Radio ratings: Jones up, Kyle down. The final radio ratings for 2012 will not be pleasant listening for those who don’t like Alan Jones on 2GB in Sydney (he went up in share figures — again), but it will be more to the liking of those who object to the antics of Kyle Sandilands and his offsider Jackie O on 2Day FM (they fell).

The final survey for the year (No. 8) ended on December 1, so they don’t cover the now infamous royal hospital phone call prank. The 2Day share ended on 9% in the latest survey, down from the 9.5% reported in survey 7, and down from the 10.2% in survey 8 of 2011. That was driven by a sharp fall in the share of Sandilands and Ms O in breakfast — it fell to 10.3% from 12.1% in survey 7 and compares with 11.2% for the last survey of 2011. That left them third in breakfast behind 2GB’s Jones and Adam Spencer of ABC 702, but first in the music/youth market.

Radio industry analysts suggest the audience fall happened because listeners of 2Day’s breakfast slot drifted over to 2GB to hear what Jones was saying in the wake of the controversy over that speech in late September and stayed there (survey 7 picked up some of the audience impact of the controversy as Jones’ share rose to 17.3% in survey 7).

Jones’ 2GB saw its share slip to 15.2% from 15.5% (and 15% in survey 8 of 2011), despite another good survey for Jones who saw his share jump to 18.2% from 17.3% (and 16.4% for the final survey of 2011). Jones’s share is now back within sight of the 18.5% he enjoyed in surveys 4 and 5 earlier in the year. Like it or not, Jones’ older-skewing audience remains rusted on. 2GB has to report lower earnings in this half thanks to the revenue-free period around the time of the controversy about that speech of Jones and the slow return of advertisers since then.

Elsewhere in Sydney, Fairfax Media’s 2UE saw its share rise to 4.3% from the low of 3.8% in survey 7 and ABC radio 702 saw its share fall to 10.7 from 11.0% in the previous survey. That’s just under the 10.8% share the station ended 2011 with. Spencer’s share rose in breakfast to 13.7% from 13.1% and 13.01% in the last survey of 2011.

In Melbourne, market leader, 3AW ended the year with a share of 15.4%, down a sharp 1.1% from the 15.5%  of survey 7 but well above the 13.5% in survey 8 of 2011. Breakfast (down 1.1 to 19.4% ) and Mornings (down 1.6 to 17.0%) drove the losses for the Fairfax Media station, which is its best radio asset. — Glenn Dyer

Front page of the day. Britain’s newspapers remain gripped by the royal prank tragedy. Last night’s interviews with the 2Day FM DJs who made the hoax call are front page news in the UK today.

Video of the day. Mel Greig and Michael Christian told A Current Affair‘s Tracy Grimshaw last night they are “shattered”, “heartbroken” and “gutted” over the apparent suicide of a nurse they prank called last week.