Back in April, Tone Deaf reported on the results of the latest radio ratings survey, which showed strong numbers once again for Australia’s ad-free national youth broadcaster. We’re talking, of course, about triple j.
Then, in August, the station outdid itself. For the first time ever, triple j came out on top for 25-39-year-olds in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, i.e. the key demographic in every major Australian radio market.
The 25-39-year-old demographic is most prized among advertisers, as these are usually post-tertiary, working consumers who are socially active, often first home buyers, and are therefore worth the most money to advertisers.
Ironically, however, triple j is a government-run and commercial-free network, which means advertisers are not able to target their campaigns with the station has the ears of the demographic they most need.
However, the J’s ratings dominance seems to be slipping. As Noise11 reports, the latest ratings audit shows triple j has lost market share consistently across Australia in both the 18-24 and 25-29-year-old demographics.
Whilst still showing strong numbers in Perth and Adelaide’s 25-39 age group, triple j’s stature in the rest of the major cities is down considerably from its previous domination of the 18-29 demographic, dropping from number one in several markets.
However, as Noise11 notes, despite the significant drops, the government-owned national youth broadcaster still fared better than the disastrous though once dominant Austereo Network, which owns brands like 2DAYFM.
Despite dominating Sydney’s listening habits in the ’90s and early 2000s, the station has never quite recovered from the bad publicity in the wake of their malicious prank on a UK nurse that led to her suicide.
Austereo maintained healthy figures in Melbourne, but not even the high-profile and reportedly expensive return of popular drive-time hosts Hamish & Andy could save the network from a dismal ratings performance.
Radio Ratings Survey 7 Results
