RTÉ Radio 1’s flagship show Liveline has recorded a loss of 8,000 listeners, Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures reveal.
This brings its audience to an average of 299,000 per show. The data covers the 12 months to last June, with long-time host Joe Duffy’s departure coming at the end of that month.
RTÉ Radio 1 is the most popular station in the State, reaching 1.4 million listeners a week, JNLR figures show. Its market share of 35 to 54 year-olds has grown to 14 per cent.
But RTÉ 2FM suffered a loss of 37,000 since the last survey. It now reaches 677,000 listeners a week.
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Brendan O’Connor’s audience grew by 49,000 listeners on Saturdays since the last survey, taking it to 412,000. His Sunday listenership was up by 40,000 to 409,000.
Morning Ireland retained its place as the most listened-to programme on Irish radio. On weekdays, the show dropped 2,000 listeners since the last survey to register an audience of 469,000.
Today with Claire Byrne has 354,000 listeners, up 6,000 since the last survey, while Louise Duffy’s audience of 219,000 dropped 4,000. News at One recorded an audience of 298,000 – up 1,000 since the last survey.
Ray D’Arcy dropped 10,000 to reach 182,000, while Drivetime dropped by 4,000 to a listenership of 217,000. Sunday with Miriam saw an increase of 13,000 to 317,000.
“There has been a particularly strong performance at weekends in this book [of JNLR figures] with gains across the board,” Tara Campbell, head of RTÉ Radio 1, said.
“One of the standout performances has been the Brendan O’Connor Show, which now has a listenership of over 400,000 on both Saturdays and Sundays.”
Ms Campbell also paid tribute to Arena presenter Seán Rocks, who died last week following a brief illness.
“It’s important today to think of our wonderful colleague, the late Seán Rocks. Seán and his colleagues worked tirelessly to make Arena such an important programme in the schedule, and Seán’s family, friends and team remain in our thoughts,” she said.
Bauer Media Audio’s Today FM has 928,000 weekly listeners, with the station recording a daily reach of 499,000 and a market share of 8.4 per cent.
The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show’s audience of 213,000 is up 10,000 since the last survey; Dave Moore is up 5,000 to 198,000; while Ray Foley’s audience is recorded at 159,000, an increase of 6,000.
Louise Cantillon’s listenership also rose by 12,000, bringing her listeners to 119,000.
The Last Word with Matt Cooper went up significantly with an 18,000 increase since the last JNLR quarterly report, bringing the show to 181,000.
Pat Kenny’s show on Newstalk remains the most popular programme on commercial radio, with 216,000 listeners, down 8,000 from the last survey.
Andrea Gilligan’s Lunchtime Live audience is down 10,000 to 124,000; and Seán Moncrieff’s listenership remains stable at 108,000.
At the weekend, market share increased for The Anton Savage Show, whose Saturday figures are up 6,000 to 139,000.
Off the Ball is up 1,000 to 158,000 on Saturday. A boost of 9,000 since the last survey brings its Sunday audience to 155,000.
The JNLR survey, compiled on behalf of the radio industry by research firm Ipsos, shows 3.97 million people listened to the radio every week over the past 12 months.
