Regional Radio Ratings

River rates pretty good being on the AM dial.

River does have a bit of a format overlap but River does skews a bit older then Triple M.

2 Likes

The Metro Stations are not the only ones to have their ratings survey released this morning, but Wollongong, on the southern footsteps of Sydney, is releasing theirs this morning as well: http://www.radioalive.com.au/RA/media/General/Documents/Surveys%20for%20Metro/WOLLONGONG-XTRA-INSIGHTS-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RESULT.pdf?ext=.pdf

i98 is once again #1 with a 29.1% share, up 1.7% from last survey, whilst Wave FM also went up 0.6% to 16.2%, a gap of 12.9% between the two stations, up 1.1% from last year. ABC Illawarra is 3rd with 15.3% (up 0.7%), whilst JJJ is 4th with 9.2%. Of the Sydney stations, 2GB is #1 with 4.4%, followed by WS with 2.4%, Smooth with 2.2% & 2MMM with 1.9%. MSR scored a 0.0% share.

In the demos, i98 is #1 in the under-55s, whilst ABC Illawarra tops the 55+, with Wave the #1 commercial station in the latter. It’s worth noting that i98 scores nearly 35% in the 40-54s, nearly 15% ahead of Wave in the same demo.

In breakfast, i98’s Marty, Christie & Crammy is #1 with 29.9%, followed by Wave’s Jade, Trav & Chris with 15.5%, with ABC Illawarra’s Melinda James not far behind. ABC Illawarra is #2 in weekends behind i98.

3 Likes

Local drive paying off for ABC Illawarra - up 0.7 to 11.8%.

A baffling book in the nights timeslot. Wave climbs 7.4 to 12.2%, while ABC Illawarra suffers a drop of the same size to fall on 23.7%, still comfortably #1. i98 is down 5.7 to 13.5%, with triple j up 6.8 to a 12.8% share

Macquarie Sports sheds 4200 listeners to sit on 700 10+. Sounds a bit high

1 Like

It’s worth mentioning that Wave FM & i98 have a ratings gap of just 3% in the 65+, where Wave scores 10.2% share, whilst i98 scores 7.2% (up 3.9%). So it seems the most competitive demo for the two stations is in the oldest demographic group! :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Also, JJJ is ahead of Wave in the 18-39s.

1 Like

The fact Triple M is number 1 in Brisbane is no surprise. Nova, B105 and 973 all sound way to similar. It is the only station offering a point of difference.

5 Likes

Wrong topic.

The above post is supposed to go there: Metro Radio Ratings: Survey 7, 2018

Oops! My bad :joy::joy::joy: curse of too many ratings at once!

I know its not a Wollongong station but Macquarie Sports Radio gained a rating of 0% in the Gong. All shows rated a zero. All age groups rated a zero. Zilch. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Whilst that initially might sound bad I suppose it’s only 0.6% lower than the sport station gained in Sydney.

2 Likes

Upon calculating the radio ratings by combining demo figures & then divide it by 2 or 3 to give out an average figure, i98 is the #1 commercial station in the 40+ demographic for what is probably the first time ever, which had traditionally being Wave’s stranglehold for many many years.

Here are the figures for the following combined demos on among the two commercial stations:

40+
i98: 17.9
Wave: 17.2

25-54
i98: 37.3
Wave: 16.9

40-64
i98: 23.2
Wave: 20.7

55+
Wave: 15.7
i98: 9.4

1 Like

IMO Wave needs to stop copying i98 and skew older like a Triple M Classic Hits station / or Smooth Fm tip off if they want to have any chance of coming close to i98. Playing every song they play is not going to win the ratings. Wollongong is so in need of another radio station Wheather it be a third commercial station or a youth community station similar to Radio Metro / fresh fm.

2 Likes

As I’ve mentioned before elsewhere, having Wave FM being bought by SCA & carry the regional Triple M’s “Music That Makes You Feel Good” log, or, dare I say it, being bought by BOG, would improve the station’s music format, as well as their overall ratings too. Yes, it would mean that the amount of local programming on the station would be reduced in either scenario, but the region already has i98 being the most local-sounding station anyway.

When Wave FM was a real adult music station all those years ago, it was rating more competitively with i98 in the overall ratings, but since it more or less became an “i98 imitator”, their overall ratings fell, allowing i98 to increase their lead, which had been ongoing since 2014.

Or possibly if or when 2ST converts to FM & transmit from Knights Hill, which could potentially take 2-3% off Wave’s share.

3 Likes

I had a listen online to Wave FM and it has a very similar format to Triple M “Music That Makes You Feel Good” format. :face_vomiting:

Then I take my above “Wave FM becoming part of Triple M” comment back. :wink:

Come to think of it, like with Wave FM, 2GO on the Central Coast rates well behind Star & Sea with the “Music That Makes You Good” format, with 2GO rating ahead of Star in the 55+, and is also #1 in the 40+. In the 25-54s, both Sea & Star rates way ahead of 2GO.

There’s a bit of a similar parallel between Wave FM & 2GO’s performance in their recent respective radio ratings.

1 Like

What makes competing against i98 so hard is they are so dominate at Breakfast, and in all ages from 10-50. Where does Wave target?

Do they go for the younger end of the market with a Hot CHR format similar to Eagle / Snow Fm or go adult contemporary similar to WS fm. Or older again with a forever classics format similar to 2ST / 2GN / 2XL. Obviously competing directly and copying i98 is not working. Wave need to do something different to what they are doing now.

3 Likes

Moving on to Townsville now: http://www.radioalive.com.au/RA/media/General/Documents/Surveys%20for%20Regional/TOWNSVILLE-XTRA-INSIGHTS-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RESULT_2.pdf?ext=.pdf

Triple M (formerly 4TO) maintains its #1 position with a 23.7% share (up 0.8%), whilst hit103.1 fell 4.3% to 17.5%. Star 106.3 rose slightly by 0.6% to 13.1%, whilst Power 100 fell 0.6% to 9.9%, not far ahead of ABC North QLD, who went up 1.3% to 9.7%.

In the demos Hit is #1 in the under-40s, Triple M wins the 40-64s & ABC tops the 65+. Power 100 is #2 in the 40-64s, likewise for Star in the 18-39s.

Bendigo will be the last market to have their Xtra Insights survey released for this year.

3 Likes

Lucky for SCA, they have Pricey for bfast. Would be simply another uninspiring Triple M franchise without the individuality of broadcasting’s older Steve Price.

Fair results in what is a tough gig for those stations. Ronnie has only begun mid this year. As long as Pricey’s there, they won’t be #1 overall, but the two ‘new’ stations should be gunning for demo wins. Will only happen if the Camerons invest in being competitive.

4 Likes

Star is now within striking distance of Hit.

Surprised 630 ABC North QLD only came fifth.

1 Like

There is nothing wrong with the music formats on both Star and Power but the stations sound cheap and sounds to pre - recorded compered to the old Sea FM and Mix 106.3 days.

I agree crankymedia, they need to invest more money into these stations.

3 Likes

The content has been wrecked, far too many topics best suited to inner city Sydney or Melbourne. It doesn’t work in regionals. Turn over of staff too with the schedule changes that began with the content change in 2018.

They also lost their local drive, it’s now multi regional. But their day is lost on the terrible direction of content 6 - 11am.

3 Likes

I just noticed that Star 104.5 has now updated its RDS text to include "Thanks for making Star 104.5 the new Number 1 station;’

4 Likes