RedFM proves a hit with youth

CORK-based youth-oriented radio station RedFM claimed yesterday that the latest JNLR figures made it the top choice for under-35s in its area.

While 96FM remains the number-one station in the county among all adults, with 35% of listeners compared to 20% for RTÉ Radio 1 and 17% for RedFM, the latter says that it has overtaken its rivals in its target young adult segment.

103FM attracted 14% of the overall adult listenership, with Today FM on 14%, RTÉ 2FM on 8% and Lyric FM on 3%.

In the first six months of this year in the under-35 “listened yesterday” category, RedFM led the way with 35%, compared to 25% for 96FM, and 7% for 103FM.

According to RedFM, its most successful show, the Red Rooster Breakfast Show, has grown its audience by 30%, ahead of Today FM’s Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show’s Gift Grub and 2FM’s Colm and Jim-Jim in the breakfast slot.

RedFM chief-executive Carol O’Beirne said: “When we launched a few years ago, our aim was to become the number-one station among 15 to 35s. Last year we achieved that, when we passed out 96FM in this sector, but now we have passed 96FM and its sister station 103FM combined.

“We have delivered what we set out to do and we are now the strongest radio option for advertisers to reach this important age group. The steady growth of the Red Rooster Breakfast Show continues to erode our competitors’ shows and we look forward to growing even further as Cork’s choice for young listeners.”