97.3FM could regret firing star presenter Robin Bailey after she helped the station to the top of the breakfast radio pile for the final ratings period of the year.
Bailey's acrimonious split with her long-term employer dominated radio news in a tumultuous month for Brisbane's airwaves that also saw the departure of breakfast king Spencer Howson.
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The ABC presenter, leaving the timeslot after 11 years, had to split a hard-fought draw with challenger Nova, taking out three GFK ratings surveys a piece.
Howson started the year on fire, taking out three wins in a row, before slumping to third for the back half of the year as Ash, Kip and Luttsy claimed three of the last five.
Robin,Terry and Bob leapfrogged leader Nova in the year's final survey, gaining 0.6 points as the previous leader dropped by 0.4 points.
But it wasn't enough to compete for top spot as the team, which Bailey left three weeks short of the end of the final ratings period, finished the year with two wins.
The final Commercial Radio Australia results of the year gave ARN's 97.3FM* a 13.1 per cent share of the market, followed by Nova on 12.2 and the ABC on 11.9.
It set up an intriguing battle for 2017, with a rejigged lineup on three stations.
![Robin Bailey is joining Tripe M Breakfast in 2017.](/web/20161213095920im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/5/p/n/q/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gt9rlc.png/1481599965631.jpg)
Bailey heads to Triple M while Craig Zonka replaces Howson on ABC and Gold Coast announcer Bianca Dye jumps into the hot seat on 97.3FM.
Shock jock Alan Jones lost more than half of the 1.9-point jump he won for 4BC in the previous survey, winding up in sixth spot.
His short-lived success in the previous survey appeared to have given the station hope its strategy of cutting local presenters in favour of big names piped in from Sydney.
But the final survey of the year was another poor performance for the station, which lost market share in every timeslot.
Nova held on to top spot in the drive market despite a 0.6-point drop, comfortably claiming the overall win for the year.
* Correction: This article has been amended to correct the owner of 97.3FM.