The release of Nielsen’s third radio survey for 2011 has shown that while ABC’s breakfast presenter Eoin Cameron resonates best with Perth’s breakfast listeners, Austereo’s Mix 94.5 was the clear winner with the biggest audience share overall.
Breakfast with Eoin Cameron on ABC 720 beat Mix 94.5’s Fred Botica and the Bunch for the most-listened-to breakfast show, with 16.2 per cent of audience share compared to Mix’s 14.7 per cent share.
The Nova breakfast show with Lisa, Baz and Sam managed to secure third spot with 10.9 per cent of listeners, despite its share dropping 0.5 per cent since the last survey. The poor performers in breakfast radio were 96fm’s breakfast show with Ugly Phil and the Big Breakfast on 6IX with former Young Talent Time host, Johnny Young.
With half the overall ratings of Mix 94.5, 96fm’s lack of listeners could be attributed to the spate of sackings at the station over the past few months by program director Brad ‘The Ninja’ McNally.
After 38 years in the industry, breakfast presenter Gary Shannon was the first to go in November for reasons that have not been explained.
The sacking of announcer Steve Fitton followed in April after he made a series of Facebook rants against Mr McNally.
Fitton’s replacement, Gavin Miller, was also dismissed at the start of this month after he ‘tweeted’ derogatory comments against Jim Wallace, the managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby.
Meanwhile, Mix 94.5 won the overall ratings battle with a 15.4 per cent share of the audience, beating out Austereo’s other Perth station, 92.9, and ABC 720, both with an 11.6 per cent share of the audience.
Mix 94.5 has been unbeatable for more than a decade, sitting pretty at the top of the pile for the 92nd consecutive survey, making it the most successful radio station in Australian broadcast history.
ABC’s Triple J proved most popular with listeners in the 18 to 39 demographic, but for listeners aged 55 and over, ABC 720 was their choice.
