• Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O win FM breakfast in Sydney for the 39th consecutive survey with share and audience gains
• Matt Tilley and Jo Stanley gain their 38th consecutive survey win on Fox FM in Melbourne
• After two years on air, The Hot Breakfast in Melbourne with Eddie McGuire, Mick Molloy and Luke Darcy increase share to an impressive 8.2 and gain 60,000 new listeners to come in #2 FM in Breakfast for Triple M Melbourne
• Fifi and Jules plus Hamish and Andy are clear winners in FM drive securing #1 spot again in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth with more than 1.6 million listeners
• Radio legend but Triple M newcomer, Jon Blake for Triple M’s the Hot Breakfast in Adelaide delivers a great result with an increased share 0.9
• Triple M Brisbane grows in share moving up to 9.8 share overall

Finally;

• Mix 94.5 makes radio history wining its 100 consecutive survey wins in Perth – more than 12 years at the top.

SCA’s Today Network proves it is the country’s #1 FM network with big names leading the way Australia wide. Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O in Sydney with their consistently successful and well loved breakfast show deliver share gain, new listeners and are the #1 FM breakfast show giving them 39 consecutive FM share wins. Matt Tilley and Jo Stanley demonstrate why they have won 38 consecutive surveys with their show and Fox FM overall winning FM radio for the 49th time in Melbourne.

B105 and 92.9 in Perth with their new breakfast shows continue to hold steady and create great radio in their respective cities of Brisbane and Perth.

Triple M is back led by Triple M Melbourne gaining its highest share result in five years with 7.7 share points and 8.2 in breakfast with Eddie McGuire, Mick Molloy and Luke Darcy. Triple M Sydney holds in a tough market and both Triple M Brisbane and Adelaide recording share increases all round. Breakfast show The Grill Team in Brisbane grew 0.8 share and Jon Blake in Adelaide leads the charge for The Hot Breakfast with nearly a full share point gain jumping from 8.5 to 9.4.

Perth wins radio record! Finally, Perth’s Mix 94.5 breaks an all time radio record landing 100 consecutive surveys at the top. Mix 94.5 has consistently delivered locally relevant radio and proudly stands as the most successful Australian radio station ever! Congratulations 94.5 FM.

Director of Metro Radio, Southern Cross Austereo’s Guy Dobson said; “We are thrilled with this result proving our investment in great talent continues to show the way for SCA radio network with the wonderful team delivering great rating results across the board”.

Gold FM is the number one overall station in the market place (10+, share) on 16.6 ratings points, a strong increase of 1.8 points from last survey, and the largest increase for a local station in the survey.

Gold FM is also number one in the competitive breakfast market, leading on 16.7 points and regaining the leading position. Gold FM leads the market across the day in both mornings and afternoon dayparts.

Gold FM dominates outright the 40+ market, on 22.9 points in the 40 to 54 year demographic, and a massive 27.6 points in the 55 to 64 demographic, an increase of 11.1 in the latter.

Sea FM is the Gold Coast’s # 2 station on 15 rating points. Sea FM breakfast’s show is also in # 2 position, on 15.3 points and the station clearly leads drive (16.8 points).

Sea FM dominates the under 40 listening audience, commanding 31.3 ratings points in the 18 to 24 demographic (some 6 points clear) and 20.7 points in the 25 to 39 demographic.

Head of Content at Southern Cross Austereo, Craig Bruce said, “We couldn’t be any happier with the performance from both breakfast shows. We are excited about how strongly our brands are set up, especially Fifi and Jules taking number one spot in Drive, and the encouraging signs for Merrick and the Highway Patrol during their first Gold FM survey on the Gold Coast.”

General Manager of the Gold Coast Media Centre, Paul Bartlett said, “It’s an exciting day for the Gold Coast Media Centre to reclaim number one and number two market position, and it is a great testament to my dedicated team. A lot of hard work has gone into this result. I’m glad the listeners of the Gold Coast have appreciated this and voted with their ears.”

The exclusive event was held at Trackdown Studios in the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park in Sydney mid afternoon, having to be moved from the 2Day FM World Famous Rooftop to what was kept a secret location due to the phenomenon that is One Direction.  Attendees were taken to the event via buses from a meeting point in central Sydney.

The crowd went wild as the five boys performed four songs including hits What Makes You Beautiful, One Thing, More Than This and Up All Night.  Today Network flew winners in from around the country for the once in a lifetime opportunity and many were given the chance to meet their teen crushes.

One Direction gained notoriety in 2010 after appearing on the X-Factor UK. Their global smash debut album, Up All Night, entered the charts at #1 in 14 countries and has been certified triple platinum in Ireland, double platinum in the UK & Australia, and platinum in New Zealand.

One Direction made history as their debut album Up All Night entered the US Billboard 200 chart at #1 with over 176,000 copies sold making them the first British group ever to debut at #1 in the US with their debut album release. Their debut single “What Makes You Beautiful” has recently been certified GOLD for sales in excess of 500,000. 

One Direction are Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. All of the group hail from the U.K., save for Horan, who is from Ireland. All five of the boys (ages 18-20) auditioned for the UK X Factor in 2010 as solo artists. However, at the suggestion of Simon Cowell they joined forces as a group, quickly becoming one of the competitions most popular acts of all time, finishing in the final three and garnering a gigantic fan-base along the way.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ONE DIRECTION PERFORMING

• The Kyle and Jackie O Show delivers 65,000 new listeners for 2Day FM in Sydney
• 2Day FM and Triple M Sydney #1 and #2 in key 25 – 39 year old buying demographic
• Fox FM Melbourne is #1 FM again, The Matt & Jo Show for breakfast wins #1 FM for 37th consecutive survey
• Triple M Melbourne wins #1 radio station for all people 25-54
• B105 delivers share increases for 10+ and in breakfast
• Triple M Adelaide’s Jon Blake leads the charge taking the Hot Breakfast up in share 0.9
• Fifi and Jules continues to dominate the FM Drive slot for the Today Network winning #1 in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Kyle and Jackie O prove they are Sydney’s most successful FM radio show with 65,000 new listeners tuning into breakfast and hold onto their long standing position as the #1 FM choice for breakfast. Southern Cross Austereo in Sydney gains the most dominant audience numbers in the 25 – 39 buying demographic with 2Day and Triple M at #1 and #2 respectively. Triple M remains consistent across the board with The Grill Team featuring Matty Johns, Mark Geyer and Gus Worland attracting 284,000 Sydney listeners.

Triple M Melbourne wins all people 25 – 54 and brings a 7.7 share in breakfast led by Eddie McGuire, Mick Molloy and Luke Darcy. Fox FM’s The Matt and Jo Show in breakfast boasts outstanding results, winning the FM race for 37 consecutive surveys. Fox FM is the #1 FM station for the 48th survey in a row.

Brisbane’s B105 rises 0.5 points to claim the title of #2 FM station overall and Triple M Brisbane is the #2 station across the workday sitting on an impressive 9.5 points. The biggest gain in Brisbane’s breakfast market comes from the newly introduced Labby, Stav and Abby on B105, with the team cementing a strong position, increasing 0.6 points to 10.3%.

Adelaide’s SAFM today reclaimed its position as the city’s most popular radio station with 278,000 listeners and impressively, breakfast with Hayley, Craig & Rabbit increased its audience to a 10.0% share and attracted 18,000 new listeners. Triple M Adelaide’s the Hot Breakfast enjoyed a rise today, up by 0.9% with the welcome arrival of Jon Blake.

Perth’s 92.9 is the #1 commercial station for 18-39s, holds the #2 FM breakfast show and #1 with Fifi and Jules in Drive. Mix 94.5 dominates yet again as the strongest radio station for an enviable 99 consecutive surveys leading the pack in the 25-54 key demographic and wins with the #1 commercial breakfast show.

Southern Cross Austereo Director of Metro Radio, Guy Dobson said, “Our business has enjoyed excellent results today with six of our metro stations enjoying overall station rises. We have strong shows and unrivalled content around the country.”

The ACMA has investigated three potential breaches of the Commercial Radio Australia Codes of Practice (Code) and found that 2Day FM has committed one breach. The investigation by the ACMA concerned comments made by Kyle Sandilands about a journalist on the morning of 22 November 2011.

2Day FM regrets the comments made by Mr Sandilands and has apologised both publicly and privately to the journalist. Mr Sandilands has also apologised and issued an open letter to the media.

2Day FM positively re-set The Kyle & Jackie O Show in 2012, implementing rigorous, comprehensive and unprecedented new systems and processes to ensure against issues of this nature in the future. Relevant management and team members have been advised that if there is to be an occurrence like this again there will be significant penalties.

The ACMA intends to impose an onerous licence condition which will prohibit 2Day FM broadcasting material that ‘offends generally-accepted standards of decency, demeans or is likely to demean women or girls, places undue emphasis on gender, uses overt sexual references in relation to a woman’s physical characteristics, and/or condones or incites violence against women.’

Southern Cross Austereo CEO Rhys Holleran said, “2Day FM’s core audience is women, predominantly young women. 2Day FM has built its significant audience over the past decade by broadcasting programs which appeal to women and their interests in a relevant and entertaining way.”

“Our difficulty with the proposed licence condition is that terms such as ‘decency’, ‘demeaning’ and ‘undue emphasis on gender’ are broad and ambiguous and mean different things to different people. The ACMA has issued no guidance on the licence condition and in light of that, we consider the condition to be unworkable.”

“The ACMA also appears to have ignored the steps which 2Day FM put in place, well before the investigation commenced. It is also relevant that, in a 10 year period in which 2Day FM has broadcast approximately 87,000 hours of programming, it has breached the Code only four times.”

“We are concerned that the ACMA’s response is disproportionate to the breach of the Code. 2Day FM considers that the ACMA has given undue weight to complaints received from people who were not listeners of the program.”

Less than 400 complaints were received in response to Mr Sandilands’ comments. Approximately 80% of these were not from listeners of the program, and each complaint was considered and fully-responded. The ACMA expressed its satisfaction with the considerable work undertaken by Southern Cross Austereo and 2Day FM.

Wendell joined Sydney’s favourite breakfast team on 2Day FM this morning in the first of this year’s weekly segments where he’ll educate Kyle & Jackie O on all things sport and deliver the biggest sporting news.

Wendell Sailor said: “How I’ve missed the Kyle & Jackie O team! I’m like their long lost son and thank god I found my way back into the studio, they’re so much fun and I can’t wait to share with them and Sydney the best of what’s happening in NRL and the broader world of sport.”

Derek Bargwanna, 2Day FM Content Director said: “No one on the team knew anything about NRL or sport in general, so I’m excited to have someone in the know joining us. Wendell has been a great friend of the show for many years and to have him officially onboard is great for both us and our listeners!”

The Kyle & Jackie O Show is truly breakfast with the stars with a great team of regular contributors and the biggest international celebrity interviews. Wendell Sailor hits the airwaves alongside 2Day FM regulars Mel B, Didier Cohen, Sophie Monk and Melissa Hoyer. Let’s not forget producers Gemma O’Neill, Kim Czosnek, Bruno Bouchet, Matt ‘Speech Impediment’ Simpson and Nick ‘Pretty’ Cervetto. Listen in each morning for the entertaining line up!
***

Tune in to The Kyle & Jackie O Show from 6-9am weekdays on 2Day FM Sydney and 6-7pm weeknights nationally on the Today Network plus catch up with the latest at www.2dayfm.com.au and www.todaynetwork.com.au

Merrick & The Highway Patrol have accelerated onto the scene with their national radio show and Triple M has partnered with MOTHER to make them feel at home with an epic event that sees rock icon Lenny perform for just 200 people as he returns to Australia for the first time in 18 years.

The intimate performance will see the Triple M rooftop transformed into the ultimate party house where Lenny will perform his new single ‘Come On Get It’ along with the classics. Thanks to Southern Cross Austereo and MOTHER, national listeners across Triple M Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, Mix 94.9 in Perth and Triple M Localworks regionally have been given the chance to score access to the exclusive event plus flights and accommodation for interstaters.

Merrick Watts said, “‘We’re wrapt that Lenny is playing at my housewarming, Triple M is the ultimate house of rock so what better way to party than with one of rocks greatest performers. As Lenny is setting fire to the stage, I will be setting fire to the sausages. We all have a role to play!”

Guy Dobson, Head of Metro Radio for Southern Cross Austereo said, “Another incredible example of a first in entertainment media solution. From Lady Gaga to the Foo Fighters, and now Lenny Kravitz plus One Direction, we continue to deliver integrated opportunities and execute our vision for clients and content. Merrick is now part of the Triple M family, what better way to welcome him to Australia’s most heritage laden rock station.”

Steven Ruhl, Mother Marketing Manager said, “’Together, MOTHER and Southern Cross Austereo have formed an awesome partnership to welcome Merrick to Triple M. We’ve been stoked listening to Merrick & The Highway Patrol and the partnership come to life the past few weeks – it’s a fantastic fit. Now bring on Lenny Kravitz and the housewarming party – you know it!”

Merrick’s Housewarming Fuelled by MOTHER will be reflected on Merrick & The Highway Patrol on Monday 26 March on the below Southern Cross Austereo stations and at www.triplem.com.au and www.mix.com.au

Join the pursuit of Merrick & The Highway Patrol on your local Triple M station (Mix in Perth):

4-6pm: 104.9FM Sydney and 104.5FM Brisbane

5-7pm: 104.7FM Adelaide and Triple M Localworks regionally

6-8pm: 105.1FM Melbourne

10-12pm: Mix 94.5FM Perth

• Triple M Sydney breakfast increases 1.2 to 6.9 share points, #1 in key 25–39 demographic
• Triple M Melbourne breakfast is strong on 7.6 points, #1 all people 25-54
• 2Day #1 FM overall and wins breakfast for the 37th consecutive survey
• FOX #1 FM overall for 47 consecutive surveys and #1 FM again in breakfast
• Mix FM in Perth wins yet again, now #1 for 98 surveys
• More growth expected for Triple M with Merrick & The Highway Patrol starting nationally on Monday 27 February

The FM powerhouse of 2Day FM and Triple M in Sydney together deliver a #1 FM share across key buying sessions of Breakfast, Morning, Afternoon and Drive. At Triple M the rebuild is complete delivering the best results in years. Triple M’s The Grill Team with Matty Johns continues to improve claiming #3 spot in FM breakfast. Triple M Drive delivered a share increase of 1 with more growth expected in 2012 as it welcomes Merrick Watts’ new drive show The Highway Patrol to Triple M. The Kyle and Jackie O Show continues to dominate with 2Day breakfast winning the FM market yet again – its 37th survey at #1. 2Day FM remains a force, holding #1 FM overall.

Triple M Melbourne is up across the board proving only Triple M rocks! The station wins the 25–54 demographic, delivers share growth all people and 7.6 points in breakfast with Eddie McGuire, Mick Molloy and Luke Darcy. The Matt and Jo Show in breakfast on Fox delivers outstanding results, winning the FM race for the 36th consecutive survey. Fox is the #1 FM station for the 47th survey in row.

B105 and Triple M Brisbane today claim #3 and #4 station respectively in what is a competitive FM radio market. New breakfast show Labby, Abby and Stav on B105 come in strong with 9.7 share points and the new Grill Team on Triple M breakfast delivered a solid result on 9.1.

Adelaide shows promising signs with growth for both SCA stations in the majority of key sessions. SAFM delivers slight share gains overall. Like Sydney and Melbourne, Triple M Adelaide surges forward with 1.7 growth all people – with John Blakey joining The Hot Breakfast the station is set for a fantastic year ahead.

Perth’s Mix 94.5 is yet again the strongest radio station in Australia, its consistency heading it towards 100 surveys at #1, scoring its 98th in a row in today’s results. The station holds steady across all show sessions.

Director of Austereo Metro Radio, Guy Dobson said, “Today’s results kick off what will be a magnificent year for SCA’s metro radio. 2Day and Fox FM prove their dominance again and Triple M is clearly back for its best year in a decade”.

Further Information:
Vicki Heath PR Manager Southern Cross Austereo, Sydney
(02) 9375 1503 / 0402 355 325
vicki.heath@sca.com.au

Rachel Corbett, Merrick Watts & Julian Schiller join Triple M drive

Australia’s 2012 drive home is about to get a whole lot more entertaining with Triple M’s Merrick & The Highway Patrol launching weekdays from Monday 27 February.

Expect the ride of your life as radio favourite and classic funnyman Merrick Watts joins the Triple M network with on-air pros Rachel Corbett and Julian Schiller by his side to deliver a show that celebrates raw Aussie humour.

Merrick & The Highway Patrol is set to be broadcast on Triple M across Southern Cross Austereo’s metro and Localworks stations so tune in wherever in the country you are to be taken down the road of the unexpected.

Merrick & The Highway Patrol can be heard in prime time drive on Triple M Sydney and Brisbane from 4-6pm. This builds on the ratings success of breakfast show The Grill Team with Matty Johns, Mark Geyer and Gus Worland in Sydney, as well as Triple M Brisbane’s new number one start to the day, The Grill Team with Marto, Pete and Michelle.

The show will also feature in Melbourne from 6-8pm, plus in Adelaide and around the country on Southern Cross Austereo’s regional network from 5-7pm.

Merrick, Rach and Jules said, “We’ll be going full throttle with the hazard lights on and we’re hoping all of Australia joins the convoy that is the Highway Patrol on Triple M. We’re the fried dim sim in the bain marie of life, you know we’re a little bit wrong but we’re just what you need to get you home.”

Craig Bruce, Head of Content for Southern Cross Austereo said, “We’re so excited about this new show. I’m confident that Merrick and the Highway Patrol will quickly become one of the funniest shows on Australian radio. Listeners from Brisbane to Bunbury and just about everywhere in-between are about to get a genuine laugh on their way home.”

Merrick & The Highway Patrol comes to Triple M from Monday 27 February 2012. Catch up with the latest at www.triplem.com.au 

Join the pursuit of Merrick & The Highway Patrol on your local Triple M station (Mix in Perth):

4-6pm: 104.9FM Sydney and 104.5FM Brisbane

5-7pm: 104.7FM Adelaide and Triple M Localworks regionally

6-8pm: 105.1FM Melbourne

10-12pm: Mix 94.5FM Perth