Foreword – Winning radio coverage during peak awareness season

Peak season, prime time - Choosing the right radio format for your message

As Q4 approaches, we’ve been reflecting on the last quarter and having the opportunity to work with some big brands and worthy causes and collaborating with some exceptional talent who have been talking to radio about a whole range of newsworthy announcements and quirky topics. With peak awareness months fast approaching, our Radio Day service can help land your story in a news bulletin and on a talkback program to enhance your key messaging to your clients’ target audiences. 

Radio remains one of the most powerful platforms for brand messaging because it feels personal, authentic but can also be immediate. Understanding the difference between stories for news bulletins and pitches for talkback radio is crucial when considering a Radio Day.

While news bulletins favour campaigns with broad, timely relevance and strong newsworthiness, often appealing to the general public, including regional audiences, talkback shows, on the other hand, thrive on compelling human stories, opinions, and debate sparking conversation and connecting with a specific listener base. 

At MediaCast, we know how to target both formats effectively with the same content and with our expertise on knowing who to pitch to, which time slots to aim for, and where your story will make the greatest impact, a Radio Day can pack a punch to your overall client KPIs.

In this newsletter, we unpack the latest radio survey results, showcasing continued growth in listenership over the past quarter and radio’s unique ability to reach diverse audiences. We also highlight standout campaigns across different sectors, sharing key insights on when and where audiences are tuning in helping to shape smarter, more strategic pitches as we head into the peak awareness season.

Since founding MediaCast in 2015 as Australia’s first specialist broadcast PR firm, I’ve seen thousands of radio campaigns transform into powerful on-air moments. These results highlight just how important news bulletins and talkback radio can be to create real impact.

Fran Chalmers— Managing Director, MediaCast

Radio Days in Q2 2025

As Q3 wraps up, the latest radio survey results are in, and they reveal some fascinating insights! Here are the standout highlights from each state:

Sydney – 2GB remains the top AM station with 646,000 listeners. Triple M 104.9 draws its biggest audience on weekdays between 5:30 am and 9:00 am, while GOLD 101.7 is most popular from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm on weekdays

Melbourne – Gold 104.3 continues to dominate FM listening with 1,153,000 listeners, while 3AW leads AM with 675,000. 101.9 FOX FM recorded the biggest gain among Melbourne stations, adding 27,000 listeners since the last survey

Brisbane – Triple M leads FM stations with 588,000 listeners, while 4BH 1116 tops AM listening at 225,000. ABC Radio Brisbane has gained 21,000 listeners since the last survey, and 104.5 Triple M recorded the biggest jump this survey (42,000 listeners)

Adelaide – Triple M remains the leading FM station, while FIVEaa tops AM listening with 141,000 listeners. ABC Adelaide recorded only a modest rise of 1,000 listeners since the last survey, but 5MMM saw the biggest jump, adding 15,000 listeners

Perth – ABC Radio Perth leads AM listening with 220,000 listeners, with weekends proving the most popular time to tune in. ABC News Radio recorded the biggest gain, adding 19,000 listeners, while 96FM saw the largest drop, down 57,000 listeners

Highlights:

• Commercial radio reaches 12.5 million weekly listeners, up 183,000 year-on-year (YOY)
• 25–64 demographic surges by 238,000 to a total of 7.8 million listeners
• Commercial radio streaming reaches 3.4 million Australians weekly, up 100,000 from last quarter
• Workday listening is strong with 6.6 million tuning in from their workplace
• While 2.1 million Australians are tuning in from home
• In-car listening expanded by 248,000 additional listeners YOY to reach 10.3 million
• 83% of commercial radio listeners are tuning in while driving