The ABC radio show could face the chopping block as ratings plummet to a depressing new low — with just 1,000 listeners tuning in
ABC Radio National’s ratings were released this week, and the results weren’t good news for one veteran presenter.
RN Breakfast presenter Patricia Karvelas, 42, saw her audience plummet, averaging just 1,000 listeners a day in the capital, Perth.
In fact, Karvelas’ once-popular breakfast show is making listeners in all states bleed.
Media commentator Tim Burrowes noted that the station’s breakfast audience was now below 50,000 listeners and wondered when the ABC would take action.
“You have to ask yourself how low an audience has to get before anything changes. Patricia Karvelas’ share of the breakfast crowd has shrunk again,” he said.
ABC Radio National’s ratings were released this week, and the results weren’t good news for one veteran presenter. RN Breakfast presenter Patricia Karvelas, 42, saw her audience plummet, averaging just 1,000 listeners a day in the capital, Perth
“She now controls just 1.5 percent of listeners in Sydney, 3.1 percent in Melbourne, 2.7 percent in Brisbane, 1.6 percent in Adelaide and 0.4 percent in Perth.”
He said the network needed an “urgent review” of its activities to determine if anything could be done to rectify the matter.
However, an ABC spokesperson hit back at rating data from research firm GfK, claiming that the ratings don’t accurately reflect the whole picture.
In fact, Karvelas’ once-popular breakfast show is making listeners in all states bleed
Judging RN Breakfast’s performance solely by its average viewing figure, based on 15 minutes, grossly misrepresents the audience. It continues to be hugely influential, reaching more than 300,000 listeners every week in five capitals,” they said in a statement.
Meanwhile, ABC Radio Melbourne presenter Virginia Trioli has taken another crushing blow after recently returning to work following a family crisis.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that the veteran radio presenter, 57, has lost nearly half of her listeners in the past 18 months, with the Announce sun reporting the ratings slide would be of “particular concern” to ABC management.
Meanwhile, ABC Radio Melbourne presenter Virginia Trioli (pictured) has lost nearly half of her listeners in the past 18 months
Trioli’s audience share for her once-popular Melbourne Morning show fell 0.3 percent to an all-time low of 7.7 percent.
Research firm GfK has released rating data showing that ABC Radio Melbourne had dropped to seventh place across timeslots, from number four 18 months ago.
Further, the Melbourne station’s total viewership share fell 0.2 percentage point to 6.0 as listeners turned to commercial radio stations.
In total, ABC Radio Melbourne lost 26,000 listeners – four percent of the total audience – during the survey, from February 26 to May 20.