Regional Radio Ratings

Radio, Print, and Online Regional Radio Ratings
1368

Today, we’re off to Maryborough in QLD: https://www.commercialradio.com.au/RA/media/General/Documents/Surveys%20for%20Regional/MARYBOROUGH-XTRA-INSIGHTS-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RELEASE.pdf?ext=.pdf

Hit 101.9 remains at #1 with 29.4% (-1.7 from 2021), followed by Triple M with 21.8% (+1.1), ABC Wide Bay with 12.2% (-1.9) & JJJ with 6.4% (+1.3).

In the demos, Hit is #1 in the under-55s, with Triple M dominating in the 55-64s and ABC Wide Bay leading in the 65+.
In breakfast, Hit’s Cliffo & Bronte is #1 with 32% (+0.3), followed by Triple M’s Blandy with 22.3% (+0.4) and ABC’s David Dowsett with 12.9% (-2.3).

The “Other Stations” ratings is at 25.8%, up from 23.6% in 2021. Most of the ‘Other’ figure would be towards Rebel & Breeze Wide Bay, as well as Zinc from Gympie.

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1369

Not surprised the “other” figure is creeping up most likely due to Breeze.

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1370

That would be about right.

From my calculations, the “Other Stations” figure is quite high in the 55-64s & 65+. In the 55-64s, it’s at 34% (+3.8 from 2021), just below Triple M’s 35.3%, whilst in the 65+, it’s at 41.7% (+11.0), well above that of ABC Wide Bay’s 29.4% and Triple M’s 14.2%.

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1371

A bit surprised that Hit is #1 over Triple M or ABC Local Radio given the Hervey Bay region has some sort of reputation for being “God’s Waiting Room”.

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1372

Yes not a lot of other choice. There is one community station which is fairly ordinary and a couple of narrowcasters including Kix Country.

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1373

Like the Gold Coast it’s not quite as true as it once was.

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1374

In parts of Harvey Bay, Breeze and Rebel boom in like local. Last year we went to a French restaurant there and they had the Breeze playing.

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1375

Yeah it’s very good across most of the Bay and Maryborough. They both always pop up when I scan my car radio there. Wide Bay residents are very fortunate to have Rebel and Breeze.

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1376

SCA do really well when there are no other commercial competitors. They perform well in markets where they have a commercial FM monopoly.

You’d think they could use this success to launch 2DayFM and MMM back to the top of the ratings.

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1377

2day has some unique challenges in Sydney but I find it dissappointing they can’t get Triple M to do better in metro markets.

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1378

Two surveys out today, both of them their very first surveys ever.

Wangaratta: https://www.commercialradio.com.au/RA/media/General/Documents/Surveys%20for%20Regional/WANGARATTA-XTRA-INSIGHTS-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RELEASE.pdf?ext=.pdf

Deniliquin: https://www.commercialradio.com.au/RA/media/General/Documents/Surveys%20for%20Regional/DENILIQUIN-XTRA-INSIGHTS-PUBLIC-SURVEY-RELEASE.pdf?ext=.pdf

First to Wangaratta, and Edge FM is #1 with 21.9%, followed by ABC Goulburn Murray with 9.9%, 3NE with 9.1% & JJJ with 7.7%.

In the demos, Edge is #1 in the under-65s, whilst 3NE tops the 65+. In breakfast, The Morning Crew with Gabi & Dan on Edge dominates with 22.7%, followed by ABC Goulburn Murray’s Sandra Moon with 12.3% and Kylie & Matt on 3NE with 7.8%, who tied with JJJ’s Bryce & Concetta. JJJ outrates 3NE in most other timeslots except mornings.

The “Other Stations” ratings is at 45%, most of which would be towards Hit & Triple M from either Albury or Shepparton.

Over to Deniliquin, and Edge is #1 with 12.8%, followed closely by sister station 2QN with 12%. JJJ rated 6.9%, followed by ABC Riverina with 3.4%.

In the demos, Edge is #1 in the under-55s, with 2QN topping the 55+. In breakfast, The Morning Crew with Gabi & Dan on Edge is #1 with 14.2%, followed closely by The Morning Rush with Sean, Monkey & Niamh on 2QN with 13.1%. 2QN is #1 in mornings & weekends.

The “Other Stations” ratings is at 62%, most of which would be towards Hit & Triple M from either Shepparton or Bendigo, as well as Gold Central Victoria on 1071AM.

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1379

I really do question the accuracy of these surveys. There is really no way “other”'can be 62% in a place like Deniliquin which has no community radio and very minimal overspill from Bendigo or Shepparton.

If Hit or Triple M were making up the bulk of the 62% they would go close to outrating 2QN or Edge outright. Also when you consider Hit and Triple M don’t rate all that well in regional areas that have decent local competition.

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1380

I’ve should’ve mentioned in my earlier post that the Deniliquin radio licence area also covers Echuca, which has its own community radio station, EMFM, and also falls within both the Bendigo & Shepparton commercial radio licence areas.

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1381

Interesting 2QN does so well compared to its FM counterpart in Deni, but 3NE is quite far behind its in Wang. Perhaps the product there differentiates itself better? Or is Edge just more popular in Wang than Deni?

And yes, if the Deni market includes Echuca, then you have to acknowledge that both Bendigo and Shep stations are like locals there and would no doubt command a lion’s share of the audience. 62% listening to other stations would have to be near a record for one of these surveys right? Maybe Geelong just beats it?

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1382

Deni’s “Other Stations” share is higher than Geelong’s, in which it was 56.4% in last year’s survey in the case of the latter (after Xtra modified the survey area to remove the Werribee area, which greatly overlaps with the Melbourne commercial radio licence area).

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1383

Ace isn’t decent local competition.

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1384

The sample sizes here clearly are tiny - 3NE supposedly has only 1,300 listeners under-55, which I find hard to believe even on AM - but the demo figures show that SCA absolute owns this market.

Edge being a poor man’s Hit, and 3NE’s Albury-centric breakfast show is hardly helping them here.

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1385

At least it’s local, which Hit and Triple M aren’t.

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1386

That result does not surprise me at all. Edge FM was never popular in Deni. I was there back in February and Edge Fm had a very tight playlist and never played anything older then 2010 and on the other hand, I noticed 2QN had got a lot better music wise.
Hit and Triple M from Shep seems to boom in like a local.

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1387

The “Albury-centric” breakfast show frequently has Wangaratta content. I hear their Mayor a lot. The breakfast announcers often do content from Wangaratta.

The alternative to an “Albury-centric” show is a network show from Western Victoria.

Realisticlly, 3NE would never be able to support a local breakfast show, so I think Ace should be commended for breaking away from the Morning Rush networked show and doing something somewhat local.

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