Talk station 3AW* has suffered its second consecutive drop but remains Melbourne's top-rating station, while classic hits broadcaster Gold has topped the FM ladder.
Despite 3AW's victory, 774 ABC morning host Jon Faine has again beaten Neil Mitchell, claiming a 14.8 per cent share of the audience to Mitchell's 11.1 per cent.
It is important to note, however, that radio ratings rarely align with the exact start and end of every program. Mitchell and Faine start at 8.30am, for instance. Yet most other morning shows run from 9am to midday, so this is how they are measured.
3AW's Ross Stevenson and John Burns continued to dominate the breakfast slot with 16.5 per cent (down from 19 per cent); ahead of their nearest competitor Red Symons on 774 ABC (13.4 per cent, down from 14.1 per cent).
After a tie with Triple M in the last survey, Gold surged by 0.8 percentage points to 8.7 per cent, beating all its FM rivals.
This left Triple M in second place on 8.6 per cent, followed by Fox (7.7 per cent), Smooth (7.5 per cent), Kiis (7.3 per cent - up by an impressive 1.1 percentage points), and Nova (6.3 per cent).
But in FM breakfast, Triple M's Hot Breakfast - hosted by Eddie McGuire, Mick Molloy and Luke Darcy - increased its lead to seize a 9.6 per cent share. This leaves them almost two points clear of their nearest rivals, Brig & Lehmo on Gold (7.7 per cent).
Tuesday's survey was released one day after Hamish & Andy made a sneaky return to the airwaves - one week before their scheduled re-launch on Today's Hit network. The former FM kings are expected to cause a shake-up in the drive slot.
For now, however, Kiis's Hughesy & Kate trumped their FM counterparts by climbing 1.1 percentage points to a 9.4 per cent share. This puts them in second place overall, behind 3AW's Tom Elliott on 10.1 per cent.
And keep an eye on Smooth.
The station formerly known as Vega, which sunk to 1 per cent in 2006, grew slightly to a once-unimaginable 7.5 per cent: a record high for the 91.5 FM frequency.
Dusty Springfield, Ed Sheeran, Olivia Newton-John, Michael Buble, Adele: this eclectic playlist (and a roster of honey-voiced DJs) found a cumulative audience of 766,000 Melburnians during the survey period.
It had slightly more listeners aged 25 to 39 than those in the 55 to 64 bracket.
"That's been the case for some time," says Smooth boss Lou Higgins. "It's actually been the strength of the growth of the younger demos [that's caused us to go up].
"That's where the confusion comes in around the brand. It does skew younger than people realise.
"We will grow consistently across the winter but it will be summer [after the football] when it really starts to come into its own."
Higgins says sister station Nova, whose drive show Kate, Tim and Marty grew to 8.7 per cent in drive, isn't worried about the return of Hamish & Andy.
Traditionally, a drive show will comprise around 10 per cent of a station's overall share while its breakfast show can contribute 25 per cent.
"Drive is highly important, and that is why brands invest in good talent in those shifts," Higgins says.
"But you've also got to be balanced in how much it's actually resulting in your overall number.
"It's a good story for radio. It's good for the medium, that people continue to invest in quality talent."
Duncan Campbell, content boss of the Australian Radio Network, pointed to Kiis FM's Matt and Jane breakfast show as a highlight of the survey.
"It was the most listened-to breakfast show in terms of cume [cumulative audience; the total number of people who listen during the survey period], which is very encouraging."
(A program's overall audience share reflects both its number of listeners and how long they listen for.)
Campbell said the Kiis network is also prepared to take on Hamish & Andy.
"The percentage share required to increase the overall share of a radio station is incredibly high," he said. "The mountain they've got to climb is very high."
*Fairfax Media owns 3AW, publisher of this website.
