What's New
BY RadioToday Network June 3, 2026
What's New December 17, 2024
Star shines and KIIS soars in Xtra Insights Central Coast Survey 1
Reporter
Star 104.5 has again enjoyed a dominant showing in Xtra Insights Survey 1 for the New South Wales Central Coast – the NOVA Entertainment station most listened to among all people 10+, 3 points clear of its nearest rival, Triple M Central Coast.
Star 104.5’s Gina and Matty are still the clear leaders in Breakfast (-0.8 to 18.6), ahead of Hit Central Coast (-0.2 to 14.5), with the local Triple M station making some serious ground, up 2.1 to 13.4.
Star’s Program Director Shayne Sinclair says ‘Today is a truly historic day for the team at Star 104.5, achieving the #1 station on the Central Coast for the fourth consecutive year and making history as the first station in market to connect with more than 100,000 weekly listeners.”
Our brand new Breakfast show hosted by the incredible Matt Baseley and Gina Jeffreys not only took the #1 spot, but has grown our Breakfast audience since we launched the show, which is a truly outstanding achievement.”
“Rounding out 2024 with a clean sweep of #1’s in every daypart for the second year in a row reflects the loyalty of our audience, who know that when they tune in to Star 104.5 they’ll always get the best content on the Coast. It’s also true recognition of the hard work of everyone at the station who has helped deliver these amazing results.”
Triple M Central Coast went up in every age demo and every shift. It also boasts impressive cume numbers, picking up 15,000 new listeners in Breakfast.
In congratulating the Central Coast team, SCA Head of Regional Content Blair Woodcock said “In their first survey, Paddy & Maz (Paddy Gerrard and Maz Compton) have made an impressive debut, with their fiercely local approach clearly resonating with listeners as they claim the M25-54 demo. Triple M Central Coast’s audience has grown significantly to 86,700 listeners, reflecting an 31.4% increase.”
“On the Hit Network, Jess & Ducko (Jess Farchione and Nick ‘Ducko’ Allen-Ducat) capped off a fantastic year, as Hit101.3 Central Coast audience grows by 7.6% to reach 82,100 listeners.”
“Well done to our hard-working team on the Central Coast on finishing 2024 off with this great result. As we celebrate our final regional radio survey of 2024, I would like to thank all our regional content teams for their efforts and ongoing support. Looking forward to building on our excellent results in 2025!”
Interestingly, it was a very significant book for Sydney’s KIIS 106.5, jumping 5.0 to 13.4 among the 10-17s, and increasing a whopping 7.3 to 14.0 among the 40-54s.
In Breakfast, KIIS went up 2.4 to 8.5, to sit 4th overall in that timeslot, with an additional 10,200 listeners.
Click on charts below to enlarge.
I can definitely believe that Star 104.5 would be considered by the NSW Central Coast to be the best of a pretty ordinary lot of local commercial radio stations. The KIIS 1065 ratings also seem credible enough, when you consider that Central Coasters cop less (but still some) of the station’s marketing compared to the rest of the Sydney radio listening area.
However, even taking into consideration competition for the older music market from non-listed community stations like Coast FM 96.3 and the recently relaunched Easy FM 93.3 (switchover from the old “Radio 5-0 Plus” brand happened in October, just FYI), those WSFM and Smooth 95.3 ratings seem bafflingly low when you consider how popular those two stations are in Sydney.
From what I’ve heard, Jonesy & Amanda get callers from the Central Coast fairly regularly and one was even 2024’s “Gets My Goolies” winner! Yet both WS and Smooth rate lower than Triple M Sydney, a station whose services outside of specific local content are at least partly duplicated by 107.7 Central Coast?
The absence of Sydney AM stations also reduces the credibility of the Central Coast’s radio surveys IMO. Given that the region’s population does seem to be older than the Greater Sydney average, I certainly reckon 2GB would do well if listed in the Central Coast survey. Other Sydney AM stations are probably around (or less than) the 1-2% mark on the CC though.