Nearly two years since replacing Alan Jones as host of 2GB’s breakfast slot, Ben Fordham continues to experience the highs and lows of commercial radio. According to the latest rating survey, released on Tuesday, Fordham held on to the top spot in Sydney despite shedding listeners.

The third survey of the year saw Fordham’s slot continue as Sydney’s number one breakfast show with a share of 15.7 per cent, but the result represents a drop of 3.2 percentage points (from 18.9) in the previous survey.

Fordham acknowledged the hit while pointing out the figures coincided with a federal election campaign that seemingly switched off audiences.

“It’s always a battle, but we’re pleased to still be number one. I reckon the election campaign was a bit of a turn-off. It was like watching two seagulls fighting over a hot chip,” he said.

In the breakfast time slot Ben Fordham Live remains ahead of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson on KIIS FM (12.4 per cent, up 1.1 percentage points) and ABC Sydney (10.6 per cent, down 0.1 percentage points).

Fordham’s stablemate Ray Hadley also held on to the number one position in his timeslot, increasing his audience share to 16.5 per cent, significantly ahead of his nearest rivals at KIIS and Smooth who were on 9 per cent each.

Overall, 2GB retained its position as the number one station in Sydney across the week, despite dropping 1.3 percentage points to a 13.0 per cent overall share. Nine Entertainment Co, the owner of 2GB, is the publisher of this masthead.

2GB’s drop off was most noticeable in the older demographics, dropping 2.3 percentage points in the 40-54 age bracket, 2.6 percentage points in 55-64, and 2.9 percentage points among those over 65.

The other big mover in the survey was Triple J, which saw its overall audience share drop by 1.4 percentage points from 5.3 per cent to 3.9 per cent. Most worrying for the national youth broadcaster is the significant shedding of audience in the core 18-24 demographic.