The latest JNLR Ipsos survey says radio accounts for 74% of all audio listening time in Ireland.

That means almost 3.5 million adults tuning in each weekday.

The figures show 78% of adults listen each weekday and 90% tune in every week, with local and regional stations attracting 2.3 million adults daily and younger audiences remaining engaged as 66% of fifteen to thirty-four year olds listen on weekdays including 61% of those aged fifteen to twenty four.

Ciarán Cunningham, Chief Executive of Radiocentre Ireland, said: “Radio continues to play a vital role in Irish society, reaching millions of people every day and remaining a trusted and valued part of people’s lives,” adding that the results highlight “the unique power of radio to connect communities, create emotional engagement and deliver real impact for audiences and advertisers alike.”

Observations

• Breakfast change: Radio Nova’s PJ Gallagher and Jim McCabe have claimed the top breakfast show in Dublin spot, overtaking FM104’s Strawberry Alarm Clock for the first time in decades.
• Talking the talk: Newstalk increases by another 17,000 to reach 849,000.
• Biggest show today: The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show remains the most listened to show on commercial radio, up 6,000 to 224,000 at Today FM.
• More for one: Radio 1 adds 12,000, taking it to 1.38m listeners
• Fewer for two: 2FM drops 8,000 to 645,000 this book, although Kieran Cuddihy and David McCullagh are starting to add audience for Doireann Garrihy
• Out on a high: Pat Kenny left his 9am-12pm slot with 206,000, up 10,000

 

RTÉ

RTÉ retains a 29% market share with almost two million people listening every week.

RTÉ Radio 1 has grown its share among all adults to 20.3%, with weekly reach up 12,000 to 1,388,000 listeners. For the first time, four flagship shows now exceed 400,000 listeners, led by Morning Ireland on 467,000 and Today with David McCullagh on 440,000. Weekend programming also posted year-on-year gains, including Brendan O’Connor on Saturday, up 71,000.

Patricia Monahan, Director of Audio at RTÉ, said: “This book shows that RTÉ Radio 1 is delivering across seven days.”

RTÉ lyric fm increased its share again to an all-time high of 3.1%, reaching 342,000 listeners weekly. Several programmes recorded year-on-year growth, including Marty in the Morning and Opera Night.

RTÉ 2FM reaches 645,000 listeners each week. Its weekday Drive show with Demi Isaac and Mikey O’Reilly recorded a 2,000 book-on-book increase to 126,000.

Dan Healy, Head of RTÉ 2FM, said: “We have experienced a small dip in our adult market share.”

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta reports a weekly audience of 103,000.

Bauer

Bauer Media Audio Ireland has 2.27 million weekly listeners and now reaches more than 1.5 million listeners each day and holds a 28.1% share among all adults, rising to 41.6% for 20 to 44 year olds.

Today FM recorded a 9% market share, up 0.2 points book on book, with weekly reach at 941,000 and daily reach at 504,000. Ian Dempsey’s breakfast show grew to 224,000 listeners, while Ray Foley increased to 159,000 and Louise Cantillon reached 130,000.

Newstalk’s weekly reach rose to 849,000, with daily reach at 461,000 and a 7.5% share. Pat Kenny attracted 206,000 listeners, and Anton Savage closed his weekend programme with 164,000 on Saturdays. Down To Business with Bobby Kerr reached 137,000, while Off The Ball with John Duggan posted 161,000 on Saturday and 157,000 on Sunday.

Regionally, 98FM increased share to 5.3%. SPIN1038 lifted share to 5.5%. Red FM remained the most listened to station in Cork with a 19.3% share. iRadio grew weekly reach to 343,000, and Beat achieved a record 187,000 weekly listeners.

Chris Doyle said: “This is another strong set of results for Bauer and for the wider audio sector. Our stations continue to earn the trust and attention of millions of listeners every day, and that’s a foundation we never take for granted.”

Onic

Onic stations reach 782,000 (17.6%) of adults every week, with 511,000 listening to Onic brands every day.

Alongside commercial partner stations WLR FM and Galway Bay FM, the Onic Urban package delivers a combined weekly audience of 979,000 adults.

In Dublin, FM104 records 274,000 weekly listeners (down 4,000) and a 7.4% market share, while Q102 reaches 172,000 weekly with a 4.7% share. In Cork, Cork’s 96FM reports 112,000 daily listeners and 147,000 weekly, with market share up 2.4 percentage points year on year to 17%. C103 reaches 77,000 daily and 105,000 weekly.

Live 95 in Limerick posts a 28% share with 85,000 weekly listeners, while LMFM in Louth and Meath reports a 35.2% share and 119,000 weekly reach.

Mark Cunning, Group Content Director of Onic, said: “These results reaffirm that Onic’s strategy of delivering high-quality content is resonating with Irish listeners.”

Around the stations

Ireland’s Classic Hits Radio has increased its market share for the sixth time in a row in the latest JNLR ratings, bringing the the station up to 6.8% share in the Multicity city franchise area of Dublin, Cork, Limerick & Galway. The station is now virtually neck and neck with Today FM (7%) in the Multicity area, continuing a 4-year run of ratings increases for the station. It has also seen increases in many of its key shows across its programme schedule with Gareth O’Callaghan’s Saturday morning show now with 119,000 listeners and increases of 3,000 each for Colm & Lucy in the Morning (+3,000) and Trina Mara at Work.

CEO Kevin Branigan said, “We are so gratified by the continued increases in listenership and market share that we have experienced in recent JNLR books and we really owe it all to our listeners for continuing to listen in such large numbers”.

There’s continued growth for WLR, with weekly reach now standing at 73,000 listeners. That represents an increase of 7,000 listeners year-on-year, and further growth compared to the previous book.

Michael Byrne, CEO of WLR FM, said: “We’re absolutely delighted with these results. It shows that people are not only tuning in but staying with us. The team across the station has done outstanding work, and these figures reflect the connection WLR continues to have with listeners across Waterford.”

Radio Nova is the leading music radio station in the competitive Dublin marketplace, with almost 30% more share of listening than FM104 and almost double that of Today FM.

Reacting to the news that they’ve got the biggest breakfast show in Dublin, PJ Gallagher said “After Jim McCabe tolerating everything with me for such a long time it’s absolutely fantastic to see him get something out of it after all this hard work and thanks to him bringing me along for the ride. I absolutely love working with Jim and it’s just such a nice thing to have that number one beside his name now because it’s definitely not me that deserves it as anyone who listens to the show will know.”

Jim McCabe said: “Such amazing news! I actually thought PJ was a bit overcome. He turned bright red – like a strawberry! Turned out it was just trapped wind but still!”

Tipp FM’s Market Share has climbed almost 10% year‑on‑year. The station now reaches 88,000 listeners every week in Tipperary, an increase of 8,000 people in just 12 months. Programme Director Stephen Keogh says the results are a testament to the bond between the station and the people of Tipperary.

Radio Kerry has recorded significant growth – the station now reaches 90,000 listeners each week, with market share increasing from 54% to 57.2%. Daily reach has grown to 48.9%, while Average Quarter Hour listenership stands at 24,708.

Commenting on the results, Radio Kerry Group CEO Fiona Stack said: “We are absolutely delighted with these figures. They reflect the incredible loyalty of our listeners and the dedication of our entire team. In a competitive and changing media landscape, local content, trusted news and strong community engagement remain central to what we do.”

Other key results from the latest JNLR/Ipsos survey include:

• 90% of all adults and 84% of 15–34-year-olds listen to radio every week.

• 66% of 15–34-year-olds listen each weekday, while daily listening among the hard-to-reach 15–24-year-old cohort remains strong at 61%.

• 77% of ABC1 adults listen to radio each weekday, while the figure for the main shopper is 80%.

• Listening to local and regional radio remains very strong, with 2.3 million adults tuning into their local or regional station every weekday.

• 96% of adults listen to audio every week. Live radio accounts for 74% of total audio time, followed by music streaming (13.5%), YouTube Music (6%), and podcasts (3.5%).

• 12% of all radio listening is via connected devices — 8% through a smart speaker and 3% via a mobile device. Among 15–34s, 17% of listening is via connected devices with 9% of all listening through smart speaker and 7% through mobile.