A record 3.5 million people are now tuning in to radio every weekday across Ireland, the highest figure recorded by the JNLR/Ipsos survey.
That number is up by 57,000 listeners compared with the same time last year, and includes the busiest time of day on radio – between 9.00 and 9.15 a.m. – when 1.65 million people are listening, equal to 35% of the adult population.
Almost four out of five adults in Ireland (79%) now listen to radio on a weekday. While that’s slightly below the 84% recorded a decade ago, the overall daily radio audience has grown broadly in line with population increases.
Listening among 15–24 year olds has seen a long-term percentage decline, reflecting the growth in digital media, but the reach remains high at 63% every weekday. With more people in this age group than ever before, the actual number of 15–24s listening to radio daily has reached a new peak of 686,000.
Local and regional stations also remain strong, with more than 2.3 million adults choosing a local service on weekdays. Regional weekday listening figures are: 74% in Dublin, 78% in the rest of Leinster, and 84% in both Munster and Connacht/Ulster.
Among other highlights:
* 90% of adults and 85% of 15–34s listen to radio each week
* 68% of 15–34s tune in on weekdays
* 79% of ABC1 adults and 81% of main shoppers listen daily
* 12% of all radio listening is now done through a connected device
* For 15–34s, that figure rises to 19%, with smart speakers and mobile devices both used by around 7.5%
The figures also support findings from the Irish Audio Report, which showed that live radio continues to dominate audio habits, with a 76% share of total audio listening, compared to 12% for music streaming and 3% for podcasts.
In Dublin, competition between Ireland’s Classic Hits Radio and Today FM is growing. Classic Hits Radio has reached its highest ever audience levels, now tying with Today FM for primetime market share across the multicity franchise area, according to today’s JNLR results.
The station posted a 6.5% market share (7am–7pm) across the country’s most populated counties — including Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow and Clare — home to around 2.6 million people.
This places Classic Hits on equal footing with Today FM, and ahead of RTÉ 2FM, which holds a 4.3% share.
Classic Hits also increased its daily reach to 210,000 and weekly reach to 383,000.
CEO Kevin Branigan said the figures marked a turning point for the station: “It’s a major milestone for us to be neck and neck with Bauer’s heritage brand Today FM in the large multicity franchise area of 2.6 million people. Radio is changing and listeners choose what they want to listen to.”
BAUER
Bauer Media Audio Ireland has once again claimed the largest radio audience in the country in terms of weekly and daily reach (listened yesterday), with 2.28 million adults tuning into one of its stations every week.
The group now holds 28.8% of the national primetime market, and a 41.52% market share among 20–44-year-olds, according to the latest JNLR figures.
For comparison, RTE’s market share is just above at 29%.
Today FM increased its weekly audience to 928,000, with 499,000 people listening daily. The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show remains the most listened to commercial radio breakfast programme with 213,000 listeners, while The Last Word with Matt Cooper saw a sharp increase to 181,000. Dave Moore, Ray Foley and Louise Cantillon also grew their audiences.
Weekend programming also saw further audience growth. Alison Curtis’s Saturday show increased by 9,000 to 186,000, Ben Murray added 9,000 to hit 180,000, and Dara Quilty’s Sunday audience grew to 152,000. KC’s Saturday show reached 148,000, up 7,000 year-on-year.
Newstalk reached 871,000 listeners weekly, with The Pat Kenny Show remaining the most listened-to programme on commercial radio at 216,000. The Hard Shoulder added 12,000 listeners and now reaches 165,000, while Off The Ball hit a joint record 59,000 on weekday evenings and saw further increases on Saturdays and Sundays.
Nationally, Newstalk’s market share remains steady at 8.2%, with a weekly audience of 871,000 and a daily reach of 498,000.
Anton Savage set a new record for his Saturday morning show, now at 139,000.
Outside of the national stations, Cork’s Red FM continues to lead locally, with 174,000 tuning in each week and 20.9% market share. The Neil Prendeville Show attracts 82,000 listeners, while Colm O’Sullivan’s Home Run grew to 60,000. Red FM Breakfast with KC increased to 54,000.
SPIN 1038 maintained its lead with younger listeners in Dublin with a weekly reach of 155,000, while SPIN South West recorded 160,000 listeners and 13.3% market share.
iRadio grew across all major metrics. It now has a market share of 9.3%, a weekly reach of 335,000 and daily reach of 192,000. The biggest programme on the station, Dave & Fionnuala, rose to 91,000.
Beat 102-103 added 1,000 new listeners to reach 182,000 each week, with Beat Drive growing to 51,000.
Across the board, Bauer’s national and regional stations saw either increases or stability in most key shows and time slots.
Chris Doyle, CEO of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, said the group would continue to build on the latest results and focus on entertaining existing listeners while bringing in new ones.
ONIC
Onic has posted continued growth in both market share and reach, according to the latest JNLR figures released today.
The radio group now reaches 516,000 adults every day across Ireland, giving it an 11.7% national daily reach. Weekly, Onic connects with 793,000 listeners – or 18% of the adult population. Its national market share has also grown, now standing at 10.6%.
These increases mean the Onic group, which includes FM and DAB+ stations as well as podcast and sports content, is reaching nearly one million weekly listeners through its Urban National Package. That includes Galway Bay FM (131,000) and WLR (67,000), along with other services.
Elsewhere across the country, there were gains for individual Onic stations. Cork’s 96FM grew its market share (7am–7pm) to 17.5%, and when combined with sister station C103, the weekly reach across Cork stands at 224,000 listeners.
In Dublin, FM104 reached 265,000 adults weekly, while Q102 now reaches 170,000.
LMFM continues to dominate in Louth and Meath, increasing its market share to 36.4% and achieving a daily reach of 73,000. In Limerick, Live 95 reaches 62,390 listeners each day.
Sean Barry, Managing Director of Onic, said the latest figures show the strength of their FM and digital platforms. He said: “These results highlight the importance of our content in the daily lives of our listeners. Onic is committed to enhancing the offering to our listeners through our core services and new digital products.”
The latest results reflect a strong showing for the radio industry overall, with 90.2% of adults tuning in each week – a total of 3.973 million listeners aged 15 or over.
RTÉ
With a 29% market share, RTÉ’s radio services are the most-listened-to in Ireland for All Adults. RTÉ now holds 18 of the top 20 programmes and the entire top 10.
RTÉ Radio 1 stays ahead of all stations nationally with a weekly audience of 1.4 million and a 14% market share among 35–54 year olds. It also continues to hold 18 of the country’s top 20 radio programmes, including the entire top 10.
Morning Ireland remains Ireland’s most listened-to radio show, drawing 469,000 listeners. Both Today with Claire Byrne and Oliver Callan have 354,000 daily listeners, and weekend programming has seen notable increases. Brendan O’Connor added over 70,000 year-on-year, now reaching over 400,000 listeners on both Saturday and Sunday.
Joe Duffy’s last survey showed 299,000 listeners – down 8,000.
RTÉ 2FM reaches 677,000 people each week and holds a 10.3% share of the 15–34 audience. 2FM Breakfast attracts 139,000 listeners, Laura Fox has 122,000, and Doireann Garrihy entertains 125,000 on weekday drive. Weekend shows have also grown, with Demi & Mikey reaching 127,000 on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
RTÉ lyric fm has achieved a record national market share of 2.8%. The station now reaches 329,000 weekly listeners. Marty in the Morning increased to 75,000, and Classic Drive with Lorcan Murray grew by 7,000 year-on-year to 64,000.
Raidió na Gaeltachta also saw gains, with 102,000 weekly listeners.
Across the entire RTÉ portfolio, the organisation holds a 29% national market share, the highest of any broadcaster, with gains across music, entertainment, current affairs and cultural programming.
ELSEWHERE
Radio Nova has scored another all-time high daily and weekly listenership, with 269,000 tuning in every week and 159,000 daily.
The station has also shown strong growth in its breakfast and mid-morning shows, with growth across the schedule generally
CEO / Programme Director, Kevin Branigan, said, “We’re delighted with the latest set of results. Not only are daily and weekly listenership again, we continue to the the largest music station across the entire Dublin Commuter Belt region, showing that Radio Nova continues to be seriously addictive for so many people”
WLR has maintained its position as the most listened-to radio station in Waterford, with 70,000 people tuning in each week and 50,000 listening daily.
Michael Byrne, CEO of WLR FM, welcomed the latest results and said they reflect the station’s strong relationship with its audience and local business community.
Tipp FM has hit a new high, reaching 84,000 weekly listeners, according to the latest JNLR figures. The station is comparing this to surpassing the capacity of Croke Park locally.
And South East Radio has gained 4,000 new listeners over the past three months, bringing the daily total to 53,000 adults.
For the fourth consecutive quarter, Kfm has increased its listenership, bringing an overall increase over the last 12 months of 5.1%. CEO Clem Ryan says the latest research is a major reflection of the power of radio and a huge vote of confidence in Kfm: Kildare’s local radio station.
“Our results are extremely encouraging given that county Kildare is officially part of the Dublin Commuter Belt, has experienced decades of population influx from other counties, mainly Dublin; resulting in Kfm having competition from up to a dozen national, regional and Dublin local stations which are all heard throughout Kildare.”
This story first appeared on Radio Today