%. In the demographics, Red FM is #1 in the under-40s, whilst Spirit is #1 in the over-40s.
Another survey showing barely anyone listening to RN, Newsradio or Classic FM.
Come on ABC, time to come up with a format people want to listen to! Classic FM needs to be replaced with a popular format. I know I bang on about BBC 2 but … why not?
The ABC costs taxpayer money to broadcast these signals to nobody.
On the flipside, the ABC are then attacked by some parts of the media for being too popular.
That said, I think ABC Country should take precedence over Classic FM in some of these regional markets, especially given SCA’s shunting of The Range (and handing in the narrowcast licenses apparently).
I agree ABC Country should be on FM in some of these smaller regional markets in lieu of Classic FM. In larger regional centres and capital cities they should replace Classic FM with Double J.
The commercial media will always whine the ABC is too popular, it’s in their interest to try to keep ABC as niche as possible. But the fact is ABC does compete. JJJ competes with Nova and Hit, and ABC Local competes with commercial talk. Competition is healthy.
Lol. RN exists to give people a break from the mindless drivel heard on commercial radio, and increasingly ABC Local Radio. RN, Classic FM and even JJJ are an intellectual lifeblood to these communities.
They’re not after ratings as you should well know.
I’m not suggesting RN or Classic FM should turn into a commercial radio clone. But in my opinion RN does need to broaden its appeal a tad to reach more people. Look at the figures, nobody is listening! RN gets better ratings in metro areas so they’re missing the mark in these small towns considering the comparative number of choices.
I agree with Cranky that the methodology is flawed and some RN and even Newsradio listeners might be falsely recorded against ABC Local. But Classic FM? No way. Surely someone knows if they’re listening to that.
The plug needs to be pulled on Classic FM and replaced by (equally “intellectual”??) ABC Country or Double J or BBC 2. Tweaking and promotion is needed for RN. No changes to JJJ. Just to be clear.
