Alan Jones maintained the number one spot in his breakfast show and increased his audience share to 18.2% in the most recent radio ratings, despite the massive public outcry against his show.
While Macquarie Radio Network's (MRN) shock jock Alan Jones was surrounded in controversy in October for saying Prime Minister Julia Gillard's father had “died of shame”, it seems his audience has not been particularly fazed.
According to Nielsen figures, which measured ratings between 16 September and 1 December, Jones saw his ratings increase by 0.9 percentage points to take 18.2% audience share.
Jones' last ratings period was also a success, with his numbers jumping up 0.5 points to a 17.3% share. The shock jock's last two ratings increases have indicated that his audience has stayed strong despite the wider backlash.
MRN chairman Russell Tate told AdNews this morning: "We knew from early on that the reaction was not from our core audiene, but this is an important confirmation of that.
"The people that bombarded Alan never listened to the show and never would."
Tate said in October that the backlash came from people who didn't listen to the show.
During October, the scandal led to an advertiser exodus and saw the network shut down advertising for a brief period.
Meanwhile, 2GB has remained the top ratings station overall in Sydney, with a total audience share of 14%, down 0.5 points on the last ratings period.
In Melbourne, Fairfax's 3AW took the top spot with 15% share, despite dropping 0.9 points.
In both Sydney and Melbourne, DMG's newly rebranded SmoothFM continued to jump, increasing to 5.8% and 4.9% respectively.
The Brisbane market saw 97.3FM take the crown, while in Adelaide Mix102.3 was the top rating station.
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