I traveled through there on my road trip last year then not long after travelled up by plane one weekend to purchase my Mazda CX-3 after seeing it advertised on the Carsales website,.
I listened to 4MK mainly when driving through and HIT Mackay
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Today, we’re going further north-west to Darwin:
Hot 100 remain on top with 38.1% (-1.1 from 2021), followed by Mix 104.9 with 25.2% (+3.6), ABC Darwin with 10.3% (-2.2), and JJJ with 6.5% (-2.3). The DAB+ stations are also listed, with Kix Country Australia rating the highest at 0.8%, followed by Double J at 0.3%, and Triple J Unearthed at 0.2%.
In the demos, Hot 100 dominates in the under-40s, with Mix topping the 40+.
In breakfast, Hot 100’s Davo & Jax dominate with 39.6% (+0.8), followed by Mix’s Dan & Leisha with 24.1% (+3.0), and ABC Darwin’s Adam Steer with 12.3% (-1.3). In drive, Will & Woody on Hot 100 dominate with 40.1% (steady), followed by Mix 104.9’s Andrew with 22.3% (+2.3). In evenings, Hot 100 dominate with 34.2% (-4.8), followed by Mix with 19.4% (+8.8), and ABC Darwin with 10.4% (-6.0), the last of which now carries the evening program from Adelaide.
The “Other Stations” rating this survey is at 13.5%, up 0.7 from 2021.
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Best showing ever for Mix (granted, that’s only a sample of four surveys going back six years 
)
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Last year when I was in Darwin, Mix was definitely my go to station with its Jack FM format. I loved how they had me guessing what song they would play next.
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Today, we’re heading down to the south-east corner of WA:
Hit 102.3 retains its top position with 31.9% (+3.9 from 2021), followed by Triple M with 23.7% (-0.3), ABC Esperance with 13.7% (+0.7), ABC Great Southern with 7.7% (+0.7), and JJJ with 4.8% (-6.7).
Demo breakdowns are not shown in the survey.
In breakfast, Hit’s Allan & Carly dominates with 32.6% (+4.1), followed by Triple M’s Steve ‘Oz’ Ozanne with 20.4% (-2.5), and ABC Esperance’s Ivo da Silva with 15.7% (+0.6). In drive, Hit’s Carrie & Tommy dominate with 33.2% (+8.8), followed by Triple M’s Cliff For The Drive Home with 20.4% (-5.6), and Andrew Collins on ABC Esperance with 13.3% (+2.8).
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I have to say I do wonder why they bother with these surveys in remote towns with just an SCA duopoly. I mean what can they really gather from them?
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Probably just to show advertisers/potential advertisers the impact…
At least SCA do them… unlike in the solus Caralis markets.
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Today, we’re off to Toowoomba:
Hit maintains its dominant position with 25.8% (-4.6 from 2021), followed by ABC Southern QLD at 9.5% (-3.7), Triple M with 7% (+1.6), JJJ with 6.6% (Steady), and 4WK with 2.6% (-1.3). 4AK rated only 0.7% (-1.3).
In the demos, Hit is #1 in the under-55s, with ABC Southern QLD winning the 55+. Hit & Triple M tied in the 55-64s.
In breakfast, Hit’s Bronte & Lakey dominate with 26.7% (-5.0), followed by ABC Southern QLD’s David Iliffe at 11.3% (-3.8), and Triple M’s Lee Faulkner with 7% (+1.7). John Laws on 4WK rated 3.5% (-1.7) in the mornings slot. In drive, Hit’s Carrie & Tommy dominate with 31.5% (-6.1), followed by JJJ’s Tyrone & Abby at 8.4% (+0.2), and Annie Gaffney on ABC Southern QLD at 7% (-0.1).
The “Other Stations” share this survey is at 42.9%, up a whopping 9.1 from 2021. Much of the ‘Other’ share would be towards River 94.9 from Ipswich.
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Is this Australia’s most bland radio market?
Surely 4AK could do something different.
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Jesus! River 94.9 has to be close to No. 1 in Toowoomba based on those numbers surely
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No way, not bland at all. There’s actually a lot of choice that’s hidden from this survey, namely River 94.9, which complements Hit perfectly. It’s infinitely better than a Hit/Triple M duopoly.
Agree though 4AK needs to try something different
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The refreshed DDB 102.7 with better signal might have gained some viewers was well.
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102.7 and River have a big audience in Toowoomba, lets not forget the survey includes Stanthorpe where they also have Rebel and Breeze so would also be part of the Other Figure
102.7 has new TX, New TX site on Kynoch and also has a nice Orban Processor
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When choices are limited, it’s surprising to see what options are listened to.
This is the 4DDB program guide:
Their dayshift programming is patchwork scheduling.
A consistent, alternative music format 6am - 6pm would be better. River for oldies.
There’s even RPH style programming for an hour.
If you asked the audience of the SCA FM station if they’re satisfied with the networked show compared to Hamish Carter, you’d discover the real result.
The decline of 4WK’s share, I wonder if that’s due to the death of the long time breakfast host or the TX site move and a reduction of field strength of 95.5?
It’s a great result for River and other unlisted stations.
In Stanthorpe, Rebel, Breeze and 2TEN’s local translator would be a welcome change to what locals refer to as ‘the Toowoomba stations’.
Dalby also has Hot Country on AM.
Warwick is a rapidly growing town with no commercial stations locally based since 4WK was moved to Toowoomba decades ago. There’s a lot of untapped opportunity in Warwick. The community station has similar patchwork programming.
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Staying in QLD, we’re going to the Sunshine Coast:
91.1 Hot FM has taken the top spot for the first time, thanks to a 5.9 rating increase (from last year) to 18.5%. This saw long-time ratings leader, Mix FM, fall to 2nd place with 14.8% (-1.4), which was followed by Sea FM with 12.4% (-0.6), JJJ with 10.7% (-1.4), and ABC Sunshine Coast with 6.7% (+0.6).
In the demos, Hot FM tops the 10-24s, and 40-54s, the latter which was traditionally won by Mix. Sea topped the 25-39s, whilst Mix still won the 55+.
In breakfast, Hot FM’s Sam & Ash took out the top spot with 19.8% (+7.0), followed by Mix’s Mark & Caroline with 14.8% (-1.5), and Sea’s Foz & Brooke with 12.2% (-3.1). In drive, Hot’s Nugget & Al dominate with 20.9% (+7.0), followed by Mix’s Todd & Sami with 14.2% (-2.9), Sea’s Elly & Taz with 13.3% (-0.1), and JJJ’s Tyrone & Abby with 13.2% (-1.1).
The “Other Stations” share this survey is at 28.7%, down 1.7 from last year.
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Largest share ever and first #1 for Hot… and smallest share ever for Mix. (eight surveys going back to 2005.)
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ARN have done well winning both the Gold and Sunshine Coast, when I have up there recently Hot sounded the best of the Sunshine Coast stations, and also had the best signal into Brisbane. Sea fm sounded a bit all over the place, on Sunday afternoon they went from their normal playlist to an urban hop hip / RNB countdown. Just imagine if ARN actually choose the music for the Gold and Sunshine Coast stations instead of having each on the ARN Hot AC regional playlist.
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In markets where they have local commercial FM competition, along with the Gold & Sunshine Coasts, ARN have so far this year have also been #1 in Hobart (7HO), Ipswich (River, against the Brisbane stations), and Mackay (Star).
It will be interesting to see if Wave FM in Wollongong, at the very least, closes in on i98 in the ratings when the figures come out on 15th October. Townsville & Cairns are other markets of interest for ARN, where they compete with SCA, particularly in the former where they have been changes to breakfast on both Hit (which now comes out of the Gold Coast) & Triple M.
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No Wave fm won’t come close to i98 in Wollongong. The heritage breakfast show on i98 is way to dominate, and also if you don’t like the playlists on Wave and Power fm you are going to go to i98. This was proven in the last Wollongong survey after both stations adopted the same music log. both Wave and Power fm lost listeners and i98 went up.
ARN’s best chance to improve the ratings for Wave and Power fm would be to get both stations onto separate logs. Wave Fm can stay on their current log, but Power fm should skew slightly younger and adopt a playlist similar to Eagle / Snow fm. This would also reduce the crossover with their sister station 2ST too.
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That’s a wake up call for Mix/Sea.
Mix needs to drop so much new music and back to 70’s/80’s/90’s.
I used to be a religious 92.7 listener but now I find the music has been quite average for a few years now.
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