RTÉ is winning at weekends, but things are not so rosy at 2FM
It is responsible for 18 of the 20 most popular programmes on air, and many of its Radio 1 programmes, though not all, are doing well. More people than ever are listening to Lyric FM, while Raidio na Gaeltachta listenership is also up. However, the situation at 2FM does not look so rosy.
The latest figures from the Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) survey span the year from July to June. The book-on-book figures look at the second quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of the year, while year-on-year compares the second quarter of this year with the same period last year. Pic: Kinlan Photography.
Weekends are the big winners at Radio 1, and Brendan O'Connor is the standout success with his Saturday morning show gaining 72,000 listeners since the same time last year to reach an audience of 412,000. And his Sunday audience is 409,000, up 63,000 year-on-year.
The Business, which airs before O'Connor on Saturdays, has gained 20,000 in the past year, to hit 351,000 listeners. And the earlier Playback is up 14,000 to reach an audience of 351,000. Additionally, Saturdays With Colm Ó Mongáin, which airs after O'Connor, is up 13,000 year-on-year to reach an audience of 229,000.
On Sundays, Miriam O'Callaghan's show has gained 8,000 listeners, while This Week is up 17,000 to 200,000, with Sunday Sport also gaining. Pic: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos
During the week, Claire Byrne is holding her own, with 10,000 more people tuning in to reach 354,000. Oliver Callan has increased again with his 18,000 extra listeners, meaning his audience matches Byrne's at 354,000. This is more than his predecessor, Ryan Tubridy, was bringing in when he left RTÉ two years ago.
Byrne and Callan's gains appear to be at the expense of Newstalk's Pat Kenny, who lost 28,000 listeners, falling from 244,000 last year to 216,000 this year. But it's not all good news at RTÉ.
The broadcaster's flagship weekday programme, Morning Ireland, is down 17,000 year-on-year, from 486,000 this time in 2024 to 469,000. And the News At One and Liveline have lost 2,000 and 3,000 listeners respectively. It will be interesting to see how Liveline fares in the next survey, now that Joe Duffy has left the building. Matt Cooper. Pic: Fran Veale
The figures also showed that TodayFM is rising in popularity, with the station enjoying a weekly audience of 928,000 listeners from April until the end of June, a rise of 33,000 book-on-book.
The Last Word with Matt Cooper netted an impressive 18,000 new daily listeners while The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show gained 10,000 in the same period.
Back at RTÉ, the vibes are not good at 2FM. Station head Dan Healy put it down to it being 'early days for the new 2FM schedule'.
Former Breakfast Show star Doireann Garrihy rejoined the station in January, just eight months after leaving. She is now presenting the 3pm-6 pm drivetime gig, which has an audience of 125,000, a drop of 32,000 since this time last year, which itself was a decrease from when The 2 Johnnies were in the slot.
Laura Fox, in the 9 am-12 pm slot, has an audience of 122,000, a drop of 19,000 from 12 months ago, while 2FM Breakfast has lost 10,000 listeners.
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5 hours ago
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Extra.ie
6 hours ago
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Rocky Horror Show wows audience
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