The festive season - otherwise known as the long and popular footy months - has come early for Melbourne's AFL-friendly radio stations.
In the latest ratings, covering a survey period that mostly included the AFL pre-season, commercial powerhouse 3AW stormed to the top of the list leaving its rivals at ABC 774 in the dust. In the FM battleground, Triple M snatched top spot overall, taking bragging rights in what remains a fiercely close contest.
At 3AW - owned by Fairfax Media - the numbers were stunning, even if they didn't result from any mass defection from the station's ABC competitors. Overall, 3AW bested its rival by 5 percentage points - 15.4 per cent to 10.4.
In the Breakfast slot, Ross Stevenson and John Burns were celebrating a return to their era-defining glory days, thumping 774's Red Symons by nearly six - 20.1 per cent to 14.2 - a dramatic turnaround from last year's closely fought contest, when Symons inched ahead in one survey.
In Mornings, Neil Mitchell hammered the ABC's Jon Faine more thoroughly than he has done in a long time. After two years of to-and-fro results, Mitchell came out on top on 16.8 per cent, up just shy of a point, with Faine on 12.4.
Despite 3AW's surge, the ABC registered no significant decline in its own numbers - down just 0.3 per cent overall, with Faine off by only 0.2 per cent. Perhaps the change of seasons - and the footy season in its early days - brought 3AW listeners back to their radios.
In FM land, Triple M's overall audience share didn't register a blip - but it's steady 7.4 per cent result was enough to give it a win over rivals who crowded within a sliver of the top spot. Second place was shared by Fox and smooth fm, both down a tad on 6.9, with Gold FM on 6.8 per cent, Nova 100 on 6.7 and Kiis down a full point on 6.1.
In FM Breakfast, Eddie McGuire and crew held first place for Triple M on 8.6, even with a 0.7 per cent drop from the previous survey. There was a minor movement in the runners up - Nova's Meshel Laurie and Tommy Little taking second place despite a slight drop, with Fox's Fifi Box and Dave Thornton in third.
In Drive, Fox claimed the mantle, a squeak ahead of Nova - but as it the case across the FM dial it's a close-run thing. Third-placed revival duo Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek on Kiis held their 7.9 per cent share to be in third place, but only a single ratings point separates them from top spot - with Nova holding steady in between a mere 0.2 per cent from the ladder leaders.
