Director General Kevin Bakhurst has thanked radio listeners for “sticking with RTÉ” amid the ongoing payments scandal, in response to the latest JNLR figures.
The latest JNLR listenership figures for the twelve months to the end of September were released on Thursday morning.
According to the latest report, RTÉ’s radio services reach 1,995,000 million listeners every week, and holds 16 of the top 20 radio programmes broadcasting in Ireland.
RTÉ Radio 1 remains the only station with a weekly reach of over +1 million (1,382,000) (+12.000 BoB and +16,000 YoY).
Meanwhile, RTÉ 2FM has a weekly reach figure of 727,000 Adults 15+ (+30,000 BoB), and RTÉ lyric fm has 313,000 listeners (+15,000 BoB) on a weekly basis.
Kevin Bakhurst, RTÉ Director-General, said: “Without a doubt this has been an extraordinarily challenging period for RTÉ.
“It is with gratitude then that I thank the listeners to RTÉ’s radio services for sticking with RTÉ, and with pleasure welcome the 16,000 additional listeners to Radio 1, the 49,000 additional listeners to 2fm, and the 7,000 additional listeners to RTÉ lyric fm (YoY).
“RTÉ staff and our presenters have delivered a diverse range of content that is clearly connecting with more and more people.
“As we prepare to set a new strategic direction for RTÉ, the latest listenership figures are an endorsement of the enduring popularity and value of public service media, direct from the audiences we serve,” he added.
According to the latest JNLR report, RTÉ Radio 1 reaches 880,000 listeners on weekdays.
Morning Ireland remains Ireland’s most listened to radio programme with 463,000 listeners this book (+23,000 BoB), while Ryan Tubridy’s old slot The Nine O’Clock Show has 347,000 listeners each weekday (+13,000 BoB).
Today with Claire Byrne from Monday to Friday has 331,000 listeners (+8,000 BoB), The Louise Duffy Show has 213,000 listeners (+1,000 BoB), The Ray D’Arcy Show weekday afternoons on RTÉ Radio 1 has 187,000 listeners (+4,000 BoB), while Drivetime has 219,000 listeners tuning in.
At the weekend, The Brendan O’Connor Show on Saturday has 335,000 listeners and 323,000 listeners on Sunday.
Saturday with Colm Ó’Mongáin has 206,000 listeners, while Sunday with Miriam has 272,000 listeners.
Moving on to RTÉ 2FM, the presenters have a lot to celebrate.
2FM Breakfast with Doireann, Donncha, and Carl has 149,000 listeners tuning in on weekday mornings (+11,000 BoB), followed by Jennifer Zamparelli on with 136,000 listeners (+3,000 BoB).
Tracy Clifford has 113,000 listeners (+6,000 BoB), and Drive It with The 2 Johnnies continues to entertain listeners across the country in the afternoons with 151,000 listeners (+11,000 BoB).
Dan Healy, Head of RTÉ Radio Strategy and RTÉ 2FM said: “2FM continues to grow audiences right across the seven days of our schedule.
“We have seen our share of 15 to 34 olds increase to 12.4% for this period off the back of excellent performances during the weekday for Doireann, Donncha, and Carl, Jennifer Zamparelli, Tracy Clifford and The 2 Johnnies.”
“In every radio market morning radio is the vital battle ground for radio stations, and I am thrilled for the entire Breakfast team for their continuous success with the show, which is up 11,000 listeners from the last survey. The 2 Johnnies are also up 11,000 listeners and have become a real appointment to listen, delivering a strong back end of the day for 2FM.”
“Our new weekend schedule has also done exceptionally well on both Saturday and Sundays for Bláthnaid Treacy, Laura Fox, Roz and Emma, and Aifric O’Connell. Roz Purcell and Emma Power’s Saturday show (12pm to 3pm) – which has been on air since February – increased by 20,000 listeners.
“This has been a challenging number of months for RTÉ, but as ever the team at 2FM have been focused solely on serving younger audiences in Ireland.”
