MELBOURNE: As debate about diversity in the media and advertising continues in Australia, new research by Mumbrella has revealed that 73.9% of breakfast radio personalities across Australia's five biggest cities are male.
Mumbrella assessed the on-air lineups of 40 FM and AM breakfast shows broadcast in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth as well as each local ABC show.
The breakfast radio slot was chosen because it generally enjoys the highest daily listenership and is a commercially lucrative time of day for ad placement.
The research discovered that 68 presenters were men and just 24 were women, giving men 73.9% of voices heard in the timeslot.
While eight shows were fronted by a solo male broadcaster, zero women worked in solo presenter roles in any market – although outside of the breakfast slot, more women were represented.
The gender gap was relatively consistent across radio markets: Adelaide was the most male dominated with 77.8% male voices, while Brisbane was ranked fifth, although men still outnumbered women by 72.2% to 27.8%.
While advertisers and agencies in Australia are increasingly looking towards more diverse campaigns, particularly within multicultural and LGBT representation, diversity within the media remains a hot topic of conversation.
(For more on the rise of cultural diversity in Australian advertising campaigns, read Warc's report: Australia's brands embrace inclusion as agencies tackle diversity.)
While there is still some way to go, several media companies, including ABC, have stated their desire to improve representation with more diverse staff and content.
"While women make up 50% or more of our presenters in six of eight cap cities, we are committed to bringing greater diversity to breakfast radio, and look forward to evolving to a more representative lineup," said a spokesperson for ABC in response to Mumbrella's research.
Meanwhile, Mumbrella named Australia's most diverse radio network as KIIS FM, owned by Australian Radio Network, which has nearly a 50-50 split between men and women.
Mumbrella assessed the on-air lineups of 40 FM and AM breakfast shows broadcast in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth as well as each local ABC show.
The breakfast radio slot was chosen because it generally enjoys the highest daily listenership and is a commercially lucrative time of day for ad placement.
The research discovered that 68 presenters were men and just 24 were women, giving men 73.9% of voices heard in the timeslot.
While eight shows were fronted by a solo male broadcaster, zero women worked in solo presenter roles in any market – although outside of the breakfast slot, more women were represented.
The gender gap was relatively consistent across radio markets: Adelaide was the most male dominated with 77.8% male voices, while Brisbane was ranked fifth, although men still outnumbered women by 72.2% to 27.8%.
While advertisers and agencies in Australia are increasingly looking towards more diverse campaigns, particularly within multicultural and LGBT representation, diversity within the media remains a hot topic of conversation.
(For more on the rise of cultural diversity in Australian advertising campaigns, read Warc's report: Australia's brands embrace inclusion as agencies tackle diversity.)
While there is still some way to go, several media companies, including ABC, have stated their desire to improve representation with more diverse staff and content.
"While women make up 50% or more of our presenters in six of eight cap cities, we are committed to bringing greater diversity to breakfast radio, and look forward to evolving to a more representative lineup," said a spokesperson for ABC in response to Mumbrella's research.
Meanwhile, Mumbrella named Australia's most diverse radio network as KIIS FM, owned by Australian Radio Network, which has nearly a 50-50 split between men and women.
Data sourced from Mumbrella; additional content by Warc staff
