Thursday, 9 November: Radio listenership in Ireland is in a very healthy position, according to the latest Joint National Listenership Report (JNLR) which shows that close to 3.8million people (3,791,000) listen to the radio every week.
Bauer Media Audio Ireland, home to some of the country’s leading radio stations including Today FM, Newstalk, 98FM, SPIN 1038, SPIN South West and Cork’s Red FM now has a combined weekly reach of almost 2million listeners (1.98million) and a daily listenership of 1.28million, a further increase on the last published results in July.
Bauer Media Audio Ireland’s station portfolio now has an all adults prime-time market share of 24.7% which jumps to 35.5% for the 25–44-year-old audience demographic.
At a national level, both Today FM and Newstalk recorded big audience increases across their respective prime-time schedules.
Today FM continues to grow its audience, recording marked gains in daily reach, weekly reach and across its flagship shows. Today FM now has a daily listenership of 515,000 (+15,000 BoB) and an impressive weekly reach of 959,000 (+21,000 BoB). The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show continues in popularity with further audience growth in this latest report, the biggest breakfast show on commercial radio now has a listenership of 225,000 (+4,000 BoB) while The Last Word with Matt Cooper has increased its audience to 182,000 (+7,000 BoB) in the drive time radio timeslot.
Newstalk achieved big success in this report achieving all-time highs on all key audience metrics. The station entertains a daily audience of 466,000 (+27,000 BoB) while its weekly reach also increased significantly 822,000 (+24,000 BoB). Newstalk now has an all-time high national prime-time market share of 7.6% (+.6% BoB) and 11.4% (+1% BoB) in Dublin.
The Pat Kenny Show reinforced its position as Newstalk’s most listened to programme with 205,000 people tuning in daily, an increase of 25,000 listeners since the last survey. Lunchtime Live, presented by Andrea Gilligan now has an audience of 107,000 (+5,000 BoB) while in the afternoons Sean Moncrieff has reached a record 110,000 listeners (+7,000 BoB).
In Dublin, SPIN 1038 remains the most listened to music station on weekly reach with 267,000 listeners with its flagship breakfast show with Emma, Dave & Aisling heading towards a morning audience of 50,000 (47,000), while 98FM continues to increase its weekly listenership to 182,000 (+2,000 BoB).
SPIN South West has increased its market share to 12.6% and maintains its position of biggest station in the region across weekly and daily reach. SPIN South West also increased its breakfast and drive-time shows in this report.
In Cork, Red FM is the most listened to station on daily and weekly reach in the region and Neil Prendeville is the most listened to mid-morning show in the region, with an audience of 75,000.
Commenting on the results, Bauer Media Audio Ireland Interim CEO Chris Doyle said: ‘‘A huge thanks to all the team across Bauer for their dedication and creativity. The hard work and passion are connecting us with loyal audiences across Ireland and setting new records. It is fantastic to see Today FM and Newstalk achieving all-time highs in the latest results”.