Hit remain on top with 19.5% (-3.1 from last year), followed by Triple M with 18% (-1.3), Star 106.3 with 15.4% (+1.1), Power 100 with 15.1% (+0.9), and ABC North Queensland with 5% (+1.2).
In the demos, Hit is #1 in the under-40s, with Triple M topping the 40-64s, and ABC North Queensland #1 in the 65+.
In breakfast, Hit’s Jess & Rohan won the slot with 21.1% (-2.7 from when it was Bronte & Lakey), followed by Triple M’s CK & Kate with 18% (-1.3), Power 100’s Wildy with 16.5% (+2.7), and Star’s Adam & Donny with 15.3% (+1.4). In drive, Hit’s Carrie & Tommy dominate with 22.8% (-0.4), followed by Will & Woody on Star 17% (+2.5), Triple M’s Rush Hour with 16.7% (-1.8), and Jonesy & Amanda on Power 100 with 13.5% (-2.0).
The “Other Stations” share this survey is at 18.1%, down 0.7 from last year.
Yes it’s definitely getting to be a tighter race in Townsville. I’m pleased to see Power continuing to hold its own with the rock format. Townsville is very fortunate to have 4x commercial FM stations.
Me too. I’ve always had a soft spot for Power and Star. I would have these two station any day over Hit and Triple M.
I love listening to Wildy, KB (Karina) and Nathan. They all love their rock music and everything Townsville. The only thing is, I wish they would get rid of Jonesy & Amanda and The Christian O Connell shows and replace them with a rock music shows.
From my perspective as a listener, Star’s playlist used to have quite a unique sound. It had a mix of '80s to now, of course, but it was also quite upbeat and pop focused, and largely avoided particular genres like rap and hip-hop.
When they were currents, Star used to rarely (if ever) play songs like “First Class” by Jack Harlow and “Good 4 U” by Olivia Rodrigo, sticking instead to softer tracks like “Drivers License” to maintain an AC sound. Then, around the time they dropped the ‘80s from the playlist, they changed to more of a CHR format, putting tracks like Harlow’s "Lovin’ On Me" into high rotation.
They also used to play some deeper cuts or lesser known tracks from the '80s and '90s, with segments like the “Time Tunnel” at 6pm on weekdays, where a particular year would be highlighted. I also remember hearing rare songs like “Can’t Wait To See You” by Eurogliders during regular rotations. All of that vanished around 2023/24, when they tightened the playlist.
My view is that when they did the major shakeup of their playlist several years ago, Star began to sound like any other KIIS/Hit type station and lost their point of difference.
i98 maintained its top position with 26.5% (+0.9 from last year), with Wave FM closing in with 24% (+2.5). ABC Illawarra went up 0.5 to 10.6%, whilst JJJ went up 0.7 to 6.6%. Of the Sydney stations, Smooth went up 2.0 to 4.4%, whilst KIIS fell 2.8 to jus 0.7%, behind 2Day.
In the demos, i98 is #1 in the under-40s & 55-64s, Wave tops the 40-54s, and ABC Illawarra dominates in the 65+.
In breakfast, i98’s Christian & Bella won the slot with 28% (+3.4), followed by Wave’s Lyndal & Crammy with 25.8% (+2.9). In drive, i98’s Maje won with 26.5% (-0.8), with Wave’s Mick closing in with 24.5% (+3.2).
Very strange that 96.1 always get included in the Wollongong survey, but never the Sydney survey, technically because they’re a Blue Mountains / Penrith station.
And also because 96.1 reception in Wollongong isn’t very good (in my experience anyway). The escarpment blocks pretty much everything from western Sydney on FM.
It’s the narrowest gap since 2009 (i98: 21.1, Wave: 19.2)
Wave’s 24.0 is also its largest share since a 24.5 in S2/2004.
The remainder 12.4 shares not listed is the largest total in the market’s history.
It’s interesting that Wave/i98 are rating a combined 50.5% now vs 40.3% in 2009, but the “Other” share is also the largest… presumably at the detriment of the ABC and Sydney stations…
Just like on the Central Coast where Smooth is also the top rating Sydney station, but its share is lower than that of Wollongong (2.5 vs 4.4), most likely due to the presence of Coast FM & Easy FM. Also, the combined audience share of the Sydney commercial FM stations in Wollongong is 9.7%, whereas on the Central Coast, it’s 8.8%.
Interesting to note, Wave FM has a higher cume than i98, both overall (120.4k vs 120k), and in the 25-54s (57.9k vs 56.6k)!
ABC Classic having 0.0 in consecutive surveys for 55-64 seems weird. And 0.0 for Newsradio for same age group. I would have thought that would be the primary age group for those stations.
