SEN’s Breakfast with Garry Lyon & Tim Watson is the number one breakfast show in Melbourne and Gerard Whateley’s ‘Whateley’ show the number one mornings show in Australia in the latest Australian Podcast Ranker*.
With over 1.1 million podcast downloads between them in the past month, both shows have blitzed the rankings which provide a monthly snapshot of Australia’s most popular podcasts - designed to help guide brands and agencies on where to advertise.
Chief Executive Craig Hutchison said it was a remarkable result given the times.
“To achieve the top breakfast show here in Melbourne and the top mornings show nationally is an unbelievable achievement – especially during a period when sport is on hold due to COVID-19,” Hutchison said.
“It’s a testament to the strength of the shows and the connection they have with their audiences – who love the opportunity to listen when and where it suits them – such is the beauty of podcasting.
“It’s great to see the industry embracing new audience measures that more accurately reflect the way people choose to consume their media,” Hutchison added.
Both shows also ranked in the top 10 of all Australian podcasts for the period and Breakfast with Garry Lyon & Tim Watson was the second biggest breakfast show in the country behind The Kyle and Jackie O Show in Sydney.
Known for their great audience rapport Garry Lyon and Tim Watson interviewed some of the biggest names in local and international sport during the period – including Harry Redknapp - one of the biggest names in world football; Drew Bledsoe - a former superstar NFL quarterback and Jalen Rose - former NBA player, now media megastar. Plus: Alastair Clarkson, Brett Ratten, Damien Hardwick, Matthew Nicks, David Teague, Patrick Cripps, Eddie Betts, Usman Khawaja, Charlie Dixon, Cale Hooker, Mat Ryan, Chris Kamara, Jemele Hill, Cayla George and Emma Kearney.
The show adopted a broader entertainment and community approach under COVID-19, including the introduction of light-hearted segments such as the Adventures of Whippy Watson which has since spun-off into its own podcast available via the SEN app.
“A big thanks to our loyal audience for staying connected with us during this time – we honestly didn’t know how we were going to do a show without sport but we’ve loved the banter, the feedback and the fun that we have thanks to our regular listeners,” Lyon said.
Known for his sharp sporting insight and interviews with top sport agenda setters, Gerard Whateley was joined during the period by big names including John Bertrand, Bruce McAvaney, Senator Richard Colbeck, Patrick Dangerfield, Craig Bellamy, Marnus Labuschagne, Caleb Ewan, Justin Langer, Gillon McLachlan, Chris Waller, Meg Lanning and Kyle Chalmers
In addition to its SEN radio podcasts, Crocmedia produces three native podcasts – The Sounding Board with Craig Hutchison and Damian Barratt which moved up 2 places to 24th position in the top 100 and sits at number 10 of all native podcasts; Don’t Shoot the Messenger with Caroline Wilson and Corrie Perkin in up 20 places in 65th position and recently launched The Sport of Gardening – a new podcast with Dale Vine and Jane Nield. All are available via the SEN app.
SEN’s other community initiatives during the period included the SEN small business grants, Police Appreciation Day for Victoria Police and a station-led COVID campaign: Better Stay Home Please featuring a song sung by SEN Drive co-host Bob Murphy and other SEN talent to the tune of the famous Crowded House song Better Be Home Soon.
The Australian Podcast Ranker was introduced in 2019, by Commercial Radio Australia to report on podcast consumption across an ever-growing list of podcasts and publishers that include both radio and non-radio publishers to help drive advertiser awareness to this growing category.
*Reporting period 1-30 April.