Breakfast radio has a long way to go towards gender equality, with a new report finding 68 men and 24 women have presenting roles in the coveted time slot.  

The report looked at 40 metro breakfast shows across AM and FM radio and found that not a single woman presents a show independently, but eight men host solo.     

The Mumbrella report, which covered metro shows only, found that the ABC was the most male-dominated network in the AM time slot, with all five metro breakfast shows fronted by men. A spokeswoman from the ABC lamented the fact that the report looked only at the AM time slot, as when viewed across the day, the ABC is showing an “increasingly gender balanced line-up”.

The first radio ratings survey for 2017 has also just dropped.  

In the lead-up to what must be a relatively terrifying day for programmers, execs and hosts across the nation, 2Day FM host Em Rusciano shared her thoughts, fears and gratitude with her fans and followers in a lengthy Facebook post on Monday.

In her post she spoke of the huge challenge of hosting breakfast radio, thanking 2Day FM for the freedom they have offered her and pre-empting the possibility of a ratings drop. The network has had a shaky few years, with The Em Ruscinao Radio Show being the fourth major programming change in as many years.

However the day has brought good news for Rusciano and the results bode well for more women in radio, with her show bumping 2Day FM’s breakfast audience share up to 4%. Despite the bump being a marginal .02% from where Ruscinao’s predecessors  Rove and Sam had languished at the close of 2016, it is a win nonetheless.  

It is KIIS FM, owned by the Australian Radio Network, that has the most gender balanced breakfast line up with a near 50/50 split. — Isabelle Amy