Today FM closes in on RTÉ

COMPETITION between RTÉ and Today FM for key drivetime audiences is hotting up, according to the latest JNLR radio listenership figures published yesterday.

There is now just a gap of 20,000 listeners between RTÉ's 5-7 Live and Today FM's The Last Word the narrowest margin yet .

Both programmes recorded significant increases last year with 5-7 Live presenter, Rachel English increasing her audience by 8,000 to 212,000, while The Last Word added on 31,000 listeners to reach a record audience of 192,000.