Cork's Brendan O’Connor jumps ahead of Ryan Tubridy in listenership figures

Morning Ireland retained its position as Ireland’s most listened-to breakfast radio show, with 440,000 listeners

Brendan O’Connor's Saturday show had 338,000 listeners in April, May and June. Picture: Kinlan Photography

Brendan O’Connor now has the second most listened-to radio show in Ireland with more listeners than Ryan Tubridy.

The Cork broadcaster’s Saturday show had 338,000 listeners in April, May and June, according to the latest Joint National Listenership Report (JNLR) which collates radio listenership figures.

It came second to Morning Ireland, which retained its position as Ireland’s most listened-to breakfast radio show, with 440,000 listeners — an increase of 3,000 listeners from the previous three months.

The Ryan Tubridy Show was the station’s third most listened-to radio show in the months before the RTÉ pay scandal broke, with 334,000 listeners, down 1,000 listeners.

Mr Tubridy was taken off air and replaced with Oliver Callan towards the end of June in the wake of the scandal so that impact on listenership is not yet known.

Negotiations are under way at RTÉ about Mr Tubridy’s return to radio.

Today with Claire Byrne and Brendan O’Connor’s Sunday shows both came in fourth most popular at RTÉ, with 323,000 listeners each.

RTÉ Radio 1 remains the only station with a weekly reach of more than one million, at 1,370,000.

Radio listenership has again grown nationally, with close to 3.8 million people listening to the radio each week.

Ryan Tubridy: Negotiations are under way at RTÉ about his return to radio.

Today FM broke multiple records and achieved its largest audience in more than a decade in the latest JNLR report.

It saw a daily reach of 500,000, an increase of 34,000 from the previous three months, and the station’s weekly audience grew to 938,000 — a 55,000 increase from the previous three months.

Matt Cooper’s drivetime show, The Last Word on Today FM grew by 7,000 listeners from the previous three months to 174,000.

The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show audience now stands at 221,000, an increase of 13,000 listeners since the last JNLR report three months ago.

The Dermot and Dave Show grew its audience to 216,000 in the past quarter, a 12,000 increase from the previous three months. Presenter Dermot Whelan left the show last week, bidding an emotional farewell to listeners but Dave Moore is set to launch his new solo show on Today FM on Monday, August 28, with Dave Moore on Today FM.

Bauer Media Audio Ireland stations Today FM, Newstalk, 98FM, SPIN 1038, SPIN South West and Cork’s Red FM now have a combined weekly reach of 1.93 million listeners and 1.26 million daily listeners — a further increase on the last published results.

96FM’s Opinion Line with PJ Coogan had 68,000 listeners. Picture: Karl Hussey Photography

The stations also increased their share of audience listening, which now stands at 24.8% of prime-time listening among adults in Ireland and rising to 36.6% of 25-44 year olds.

This is the strongest audience result since Bauer Media arrived in Ireland in 2021.

Newstalk grew its weekly audience to 798,000, with a national prime-time market share of 7% and 10.4% in Dublin.

The Pat Kenny Show consolidated its position as Newstalk’s most listened-to programme with 179,000 people tuning in daily (up 6,000) while in the afternoons, Sean Moncrieff has achieved an all-time high of 103,000 listeners.

The battle between the Cork mid-morning talk shows continues, with RedFMs Neil Prendeville winning top slot in the latest figures, with 75,000 listeners.

96FM’s Opinion Line with PJ Coogan had 68,000 listeners.

Red FM is the most listened-to station on weekly and daily reach in the region but 96FM was ahead on market share figures, which includes metrics on how long a listener spent tuned into the station.