2FM the big winner as main shows see listenership up
RTÉ 2FM was the big winner in the latest radio listenership figures with all its main daily shows posting year-on-year increases in audience.
However, the Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) results made less happy reading for its sister station RTÉ Radio 1 with significant losses for its biggest shows.
At 2FM, one of the most notable increases was for Eoghan McDermott whose audience increased by 23,000 to 136,000, year-on-year.
Its morning show, Breakfast Republic, pulled in 18,000 more listeners bringing its total to 185,000.
Nicky Byrne and Jenny Greene’s audience rose by 9,000 to 148,000, while Tracy Clifford had 10,000 more listeners with her total now standing at 129,000.
“2FM continues to grow year on year, particularly within 15 to 34-year-olds, gaining 41,000 listeners (Adults 15+). Our share of this age group has grown from 11.2% to 13.6% year-on-year,” said Dan Healy, the station’s head.
However, at RTÉ Radio 1, all of the main shows were in deficit. This time last year, Sean O’Rourke saw a rise of 28,000 to 354,000. This year, that total fell by a significant 59,000 to 295,000.
Ryan Tubridy’s total fell by 32,000 to 304,000, while Ray D’Arcy’s fell by 21,000 to 205,000. Joe Duffy’s Liveline experienced a 24,000 decrease, meaning 370,000 are now tuning in, while Ronan Collins now has an audience of 203,000, down 26,000.
The declines were not quite so significant for the station’s news programmes, though Drivetime still suffered a 15,000 decline, leaving its total at 226,000.
Morning Ireland, the country’s most listened too programme still has 431,000 people tuning in, albeit that is 10,000 fewer year-on-year.
The fall for News at One was just 3,000 bringing its total to 332,000.
At Today FM, The Last Word with Matt Cooper experienced an 8,000 increase in audience meaning 138,000 are tuning in. However, the news was not so good for a number of other mainstay presenters at the station.
Ian Dempsey’s breakfast show suffered a decline of 4,000 bringing its total to 163,000 while Dermot and Dave’s audience of 162,000 is 14,000 less than a year ago.
Muireann O’Connell’s early afternoon show has 21,000 fewer listeners than when Al Porter was in that slot a year ago. She now has an audience of 101,000 while at 104,000, Fergal D’Arcy has 9,000 fewer listeners year-on-year.
The JNLRs made happier reading for Newstalk, with its Breakfast Show up 10,000 listeners year-on-year to 126,000.
The increase (15,000) was even bigger for Ivan Yates’ Hard Shoulder show, which now has 145,000 people tuning in.
Sean Moncrieff’s increase of 7,000 brings his total to 83,000, while Pat Kenny’s figure remained unchanged at 148,000.
Lunchtime Live’s increase was 2,000 bringing its total to 99,000 while Off The Ball had an increase of 4,000 bringing its total to 54,000.
In Cork, the battle of the morning talk shows continues with PJ Coogan’s Opinion Line on 96FM leading the way with 77,000 listeners, followed by Neil Prendeville on Red FM with 70,000 and Patricia Messenger on C103 with 41,000.
