Nine’s Greg Byrnes: “This result today lays a solid foundation ahead of the Olympics”

With 158 surveys in a row now at #1, Ray Hadley hasn’t just crossed the line, he’s smashed through the tape, according to Nine’s Head of Content Greg Byrnes.

In the run up to the Paris Olympics, Byrnes fittingly rolled out this sporting reference, as the veteran 2GB Mornings host celebrates yet another ratings triumph in GfK Survey 4.

“Today he’s done 20 years, which is wonderful, but he’s come home with an increase of 1.1 for a 16.4 share,” says Byrnes, in an interview with our sister publication RadioInfo.

Byrnes says Hadley came out of the studio this morning during the ten o’clock news to partake in the celebrations.

“We had a cake for him and some streamers,” says Byrnes. “Tom (Malone) said a few words and Ray said a few words.”

Across the board, Byrnes says there’s plenty to like about this survey, particularly 2GB and 3AW continuing their dominance in Breakfast and Mornings, and 2GB’s Ben Fordham maintaining his spot in Breakfast with a share of 17%

As Nine prepares for its unprecedented Olympic coverage, Byrnes himself will be heading to Paris.

“The Sydney and Melbourne breakfast teams will be over there for the first week, so I will be working with them,” he says.

Nine will send a team of about 20 reporters, presenters and commentators to the Games, with a cast of experts to also be based out of the network’s central Olympic studio in Sydney.

“We’re very much gearing up for the Olympics, and this result today lays a solid foundation heading into the Games, and for the remainder of the year.”

As Nine continues to work on attracting younger listeners, Byrnes says “What’s interesting is that if we look year on year at people under 40, we’re up about 12 percent. The audio cume as we know it is building across the board, but for us, our under forty audience is building.”

“Five years ago, 21 percent of our audience was made up of under forties, today it’s almost 30 percent.”

“We’re confident, and we’re bringing younger broadcasters through – we’re trying to find a balance of younger voices for younger listeners without losing our core audience. That’s the trick.”

Byrnes acknowledges that that onset of podcasting and other audio options such as Spotify are a concern.

“We need to be ahead of the curve instead of playing catch up.”

But, says Byrnes, it’s hard to beat ‘live and local.’

“You can’t get that on Spotify. You can’t get that on TikTok … if the school is closed because a local road is flooded, if planes aren’t flying because of fog at the airport, traffic gridlock … that content is really important to us and it’s important that we let the audience know that it is always available.”

“I think that strategy sets us up well for success.”