What's New
BY Sarah Patterson May 20, 2026
What's New November 25, 2025
Survey 7: It’s a fine line between pleasure and pain for ARN
Reporter
Just days after Kyle Sandilands made the startling admission that he and his KIIS co-host Jackie O Henderson are “not worth” the estimated $200 million they’re being paid for their 10-year radio contract, GfK Survey 7 has delivered yet another lacklustre result for the much-hyped duo.
In Melbourne, Kyle & Jackie O dropped half a share point in Breakfast to 5.5, shedding 25,000 in cume and leaving them last among the FM teams.
K & J’s Breakfast share also fell in Sydney (-1.1 to 12.5).
On the flip side, ARN has much cause for celebration on the Gold Network side of the fence.
In a result that bodes well for next year’s national expansion, Gold 104.3’s The Christian O’Connell Show increased its lead as Melbourne’s #1 FM Breakfast show in the second last survey for the year, with Gold 101.7’s Jonesy & Amanda also increasing their share, ahead of their 2026 move to national Drive.
O’Connell recorded a share rise of 0.3% to comfortably lead the FM Breakfast pack at 11.2, well clear of The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick, with Nova 100’s Jase & Lauren now sitting third.
ARN’s Chief Audience & Content Officer Lauren Joyce said “GOLD continues to set the pace in Melbourne, with Christian O’Connell once again delivering a clear No.1 FM Breakfast result and the biggest growth in the market.”
“We’re equally encouraged by the momentum in Sydney, where Jonesy & Amanda also delivered strong growth. The strategy behind our re-energised GOLD stations is resonating with audiences, giving us real confidence as we move into next year’s changes.”
The ABC Melbourne Breakfast team of Bob Murphy and Sharnelle Vella continued their upward trajectory, enjoying a solid increase in share (+1.4% to 7.8).
Nine’s talk stations were again the dominant players in both Sydney and Melbourne, with 2GB Breakfast host Ben Fordham holding steady on a 16.8 share, and only a slight drop in share for the 3AW brekky team of Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft (-0.2 to 20.1).
Related news
What's New
BY Sarah Patterson May 20, 2026
250 plus sacked to keep the bank account in a positive , pathetic = ARN
Year on year 2WS has gone from first to fourth… are you sure you should be celebrating Lauren?
Ouch AF. 2Day breakfast is a shambles. On the air and behind the scenes if you believe the whispers.
@NM
I think their breakfast is getting better….and overall 2Day is very enjoyable to listen to…
… ironically the biggest threat in Sydney for Kylie&Jackie O is Christian….
Or Western Sydney focused Yaz&Teraz??!!!
@Harry Highpoint: Gold 101.7’s ratings during 2025 are definitely below the level of WSFM’s performance in 2024 (and especially last year’s record Survey #7!) but are more or less, somewhere in-line with where they were in 2022/23.
Next year though, I suspect Jonesy & Amanda being bumped to national Drive in favour of “that Pommy bloke from Melbourne” could result in a listener exodus to The More Music Breakfast Show with Bogart Torelli and Emma Duxbury on Smooth 95.3…and maybe Classic Hits 2UE if ACE Radio can get a locally based brekky show on the station (which I doubt will happen).
Perhaps a few J&A listeners on the margins may head to Triple M or talkback. But especially given that Ty Frost managed to beat Mark Levy for a couple of surveys this year, I wouldn’t completely rule out the possibility of “Sydney radio shock as Smooth 95.3 outrates Ben Fordham, Kyle & Jackie O at breakfast” being one of 2026’s big radio headlines!
Now don’t get me wrong: Christian O’Connell most likely won’t fall to last at Sydney breakfast, but I suspect he’ll probably finish more around the 5-6% range (similar to K&JO on KIIS 101.7 in Melbourne) rather than the 8-9% that Jonesy & Amanda have typically hovered around during most surveys in recent years.
*101.1 rather than 101.7, that should be for KIIS Melbourne’s frequency!