Radio continues to dominate Ireland’s audio landscape, with almost 3.5 million adults tuning in every weekday according to the latest JNLR/Ipsos figures, while commercial broadcasters posted major audience gains across national, regional and local radio.
The latest survey shows 78% of adults listen to radio every weekday, with weekly reach standing at 89% of the population. Among younger audiences, radio remains resilient, with 65% of 15 to 34-year-olds listening daily and 60% of 15 to 24s tuning in every weekday.
Live radio now accounts for 74% of all audio listening time in Ireland, far ahead of streaming and podcasts, while listening via smart speakers and mobile devices continues to rise, particularly among younger audiences.
Around 16,700 people were interviewed by Ipsos B&A for the Joint National Listenership Research report, which is commissioned by Ireland’s national, regional and local radio stations, AAI, IAPI and Coimisiún na Meán.
Local and regional radio continues to hold the majority share of listening minutes, with 53.8% during the 7am to 7pm period, compared with 46.2% for national radio.
Adults listening on weekdays spend an average of 219 minutes with radio each day, down one minute on the previous report.
Among 15 to 34-year-olds, daily listening stands at 65.4%, with local and regional radio taking a 63.5% share of listening minutes in that age group.
Local stations are heard by 34.5% of adults every day, with Highland Radio and Radio Kerry holding majority share positions in their own franchise areas.
The latest figures also produced strong results across the commercial sector, with gains for Today FM, Newstalk, Sunshine 106.8 and Bay Broadcasting, while Onic highlighted continued strength for its urban station portfolio.
See the facts and figures here.
Highlights
- RTÉ lyric fm has recorded its highest market share to date, while all weekday programmes made gains. It’s reaching 359,000 weekly listeners and a record 3.6% market share, up from 342,000 and 3.1% last time.
- Today FM remains Ireland’s biggest commercial radio station with 954,000 weekly listeners, up 13,000 book-on-book and 40,000 year-on-year.
- The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show reached a record 232,000 listeners, its highest audience ever.
- Newstalk increased market share to 7.8%, with Sean Moncrieff adding 9,000 listeners to reach 101,000.
- Sunshine 106.8 became Dublin’s biggest music station with a weekday market share of 9.7%.
- Bay Broadcasting claimed a combined 23% share of Dublin listening across Radio Nova, Classic Hits Radio and Sunshine 106.8.
- Classic Hits Radio increased its Dublin share by almost 50% year-on-year to 4.4%.
- Live 95 posted one of the strongest local performances in the country with a 23.1% primetime share.
- Connected listening among 15 to 34-year-olds has now reached 17%, with smart speakers accounting for 9% of listening in the age group.
- FM104 attracted 261,000 weekly listeners in Dublin with a 7.1% primetime share.
Around the stations
RTÉ remains Ireland’s most-listened-to radio group with a 28.8% market share and almost two million weekly listeners, although that is slightly down from the 29% share reported in the previous book.
RTÉ Radio 1 is still Ireland’s biggest station with 1,356,000 weekly listeners, down from 1,388,000 last time. Morning Ireland remains the country’s biggest radio programme but has fallen from 467,000 to 452,000.
RTÉ 2FM has held a 5% overall share and a 9.3% share among 15 to 34-year-olds, but its young audience share is down from 10.4% in November. Tracy Clifford signed off from the afternoon show with 102,000 listeners, down 3,000 compared to the previous report.
Patricia Monahan, Director of Audio at RTÉ, said: “I’m really heartened to see RTÉ lyric fm is at an historic high in its market share.”
Tara Campbell, Head of RTÉ Radio 1, said the station’s new schedule continues to bed in, with growth across several weekend programmes.
Dan Healy, Head of RTÉ 2FM, described the result as stable and said the station’s new schedule had settled in well.
Sinéad Wylde, Head of RTÉ lyric fm, said the results showed how the station’s presenters and production teams continue to connect with listeners.
Today FM recorded some of the strongest growth nationally, with The Last Word with Matt Cooper climbing to 192,000 listeners, its best performance in more than 15 years.
The station’s daytime schedule also grew, with Dave Moore up to 206,000 listeners, Louise Cantillon rising to 135,000 and Ray Foley reaching 166,000.
Newstalk’s first survey since its major daytime schedule overhaul produced mixed results. Weekly reach dipped slightly to 846,000, down 3,000, but daily reach increased to 466,000 and market share rose by 0.3 points.
Andrea Gilligan added 5,000 listeners at lunchtime, while Moncrieff delivered one of the station’s biggest gains. The Hard Shoulder with Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman also grew by 4,000 listeners.
SPIN1038 remains the most popular Dublin station among 15 to 34-year-olds. Steve K’s drivetime show is up 1,000 to 64,000, while Jamie and Faye have regained the leading nighttime position in Dublin for the same age group.
98FM held share at 5.3%. Leanne Hanafin’s 10am to 1pm show is up 3,000 to 29,000, while Mark McCabe’s Saturday programme also increased reach.
Cork’s Red FM remains the most listened to station in Cork, although weekly reach fell by 5,000 to 155,000 and listening share slipped 0.4 points to 18.9%. The Neil Prendeville Show is up 1,000 to 73,000.
iRadio remains the most popular station for 15 to 24s and 15 to 34s in the North East and North West regions.
Beat’s audience share fell by 0.8 points to 14%, but it remains the most listened to station in the South East for 15 to 34s and 20 to 44s.
SPIN South West’s Eoghain Fitz remains the most listened-to drivetime show in the region, though his audience is down 2,000 to 51,000.
In Dublin, Sunshine 106.8 increased weekly reach to 221,000 listeners, up 29,000 year-on-year. Sunshine’s More Music Drive with Carol Dooley is now Dublin’s biggest commercial weekday radio programme with 77,000 listeners.
Sunshine Gold with Joe Harrington also became Dublin’s biggest commercial weekend programme with 80,000 listeners.
Bay Broadcasting strengthened its position in the capital through the combined performance of Radio Nova, Sunshine 106.8 and Classic Hits Radio.
Meanwhile, Onic highlighted strong performances for its city stations, including Cork’s 96FM, C103 and LMFM, while also expanding its digital portfolio through the Fáilte DAB trial.
The group has more than 750,000 weekly listeners across its FM stations, rising to 936,000 when commercial partner stations WLR FM and Galway Bay FM are included in its urban sales package.
Q102 posted a 4.7% primetime share in Dublin with a weekly audience of 166,000.
Radiocentre Ireland CEO Ciarán Cunningham said the results reflected radio’s ability to evolve alongside changing listening habits while continuing to connect audiences and communities.
Today FM Managing Editor Nathan Murphy said the results reflected growth across every prime-time show, with particular credit for Ian Dempsey’s record audience and Matt Cooper’s continued growth.
Newstalk Managing Editor Eric Moylan said the early performance of the revised schedule was encouraging, particularly the improvement in market share.
Bauer CEO Chris Doyle said the figures showed the group’s stations were continuing to connect with audiences and build momentum with advertisers.
Sean Ashmore, CEO of Sunshine 106.8, said the figures reflected strong listener loyalty and growth across the station’s key measures.
Bay Broadcasting CEO Kevin Branigan said the Dublin results showed Bay continuing to outperform larger rivals through audience connection and programming focus, while early feedback to the group’s new DAB services had been encouraging.
Onic’s Group Content Director Mark Cunning said the latest figures showed continued strength for the company’s local radio brands alongside expansion across digital platforms.
