SYDNEY: Once the king of morning radio, John Laws remains in second place in his timeslot in Sydney in the latest AC Nielsen radio survey, despite increasing his audience share from 12.8% to 13.5%. The sixth survey for 1999 is the second in a row that Laws has come second to Austereo station, Triple M, after Laws was embroiled in the cash-for-comment scandal. Despite the dethroning of Laws, 2UE still claims victory in the overall survey. The talkback format is the Òradio juggernautÓ of the 1990s, says John Brennan, program manager at 2UE. 2UE increased its share of the all people audience Monday to Sunday from 12.1% to 14.0% to rank first in Sydney, after it dropped to third in the previous survey behind the two Austereo stations, 2Day FM and Triple M. ÒThe results . . . prove once and for all that reports of our death were greatly exaggerated,Ó says Brennan. ÒOur last result has proven to be a glitch that was underestimated by all who wanted to criticise SydneyÕs leading talk station.Ó 2Day FM remained steady on 12.7% all people audience share, although the rise in 2UEÕs ratings brought 2Day down to second place overall in Sydney when the same audience share gave it the top spot in the previous survey. Triple M increased by 0.2 to 12.4%, but was also knocked down a place to third. In Melbourne, the strong talkback fodder Ñ including the state elections and the East Timor crisis Ñ helped increase the lead of top rating station 3AW, from 16.3% to 17.5% of all people. Austereo station Fox FM came first in the under-40 audience and second overall after it climbed by 0.6 to at 13.6% of all people. In Brisbane, B105 maintained its top position, with 24.0% of all people after falling 0.3% since the last survey, and winning every timeslot. Its fellow Austereo station, Triple M, improved ratings performance in every shift. In Adelaide, SAFM was the only station in the top three that increased its rating, strengthening its number one spot with a 2.5 point increase to 24.6%. 5AD FM fell by 0.7 to 20.6, and 5AA fell by 1.0 point to 12.4 to come third. In Perth, PMFM claimed top position, with 21.8% of all people after a rise of 3.5. It overtook MIX 94.5, which fell 2.8 points to 16.0%. 96FM also fell, down 0.7 to 14.3%.
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