ABC Melbourne suffers in final radio survey as city braces for Kyle and Jackie O

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ABC Melbourne has forfeited a recent recovery, dropping 1.4 points to a 6.6 per cent share of Melbourne’s radio market in the eighth and final GfK survey for 2023, while 3AW* once again finished the year on top.

After a strong survey seven, which saw ABC Radio Melbourne breakfast host Sammy J jump to a 10.1 per cent share, his show experienced a similar drop with almost two percentage points wiped off, falling back to an 8.2 per cent share.

With its line-up locked in for 2024, audiences turned away from 774, new drive host Ali Moore falling from a 7.3 to 5.6 per cent share, while Raf Epstein surrendered a strong first performance by dropping back to 7.9 per cent in the mornings slot.

ABC Radio’s Raf Epstein moved from Drive to Mornings as part of the Melbourne shake-up announced in September.

While 3AW posted a 13.6 per cent share, second place in the market was shared by Fox and Gold, both posting 10.3 per cent, the latter finishing on a low, dropping 2.1 points after a strong year.

In the key breakfast slot, after signing a new long-term contract in November, Gold’s The Christian O’Connell Show suffered the largest setback, dropping 2.5 per cent to a 9 per cent share, some distance off the top FM competitors. Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick, finished the year on a high note of 10.6 per cent, despite a minor drop.

Also signing a new long-term deal was KIIS Sydney’s Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, who will offer a significant shake-up when they arrive in Melbourne in the new year. As a result, there was no room left for the station’s Melbourne breakfast hosts Jason Hawkins and Lauren Phillips, who left with some momentum, finishing up 1.1 points with a 9.1 per cent share, edging out O’Connell for third overall at breakfast.

Top of the breakfast pile once again was 3AW’s Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft with a 7.5 percentage point lead over its nearest rival (Fox) with a dominant 18.1 per cent share. On the same station, Neil Mitchell signed off with a 16.3 per cent share, topping the mornings slot as he hung up his headphones for the final time as a talkback host.

Elsewhere on the ABC network, Triple J offered a strong farewell to Richard Kingsmill, growing its share by 0.4 points to a 4.1 per cent share, while NewsRadio (up 0.4 to 1.8) and ABC Classic (up 0.7 to 2.1) also showed green shoots. Radio National held steady, moving from 2.1 to a 2 per cent share as the ratings period came to a close. RN breakfast host Patricia Karvelas offered a positive finish to the year, up 0.9 points to a 3.3 per cent share.

Gold’s Dave ‘Higgo’ Higgins fell off the pace at drive, dropping 1.6 points to 9.7 while Fox’s national Carrie & Tommy topped the lot with a 11.4 share, despite a minor dip.

The categorisations for time slots by the ratings agency do not always perfectly align with show times.

*3AW is owned by Nine, which also owns this masthead.

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