RTÉ dominates listenership figures

RTÉ Radio 1 and 2FM continue to dominate the airwaves as figures show the national broadcaster remains the leader in the battle for the nation’s ears.

The latest JNLR figures show Radio 1 has 18 of the top 20 radio shows in the country with 1,885,000 people listening to the station every week.

Top of the pile again was Morning Ireland with 456,000 listeners every morning. Derek Mooney also added 23,000 listeners to 234,000 and jumped four places to the 12th most popular show on the airwaves.

There were also gains for Liveline, which added 12,000 listeners to 404,000 as well as for Today with Pat Kenny, Ronan Collins, News at One, Drivetime, Sport at Seven and Arena.

Today FM was also celebrating a growth in audience figures with the Ray D’Arcy show attracting 218,000 listeners daily. The station was quick to point out the presenter’s 218,000 daily listeners compared to Ryan Tubridy’s 202,000 listeners on 2FM.

However, RTÉ preferred to view things in a different light, using Tubridy’s quarter-hour average of 133,000 listeners compared to Ray D’Arcy’s 132,000.

Head of RTÉ 2FM John McMahon that Ryan Tubridy and Colm Hayes are making great programmes that speak to huge audiences every single day.

“It’s just a year since 2FM lost our great friend and broadcaster Gerry Ryan, and while his shoes can never be filled, these two new shows on 2FM have the unenviable task of filling that airtime, a task they’re tackling with great relish.

“We know it takes time for radio listeners to adjust to changes of this magnitude but we’re very confident we have the right presenters for the job in Ryan and Colm,” he said.

Managing director of RTÉ Radio Clare Duignan also expressed her satisfaction with the latest listenership figures.

“It’s another conclusive book for Radio 1. In fact figures don’t come much more conclusive than this.

“With stunning gains on weekdays and steady reach at a time of enormous commercial challenges, it’s clear that RTÉ Radio 1 is giving listeners what they want. I predicted almost a year ago that the seemingly never-ending gains at weekends would have to level off and, on Saturdays, they have. I do believe however that this is a plateau of a dramatic upward curve and has to be expected.

“RTÉ Lyric FM continues to grow at weekends and the significant percentage gains by some programmes is a tribute to the craft and attention that lyric pays to its output. Commercial weekday share for RTÉ Radio is up to 32.7%. The figures speak for themselves.”

Other notable gains were made by Q102, which continues to edge closer to FM104 and 98FM. In Cork, 96/103FM continues to dominate the market.