I agree. Have we ever had any ratings surveys for a regional radio market with only SRN/BOG commercial stations?
I wonder to what extent 2CSâs ratings are being affected by 2MC.
One reason why STAR may be rating higher is because the ratings probably donât differentiate between people listening to 105.1 STAR Mid North Coast (2MCâs sister station) and 105.5 STAR Coffs (2CSâs sister station), despite the fact the only differences are ads and local breakfast presenters.
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This is an interesting point as the Northern Transmitters for 2MC & Star are just south of Nambucca Heads. I stayed there in the holidays and the 2CS FM signal on 106.3 was being smashed by 2MC on 106.7. Nambucca Head is only 40kM south of Coffs Harbour but the Port Maquarie stations were on everywhereâŚ
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Nambucca isnât in the Coffs licence area IIRC so makes sense that 2MC is the âlocalâ station there
Ratings have just been released for the Albany, WA market: http://www.radioitsalovething.com.au/RIALT/media/RIALT/Images/ALBANY-XTRA-RESEARCH-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RESULT-WITH-CUME.pdf
ABC Great Southern is #1 10+ with a 27.1 share, and is #1 40-54, 55-64 and 65+. They lead all dayparts, with the exception of drive, which falls to HOT FM and Hamish & Andy. HOT is #2 10+ with a 20.6 share, and is #1 10-17, 18-39 and 25-39. triple j takes out #3 with a 14.1 share, with RadioWest settling in at #4 with a 7.3 share.
All stations 10+ add up to 80.4 overall; thatâs 19.6% to other stations. Presumably, a large proportion of this share would go to Gold MX, which sits just in the AM narrowband at 1611 AM. Interesting too to see RN sit #2 in nights on 12.1, out rating both HOT and RadioWest, sitting tie with an 8.4 share.
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Ouch for RadioWest Albany! 
Considering that they have the âGreatest Hitsâ format running on the AM band, I think that RadioWest, at least in markets outside Bunbury (the only regional market in WA where thereâs commercial competition between the two AM stations), should flip over to the âClassic Hitsâ log. However, given that all of its daytime programming outside of breakfast comes out of Bunbury, that would be a bit impossible to do.
As for the âOther Stationsâ figure of 19.6%, along with Gold MX, plenty of them would also be listening to the local community station 4ufm on 100.9.
The Radio Today article about the Albany ratings mentioned that other WA regional markets to have their ratings this year are Kalgoorlie, which will release theirs next week, whilst Bunbury is planned for the 2nd half of this year. I think the latter would be interesting to see, as the two commercial AM stations, RadioWest & Spirit Radio, battle it out for the adult demographics.
Thanks for that!
Iâm surprised that Radio West does so poorly⌠Wonder if itâs a reflection of the eastern states programming?
A reasonable amount of Radio Westâs programming originates from Bunbury, so I wouldnât have thought it would be an eastern states programming problem⌠however it could still be because Bunbury isnât exactly local to Albany. From what I heard when I was over West in January, both the SCA stations do tend to have a bit of a Bunbury focus. ABC Local probably has more relevant local programming and benefits as a result.
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How many in areas such as Albany have abandoned radio altogether? Would someone not ticking a box contribute to âother stationsâ or not?
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I donât believe so.
Market share is purely a percentage of all people listening to radio at that point in time. Youâd need to look at the cume and average audience figures to get a feel of how many people in a license area arenât even listening to radio.
Ah! Gotcha! Thanks for that explanation 
i98 has won all but 2 surveys since first taking the market lead in 1995. It fell to Wave in 2002/2 (20.6 to 21.6) and 2003/1 (19.9 to 22.0 - that was i98âs only dip below the 20 share mark in the past decade and a half.)
Today, itâs Kalgoorlieâs turn: http://www.radioitsalovething.com.au/RIALT/media/RIALT/Images/KALGOORLIE-XTRA-RESEARCH-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RESULT-WITH-CUME.pdf
Hot FM is the #1 station with a 33.1% share, followed by RadioWest in 2nd place with 26%, which is a much better result than in Albany. Coming in a rather distant 3rd place is ABC Goldfields with 14.4%, followed closely by JJJ with 12.7%.
In the demographics, Hot FM won the under-40s, whilst RadioWest won the 40-54s & ABC Goldfields won the over-55s.
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But it is considered to have more community of interest with Coffs than Port in the Nambucca/Bellingen valleys.
Mackay has their radio ratings released today: http://www.radioitsalovething.com.au/RIALT/media/RIALT/Images/MACKAY-XTRA-RESEARCH-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RESULT-WITH-CUME.pdf
Hot FM is the #1 station with 26.2%, followed by Sea FM with 18.9% & ABC Tropical QLD with 17.7%. Star 101.9, which recently rebranded from Zinc, had a 12% share, followed by JJJ at 8% & 4MK at 5.9%.
In the demographics, Hot won the under-40s, whilst Sea won the 40-54s (with Star at 2nd place) & ABC Tropical QLD won the over-55s.
Shocker for 4MK. Are they still a talkback station with some classic hits?
Maybe they should try easy listening/soft AC - itâs working in metro areas with Smooth FM, and itâs not catered for by Hot/Sea/Star. Also continues to make you wonder about the waste of FM spectrum that is ABC Classic FM.
According to their website, theyâre now positioning themselves as a âClassic Hitsâ station & doesnât take any networked talk programming from 2GB. Itâs the same for 4CA in Cairns.
Ah interesting. I think thatâs only a fairly recent change. Same as the change to Star from Zinc is recent.
Shepparton has released theirs today: http://radioitsalovething.com.au/RIALT/media/RIALT/Images/SHEPPARTON-XTRA-RESEARCH-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RESULT-WITH-CUME.pdf
Star FM is #1 with 30.2%, followed by 3SR with 20.2% & ABC Shepparton with 15.5%.
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These regional numbers continue to show what a waste of airspace ABC News Radio is - in this region a cumulative audience (different people who listen to the station 8 minutes during any time period) of ZERO people between the ages of 10 and 55.
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