I thought it was in 1996 they were on the FM band ,as I was up there then visiting my relations that year
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Today, for the final radio ratings survey for 2024, we’re off to the Central Coast of NSW:
Star 104.5 remain on top with 17.9%, down 0.6 from last year, followed by Triple M who went up 3.9 to 14.9% to take out 2nd place, with Hit 101.3 falling down to 3rd place with 12.8% (-2.3). Of the Sydney FM stations, KIIS went up 2.1 to 7.7%, well ahead of the others, and outrating ABC Central Coast (5%) in the process.
In the demos, Star is #1 in the 10-24s & 40-54s, with Hit taking the top spot in the 25-39s. Triple M is #1 in the 55+. Interestingly, KIIS was 3rd in the 25-39s (ahead of 107.7 Triple M), and 2nd in the 40-54s.
In breakfast, Star’s Gina & Matty took the top spot with 18.6% (-0.8), followed by Hit’s Jess & Ducko from Newcastle with 14.5% (-0.2), and Triple M’s Paddy & Maz with 13.4% (+2.1). In Drive, Star’s Meg Alexander was #1 with 18.7% (-2.2), followed by Hit’s Carrie & Tommy with 16.1% (+0.1), and Triple M’s Rush Hour with 14.9% (+3.0).
The “Other Stations” share this survey is at 26%, down 2.2 from last year.
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Looking at the demographics Star 104.5 lost listeners in the older demographics, 40-54 and 55-64. This is probably as a result of them skewing younger since they dropped the 80’s from their playlist. I wonder how much impact the axing of Rabbit at Breakfast has had??
Triple M CC looks to have gained from the changes at Star 104.5.
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The “Other Stations” in the 40-54s rose 1.0 to 19.7%, but on among the 55-64s, it went down 6.6 to 28.9%, whilst in the 65+, it went down 6.5 to 53.6%.
Triple M CC had a decent rise in the 65+, going up 7.4 to 15%, nearly doubling their share for that demo from last year. The station is also #2 during the workday (9am-4pm) behind Star.
It’s worth noting that it’s the first time since 2012 that 107.7 has been the #2 station overall.
They have completely changed format. A few years ago they avoided playing tracks and artists that were too close to urban / hip-hop - or if they did, you’d only hear them during the party shuffle on Friday or Saturday nights. Now you hear Jack Harlow, Nelly, Lil Nas X etc. all the time.
The resulting “harder edged” sound, combined with them dropping '80s music, has meant that I’ve changed over to CoastFM. Even though 96.3 is not included in the ratings, I’d imagine a lot of those older listeners have done the same.
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HUGE figure for KIIS at 7.7, really not far behind Hit101.3.
High figure for Triple M Sydney too, i suspect some people don’t really know if they are listening to Sydney or Newcastle or the local one.
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Best showing ever for 106.5.
Poorest showing for 101.3 since 2009 (and 2nd lowest ever).
Best showing for 107.7 since 2009.
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At risk of upsetting the Meg Alexander fan club here, her music based drive show is down.
Remember last year, Hayden Else had over one in five listening to Drive.
Whatever NE want to say, they should regret Hayden going elsewhere*.
Room enough for a market the size of the CC to employ both Meg and Hayden.
Agree with @Radiohead’s comment, amusing that SCA are losing out on the station formerly known as yet still referred to by many as 2GO over the MMM confusion.
More confused a branding folly than Mike Moore coming out of a yarn on Fromtline saying “Mmmmm…”
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I’d have to agree - Star104.5’s decline and Triple M Central Coast’s gain has to be due to the music shift in dropping the 80’s on Star.
I wonder if we’ll see this reversed over the coming months?
The Coast obviously just wants and older skewed good listening station.
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It’s interesting to see in the 40-64 ratings (combining the 40-54 & 55-64 ratings, and then divide it by 2) that Triple M beat Star in that combined demo for the first time since 2019, when the former was still branded 2GO.
Here are the stats from 2016 (when Xtra started surveying the Central Coast market) to now, comparing 2GO/Triple M with Star.
40-64 Ratings
| Year | 2GO/Triple M | Star 104.5 |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 18.5 | 14.8 |
| 2017 | 15.4 | 16.3 |
| 2018 | 17.4 | 18.4 |
| 2019 | 19.5 | 15.6 |
| 2021 | 17.8 | 19.2 |
| 2022 | 15.5 | 19.2 |
| 2023 | 17.0 | 19.1 |
| 2024 | 18.0 | 16.3 |
In the 25-54s, the battle between Star & Sea/Hit is more tighter, particularly since 2021, as you’ll see below.
25-54 Ratings
| Year | Star 104.5 | Sea FM/HIT |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 19.8 | 22.5 |
| 2017 | 23.0 | 20.5 |
| 2018 | 20.8 | 22.7 |
| 2019 | 24.0 | 21.2 |
| 2021 | 21.0 | 21.6 |
| 2022 | 21.4 | 18.2 |
| 2023 | 20.1 | 21.5 |
| 2024 | 19.9 | 18.8 |
Looking at the figures, it’s clear that Star skewing their music younger has helped beat Hit in the combined 25-54 demo in this year’s survey (for the record, Star went up 1.6 in the 25-39s, whilst Hit also went up 1.5 in that same demo).
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