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RTÉ Radio One remains top dog in the radio wars

Today FM remains top for market share for 25 – 41 year olds.

RTÉ RADIO ONE remains top dog in Ireland’s radio wars, with Morning Ireland staying the number 1 radio programme in Ireland in the latest JNLR figures.

The latest JNLR figures show Morning Ireland has 460,000 listeners, an increase of 43,000 listeners in a year and an increase of 12,000 since the last JNLR figures were released.

In addition:

  • Today with Sean O’Rourke is up 23,000 year-on-year, with 326,000 listeners.
  • The Ryan Tubridy Show saw a jump of 35,000 listeners year-on-year and 8,000 listeners book-on-book.
  • Liveline with Joe Duffy has 391,000 listeners tuning in every weekday. That’s an increase of 4,000 since the previous figures, or 24,000 listeners year-on-year.
  • News at One is the leading lunch time news programme across Ireland with 350,000 weekday listeners, a gain of 4,000 since the previous figures, and 43,000 year-on-year.
  • The Ray D’Arcy Show saw an increase of 2,000 since the last figures, and a jump of 34,000 listeners year-on-year to 217,000.
  • Drivetime with Mary Wilson remains the leading national evening programme in Ireland with 240,000 listeners, up by 23,000 listeners year-on-year.
  • Marian Finucane has 393,000 people tuning in on Saturday, up 1,000 since the last figures, and a gain of 27,000 year-on year. She has 325,000 listeners on Sundays.
  • Saturday with Claire Byrne has 238,000 listeners tuning in, with an 18,000 gain year-on-year.
  • The Business increased to 310,000 listeners, a gain of 11,000 since the last figures and jump of 41,000 year-on-year.
  • News/Papers/Countrywide made a jump of 8,000 since the last book to 212,000 and a gain of 12,000 year-on-year. 
  • Sunday with Miriam sees a gain of 15,000 year-on year, with 256,000 listeners tuning in.
  • Sunday Sport sees 178,000 listeners tuning in every Sunday, an increase of 1,000 since the last figures and 9,000 in a year.

RTÉ reaches just over 1.9 million radio listeners (adults 15+) every week.

unnamed RTÉ RTÉ

Meanwhile, RTÉ 2FM has a weekly reach of 22% (783,000), while RTÉ lyric has a weekly reach of 8% (288,000).

Head of RTÉ 2FM, Dan Healy said: “We are very satisfied with the survey results today. 2fm is just over six months into a complete re-haul and and re-brand of the station and we believe we are now well positioned both on and off air to reap the rewards of all the hard work put in by the team.”

Its show Breakfast Republic has 162,000 listeners, with the station having 148,000 listeners on a daily basis. The Nicky Byrne Show with Jenny Greene has 143,000 listeners while the Tracy Clifford Show has 121,000 listeners and the Eoghan Mc Dermott Show has 113,000 listeners.

Over on RTÉ lyric, there were a number of gains, including the John Kelly Ensemble (up 1,000 in the last quarter), Encore with Trish Taylor Thompson up 3,000 since the last book, and the Blue of the Night with Carl Corcoran gained 2,000 listeners since the last figures.

Jim Jennings, Managing Director of RTÉ Radio, said that: “In general, the overall radio market looks challenging but we believe that RTÉ is in a healthy state.”

Today FM

Over in Today FM, Ian Dempsey has 180,000 listeners, dropping from 187,000 in the last round of results. However, he had jumped by 6,000 listeners in the previous book.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper maintained its drive time audience of 132,000.

“The big thing for us is the market share in terms of the number one position for 25 – 41 year olds,” said a Today FM spokesperson.

That’s our target audience. It shows people come in to listen to Ian [Dempsey] and they stay listening to us.

Meanwhile the Anton Savage Show dropped slightly on the previous book to 175,000, which the station said mirrors a decline in the mid morning slot on other national radio stations including 2FM and Newstalk.

Dermot & Dave’s lunchtime show now has a listenership of 117,000 (down 4,000 since the last book) while Louise Duffy currently has 91,000 listeners (down 3,000 since the last JNLR figures).

Fergal D’Arcy, who is a new recruit to Today FM, made gains in his weekday audience of 2,000, which brought his new listenership to 25,000. In addition, he increased his Sunday show listenership by 4,000, meaning 53,000 tune in to him every week.

Saturday Breakfast presenter Alison Curtis saw yet more gains, and added 8,000 listeners to her morning show in the last quarter – that brought her audience to 149,000.

Phil Cawley’s Saturday show is also at 149,000 now after he increased his audience by 2,000. Neil Delamere’s Sunday Best gained 6,000 listeners, with an audience of 99,000.

The latest figures mean that Today FM retains its position as Ireland’s largest independent radio station, with a weekly audience of 878,000.

Today FM also increased its market share in Cork, the North-West and North-East regions.

The latest JNLR figures put daily listening at 83% of all adults – that’s almost three million listeners aged over 15 listening every weekday.

jnlr figures Ipsos MRBI Ipsos MRBI

The figures show:

National radio holds the majority share position in Dublin (57.4%) and the wider Dublin commuter belt (57.8%) while local/regional radio is in the majority in the other regions throughout the country, in particular achieving its highest share position in the North West (65.1%), Cork (62.2%) and South West regions (61.5%)

Read: RTÉ Radio 1 is still hammering the opposition in the radio wars>

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Aoife Barry
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