Bounce for Oliver Callan as RTÉ show listenership increases after Tubridy departure

Oliver Callan (pictured) gained 13,000 listeners in the last three months after taking over from Ryan Tubridy.

The latest radio listenership figures make good reading for Oliver Callan in the wake of him stepping into the gap left by Ryan Tubridy as host of RTÉ's mid-morning show.

Callan has been a regular stand-in host for the hour-long slot with the likes of Brendan Courtney and Maura Derran also stepping into the hot seat since Tubridy's departure in August.

The Nine O'Clock Show gained 13,000 listeners in the last three months, according to the latest release from the JNLR.

Statistics show that 347,000 people tune in to the show, with strong performances from Today With Claire Byrne (up 8,000), and The Brendan O'Connor Show on weekends also breaking the 300,000 mark.

Morning Ireland remains the most popular radio show in the country, with 463,000 listeners, up 23,000 on three months ago. Overall, RTÉ's radio services reach around 48% of the adult population each week, with 1,995,000 listeners.

RTÉ Director-General Kevin Bakhurst thanked listeners for "sticking with RTÉ" during an "extraordinarily challenging period".

"It is with gratitude then that I thank the listeners to RTÉ’s radio services for sticking with RTÉ, and with pleasure welcome the 16,000 additional listeners to Radio 1, the 49,000 additional listeners to 2fm, and the 7,000 additional listeners to RTÉ lyric. 

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"RTÉ staff and our presenters have delivered a diverse range of content that is clearly connecting with more and more people. As we prepare to set a new strategic direction for RTÉ, the latest listenership figures are an endorsement of the enduring popularity and value of public service media, direct from the audiences we serve.” 

In the battle of the Cork stations, Neil Prendeville holds the bragging rights as the city's most listened to mid-morning show — with an audience of 75,000 listeners.

Neil Prendeville of Red FM. Picture: David Keane.

However, 96FM and C103 deliver a combined 35.4% market share between them in Cork.

Meanwhile at Today FM, The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show continued to rise in popularity, with an increase of 4,000 listeners from the previous data bringing his daily listenership to 225,000.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper saw a big jump in listenership of 7,000 to bring the overall figure to 182,000 at drive time. Overall, Today FM has a daily listenership of 515,000—a leap of 15,000 compared to the previous three months.

There were successes for Newstalk too, as their listenership went up by 27,000—with The Pat Kenny Show once again being their most listened to programme.

205,000 people tune in to the show every day—up 25,000 from the previous book—with Moncrieff also reaching a record 110,000 listeners.

Commenting on the results, Bauer Media Audio Ireland Interim CEO, Chris Doyle, said: ‘‘A huge thanks to all the team across Bauer for their dedication and creativity. The hard work and passion are connecting us with loyal audiences across Ireland and setting new records. It is fantastic to see Today FM and Newstalk achieving all-time highs in the latest results”.

Pat Kenny, Newstalk. Picture Nick Bradshaw 

Commenting on the results, Sean Barry, Managing Director of Wireless Ireland, said: "We’re delighted with the latest set of listenership figures as we look forward to building our audience further into the future. 

"These results also confirm that many new listeners joined our group of stations in the last year which is also pleasing. Our mix of great music, entertainment and relevant local content resonates strongly with our audiences.

"The continued growth across radio, digital audio, web and social media is testament to the hard work and dedication of all our teams across Wireless Ireland.”