Radio has more listeners than ever
26 May 09
The Joint National Listenership Report (JNLR), comparing the April 2008-March 2009 year with the 2008 calendar year, showed an increase in the overall market for radio.
The survey shows that 86 per cent of the population listens daily to the radio, the highest figure since 2003. Some industry sources attribute this to the public thirst for news in difficult economic times, and point to the strong performance of Morning Ireland (up 13,000 to 450,000) and the News at One (up 16,000 to 351,000).
The report shows that Radio 1 is the big winner, achieving a 25 per cent average weekday reach, marking a gain of one percentage point from the last report and two points from the one before that (the term 'reach' refers to the number of people who tuned into a station on a given weekday).
RTÉ's 2FM suffered a drop in share to 11.6 per cent. Its big shows did not fare well, with Gerry Ryan dropping 11,000 listeners to 306,000 and the Colm and Jim Jim breakfast show down 3,000 at 191,000. Classical music station Lyric FM, which recently marked its 10th anniversary, held its share and reach at 1.7 per cent.
Newstalk's national reach held at 7 per cent, but its share rose 0.1 percentage points to 3.6 per cent. With new presenter Tom Dunne, who transferred from Today FM, Newstalk's mid-morning talk show is up 41 per cent year-on year. The station secured a one point gain to 12 per cent in its Dublin reach, although its Cork reach was just half that. George Hook added 8,000 listeners and passed 100,000 for the first time.
The weakest national performer was commercial operator Today FM, with a reach which fell by one point to 15 per cent and whose share dropped marginally to 10.6 per cent. Ian Dempsey, who had lost 1,000 listeners in the last JNLR, gained 2,000 to land at 235,000, but Ray D'Arcy and current affairs-focused host Matt Cooper both saw their shows lose ground.
Radio 1's dominance is greatest in Dublin. It holds a 31.4 per cent share of listenership, up 0.9 per cent. Music station FM104 comes next, with a 12.6 per cent share, followed by Dublin's 98FM on 11 per cent and 2FM on 10.1 per cent. Newstalk has a 7.3 per cent market share, ahead of Today FM on 6 per cent.
The most listened-to local station remains Highland Radio in Co Donegal, which increased its market share by 2.1 per cent to 62.4 per cent. Tipp FM rose 3.3 per cent to 52.3 per cent. In contrast, Mid-West Radio lost 4.1 per cent and is now listened to by 52.2 per cent of the local population. The least listened-to are Kfm, with 16.5 per cent; Galway Bay FM, at 20.6 per cent; and East Coast FM, at 27.1 per cent.
