RADIO 1′S CURRENT AFFAIRS shows are the main winners in the most recent JNLR radio listenership statistics, with Morning Ireland, Drivetime, the News at One and Pat Kenny all picking up listeners.

Morning Ireland remains Ireland’s most popular radio show, recorded an average listenership of 449,000 for the twelve months to December 2010 in the new figures published this evening, picking up 23,000 listeners on the most recent figures for the year ending September 2010.

Mary Wilson’s Drivetime picks up 5,000 listeners to boast an average listenership of 234,000 – putting further distance between the show and Today FM’s Matt Cooper, whose Last Word loses 1,000 listeners to sit at 158,000.

Today with Pat Kenny gains 4,000 listeners to stand at 324,000 – reversing a string of moderate losses in Kenny’s listenership – while the News at One gained 2,000 listeners to stand at 335,000.

2fm’s performance is also strong, cementing its status as Ireland’s second-most popular station ahead of Today FM. Ryan Tubridy’s 9am shot boasted an average listenership of 216,000, only 3,000 behind Today FM rival Ray D’Arcy whose programme is an hour longer, and who gains 1,000 listeners.

Today FM’s Ian Dempsey loses 10,000 listeners to stand at 166,000, while The Ray Foley Show stands at 152,000 and Tony Fenton 115,000.

Newstalk’s Breakfast Show has also lost listeners at the expense of RTÉ, falling by 2,000 to 71,000; Tom Dunne, however, gains 2,000 to stand at 73,000.

Damien Kiberd’s Lunchtime show picks up 3,000 listeners to give a new daily average of 64,000, while George Hook’s The Right Hook programme falls by 5,000 to 115,000.