Brisbane radio ratings: Nova loses its overall lead as Kate, Tim & Joel drop in drive

Nova 106.9 has lost its lead in Brisbane after experiencing a 0.8 point drop in its overall share, falling to third in the market on a 10.6% share. B105 surged to the front of the market after a 0.9 point gain took the Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) network to an 11.1% share.

B105 was last at the top of thepack in survey two of 2020, holding equal footing to ARN’s 97.3FM. Following ahiatus period in the ratings due to COVID-19, Novasurged to the top with a 1.1 gain and had held the lead ever since.

Nova’s slip in the current survey – which ran from 7 February to 3 April – reflects drive juggernaut Kate Ritchie, Tim Blackwell and Joel Creaseylosing another 1.5 points on top of the 1.1 points they dropped in survey one. The trio now hold a 13.3% share and are still the market leaders in the slot, followed by B105’s Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little on 11% – after a gain of 0.8 points.

B105 wasrebranded back to its heritage name in July 2020, after several years carrying the Hit brand.

In breakfast, ARN’s 4KQ has pulled ahead in the closely-fought battle, gaining 1.2 ratings points to lead the market on a 12% share.

Survey one saw just 1.4 ratings points separating the then-market leader Nova and 97.3FM in the sixth slot, but survey two has seen 4KQ’s team of Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine break away and 97.3FM’s Robin Bailey, Terry Hansen and Bob Gallagher lose 0.3 ratings points to fall back to a 9.7 share, widening the margin.

Nova’s Ash, Kip and Luttsy with Susie O’Neill also continued to lose share, declining by 0.2 points after dropping 1.6 in survey one. The previous market leaders fell to third in the breakfast slot, coming in behind SCA’s B105 which gained a point for an 11.3% share.

4KQ’s performance in breakfast and its 0.7 point gain in drive granted the network a 2 point bump in its overall share, just trailing B105 on an 11% share.

On the AM bandwidth, Nine Radio’s 4BC lost 0.7 points in total share, the same amount that breakfast host Neil Breen lost in the slot. Breen took over from the syndicated Alan Jones program at the start of June, following the latter’sretirement from radio for health reasons. Breen lost 1.2 points in survey one, and now holds a 7.2% share.

Meanwhile, ABC Brisbane has maintained its position in the hotly-contested breakfast seat, leading Triple M by 0.2 points depsite 0.6 point drop to s 10.4% share.