The general election in Ireland boosted radio listenership across the country, leading to record audience numbers. RTÉ Radio 1 and local and regional stations saw significant growth, with Brendan O'Connor's weekend program emerging as the most popular. Despite an overall slight decline in market share, RTÉ Radio 1 remained the dominant force, while RTÉ 2FM and Bauer Media Audio stations experienced mixed results. The JNLR survey revealed a thriving radio landscape in Ireland, with 3.9 million people tuning in weekly.
The general election in Ireland propelled listeners towards RTÉ Radio 1 and local and regional stations during the final three months of 2023. This surge in listeners across the radio market resulted in record levels of audience engagement. Amid this growth, Brendan O'Connor's weekend Radio 1 program emerged as the standout performer, attracting a significant increase in viewership.
O'Connor's Saturday audience jumped by 16,000 listeners to reach 358,000, the highest figure since the pandemic. His Sunday program witnessed an even more substantial surge, gaining 27,000 listeners and reaching 366,000, marking the highest audience in this time slot within the past decade.On weekdays, RTÉ Radio 1's flagship Morning Ireland program continued its reign as the most popular radio show in Ireland, adding 1,000 listeners to reach 466,000 for the calendar year. Other weekday shows also experienced growth, including Oliver Callan's program, which now boasts 349,000 listeners after a full year on RTÉ Radio 1 at 9am. Today with Claire Byrne, Louise Duffy's show, News at One, Joe Duffy's Liveline, Ray D'Arcy's program, and Drivetime all saw increases in their respective audiences. Despite this widespread growth in listenership, RTÉ Radio 1's overall market share experienced a slight decrease to 20.6 percent, down from 20.7 percent, as a result of the expansion of audiences for local and regional stations. These stations collectively captured a larger share of the market, reaching 53.7 percent. RTÉ 2FM, which is preparing to launch its newly announced schedule after a series of interim presenters, faced a more mixed performance. While its breakfast show audience increased by 10,000 to 152,000, and its drivetime show maintained its position at 145,000, the station's overall market share edged up slightly to 5.8 percent. However, RTÉ highlighted a more significant rise in its share among the target 15–34-year-old demographic, reaching 12.1 percent, up from 11.6 percent.Bauer Media Audio's national stations also experienced fluctuations in their performance. Newstalk's Lunchtime Live with Andrea Gilligan and Moncrieff saw notable increases in their listenership, while Today FM's Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis expanded its Sunday audience. However, The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, despite a slight decrease in viewership, remained the largest on commercial radio, attracting 237,000 listeners. Newstalk's national market share surpassed Today FM's, albeit with a slight decline from 8.5 percent to 8.4 percent, while Today FM's share fell from 8.9 percent to 8.3 percent. Today FM attributed the decline to the expiration of its record-breaking survey results from the final quarter of 2023, which fell outside the recent 12-month survey period.The Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) survey, conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the radio industry, revealed that 3.9 million people tuned into the radio every week in 2023, marking a 105,000 increase from the previous year. The average weekday audience listening between 7am and 7pm reached a record high of 1,095,000. Ciarán Cunningham, chief executive of Radiocentre Ireland, expressed his delight at the record audience numbers for Irish radio, emphasizing its central role in people's lives and the high-quality content consumed daily by millions of listeners.
RADIO LISTENERSHIP IRELAND RTÉ RADIO 1 LOCAL STATIONS RECORD NUMBERS BREAN O’CONNOR JNLR SURVEY
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