Pat Kenny: Could draw 70,000 to Newstalk.
Almost one in four of Kenny’s listeners on RTÉ Radio 1 is at risk of moving over to his new show which gets under way next month, according to a Core Media survey.
Eddie O’Mahony, trading director with Core Media, said that, based on how people feel, Kenny’s move to Newstalk could mean a minimum win of 70,000 new listeners for the station.
“Based on the numbers, I think it could be in the region of an additional €500,000 a year,” Mr O’Mahony said.
“Newstalk will get more revenue from more ‘spot’ advertising, sponsorship, and weekly promotional activities,” he said.
Core Media, a leading media buying group, said the findings were based on a national survey of 1,000 adults across the country.
It found 23% of current Kenny listeners were ‘very likely’ to listen to his new morning show on Newstalk, while 11% said they were also very likely to listen to the station’s other shows.
“This clearly puts News-talk on another level with potential listeners, and more than double the existing audience for this time slot,” Mr O’Mahony said.
Core Media points out that the research, conducted by group member Ignite Research, was carried out at the peak of publicity surrounding the Kenny move last week.
RTÉ Radio communications manager Maureen Catterson said Kenny’s replacement and changes in programme time slots would be announced at the station’s autumn programme launch on Aug 29.
The latest JNLR figures show that Today With Pat Kenny had average audiences of 328,000.
Ms Catterson said RTÉ had not ruled out appointing someone from outside the State’s broadcasting network.
“We know we have a lot of work to do to replace Pat but it is now very much a case of how we all move on from here,” she said.
“We are now into the next phase — Pat has gone. And Ryan (Tubridy) is right, we do need to come out fighting and we will do just that.”
Meanwhile, bookies Paddy Power, has News at One presenter Sean O’Rourke as the favourite to replace Kenny.
The bookmaker had been forced to slash the odds on O’Rourke taking over Kenny’s mid-morning slot after a steady flow of bets yesterday.
