Knife out at TV network as SA radio ratings reveal slow burn for KIIS
More upheaval is ahead in the media industry as one TV and radio owner announces hundreds of redundancies. The news comes amid Radio Ratings likely to have KIIS head honchos scrutinising its new golden boys.
South Australian media faces yet another shake up as the owner of Seven Network, Southern Cross Media, announced it would cut 250 to 300 jobs across the country.
Southern Cross Media, which also owns Triple M, said the sudden death redundancies would be made before June 30.
The company hoped the cuts would save the business up to $150 million annually, after revealing revenue for the past financial year was expected to be down by about $50 million.
“We must reset our cost base to meet current market conditions and capture the full benefits of scale across our trusted platforms for our audiences and advertisers, now and into the future,” SCA managing director and CEO Rohan Lund said.
“Unfortunately, this means saying goodbye to some talented colleagues who have helped build our business.
“We are deeply grateful for their contributions, and we are committed to supporting them through this transition.”
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In a statement, the group said it “primarily impacts mid and back office and corporate staff, as well as non-labour costs”.
Meanwhile, in the latest Radio Ratings revealed today, the company’s Triple M team was top of the pops in breakfast and top of the South Australian stations overall.
A burst of fresh energy KIIS hoped would result from its new Adelaide breakfast hosts has failed to materialise, with new radio ratings data showing local boys Ben and Liam were ranked fifth out of seven in the breakfast slot.
The duo landed 10.5 per cent of the total audience share, slightly behind the ABC’s Sonya Feldhoff and Jules Schiller on 10.9 per cent.
It was the first survey with Ben and Liam at the helm, the pair having only stepped up to the mics on April 1.
And while they trail the perennial leaders of the breakfast slot – Triple M’s Roo, Dits and Loz – Ben and Liam did gain 1.5 per cent of audience share for KIIS in the third survey of the year.
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Ben Harvey said it was “great to see Adelaide getting around our show”.
“I called my wife and said we’re up 1.5 share points and our cume is trending nicely, and she said I have no idea what you are talking about,” Harvey said.
The same cannot be said for Feldhoff and Shiller, who fell two positions from second to fourth after suffering a 0.7 per cent drop in audience share.
Their fall down the ratings ladder was unexpected after the two took out the prestigious Best Breakfast Show in the large market category of the Australian Audio Awards, announced about a week ago in Sydney.
For Triple M, the result is the 26th time at the very top of the pile out of the last 27 surveys. At nearly 13 per cent of total listener share, they are in a commanding position, but did lose an entire percentage point this survey.
In second place for the breakfast slot was Nova 91.9’s Jodie Oddy and Andrew Hayes at 11.4 per cent (up 1.2 per cent), while in third was FIVEAA’s David Penberthy and Will Goodings (11.3 per cent, up 0.5 per cent).
SAFM’s Bel, Bernie and Emma G came in at sixth place for the breakfast period, while Cruise landed in the bottom slot.
Overall, Triple M remains firmly on top, with a big 13.3 per cent listenership across the entire week.
ABC Adelaide was at the bottom of the list, with just 7.1 per cent of all listeners tuning into the public broadcaster across the week.
KIIS did better in the overall rankings, coming in at second with 11.2 per cent of total listeners, adding an entire percentage point over the survey period. Nova 91.9 was hot on KIIS’ heels at 11.1 per cent.
And while FIVEAA might do well in the mornings, its strength did not translate to success across the week. The station was ranked sixth out of seven, with 8.2 per cent of total listener share.
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