The first full Melbourne radio ratings survey for 2012 reveals steep drops in radio football audiences compared to 2011.
Saturday nights have suffered the biggest drop, with total listeners tumbling from 284,000 to 213,000 (down 25 per cent). Sunday afternoons dived from 637,000 to 520,000 (down 18 per cent).
As part of the AFL's new TV deal, all those games are now live on TV and for the more technologically savvy, also available on tablets and smartphones. The impatient fans that last year preferred live radio to delayed telecasts of even as little as half an hour (as was the case on Saturday nights) have started to abandon the radio.
Figures for 2011 obtained by AFL.com.au indicate that 40.5 per cent of radio listeners during the football timeslots - 6pm to 11pm Friday, 12 noon until 11pm Saturday and 12 noon to 6pm Sundays - were tuning in to the football. So far in 2012, that figure has dropped to 34.5 per cent.
In terms of cumulative audiences, the Friday night audience has dropped only slightly, from 428,000 to 424,000. Saturday afternoons are down a bit from 661,000 to 634,000.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/139303/default.aspx