Sydney talkback radio station 2GB has been beaten by Lachlan Murdochās Smooth FM for the second radio ratings survey in a row since coming under new ownership.
The station dropped 0.1 percentage points to an 11.7 per cent share in the fourth radio ratings survey of the year, with the music-focused Smooth rising again, this time to a 13.4 per cent share.
2GB was recently sold by Nine Entertainment (the publisher of this masthead) to the publican Laundy family, alongside stablemates 3AW, 4BC and 6PR, now operating under the new name Tapt Media.
Breakfast host Ben Fordhamās show continued to lead the market with a 14.8 per cent share, despite dropping 0.8 percentage points.
KIIS FM continues to decline in Sydney after the end of The Kyle and Jackie O Show. The station fell a further 0.8 percentage points to a 6.6 per cent share. The breakfast show, hosted by a series of interim personalities, also fell a further 1.1 per cent to a 7.1 per cent share.
Kyle Sandilands settled his legal action against the network, where he had alleged his contract was improperly torn up, for $12 million in cash and $1.5 million in free ads for his new venture. He is planning a docuseries about his termination and its aftermath. Jackie āOā Henderson is still suing ARN, which owns KIIS and Gold, claiming her $100 million-odd contract was ripped up after she raised workplace concerns about her co-hostās behaviour. ARN has denied any wrongdoing and said Henderson refused to fulfil her own contract.
The beneficiaries of KIISā decline have been Smooth. ABC Radio Sydneyās Craig Reucassel also recorded a rise of 0.4 percentage points to 7.1 per cent of the audience for his show.
Gold star Christian OāConnell, whose Melbourne show recently began airing in Sydney as well, performed well last survey as he gained former Kyle and Jackie O listeners. But in the results released on Tuesday morning, his program experienced a setback, falling from 7.2 per cent to 6.6 per cent.
KIIS has dominated Sydneyās radio market since the arrival of Sandilands and Henderson from Southern Cross Austereoās 2DayFM in 2014. Now, without its ratings silver bullet, it finds itself chasing a crowded pack of commercial radio networks, trailing Nova, Gold and Smooth. It remains ahead of 2DayFM, however.
After a sustained run of poor ratings, ABC Radio Sydney rose to 5.3 per cent, up 0.7 percentage points. It remains well below its historical benchmark of listeners.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.From our partners
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