Thursday, 8th February: Radio listenership in Ireland continues to flourish, according to the latest Joint National Listenership Report (JNLR) which shows that 3.4million people tune into radio every weekday. When compared to 2022, today’s results show an increase of almost 200,000 listeners (193,000).
Bauer Media Audio Ireland, with a portfolio of national, regional and local stations including Today FM, Newstalk, 98FM, SPIN 1038, SPIN South West, Cork’s Red FM and more recently, iRadio now surpasses the 2million mark in weekly audience (2.16million). Daily listenership across Bauer Media stations now stands at 1.44million.
Bauer Media Audio Ireland’s station portfolio now has an all adults prime-time Market Share of 27.6% rising to 40.8% of 25-44 year olds.
At a national level, both Today FM and Newstalk saw big success with Newstalk recording its largest ever audience performance.
Newstalk saw increases across all audience metrics including Market Share at 8% (+.4% Bob) while the stations Weekly Reach now stands at 838,000 (+17,000 BoB) and Daily Reach at 480,000 (+14,000 BoB). All of Newstalk’s primetime schedule also achieved audience growth. Breakfast with Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman increased their listenership to 149,000 (+5,000) while Pat Kenny continues to be Newstalk’s most listened to show with an audience of 216,000 (+11,000 BoB).
Today FM maintained a Market Share of 9.7% in the latest results, retaining its No. 1 position in the Irish commercial radio market. Weekly Reach surged once again, now at 981,000 (+22,000 BoB) which is over 100,000 more year on year (106,000). Today FM’s daily audience reach also increased, to 520,000 (+5,000 BoB). Ian Dempsey, Dave Moore and Matt Cooper all grew their ratings with The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show now bringing in 228,000 listeners (+3,000 BoB) while Dave Moore on Today FM now commands the largest audience on the schedule with a listenership of 230,000 (+2,000 BoB). The Last Word with Matt Cooper increased its audience reach to 186,000 (+4,000 BoB).
In Cork, Red FM delivered a very strong performance, with growth across all key audience metrics. Today’s results position Red FM as the leading radio station in Cork with a Market Share of 20.8% (+1% BoB), Weekly Reach of 185,000 (+8,000 BoB) and a daily listening audience of 133,000 (+5,000 BoB). All daytime shows on Red FM saw their listenership increase too including Breakfast with KC which grew by 2,000 BoB to 49,000 while The Neil Prendeville Show also added 2,000 listeners bringing its audience to 76,000.
In Dublin, SPIN 1038 achieved its highest ever Breakfast audience with Emma, Dave & Aisling achieving a listenership of 50,000. 98FM increased its Weekly Reach once again, now standing at 186,000 (+4,000 BoB). 98FM’s Brian & Suzanne grew their audience in the past 3 months, now entertaining a Dublin audience of 28,000 daily.
SPIN South West has increased its Market Share to 13% (+.4% BoB) and maintains its position of biggest station in the region across Weekly and Daily Reach.
iRadio in its first set of listenership results as part of Bauer Media has delivered increases on all key audience measures, Market Share 7.2% (+ 0.2% BoB), Weekly Reach 345,000 (+6,000 BoB), Daily Reach 178,000 (+3,000 BoB).
Commenting on the results, Bauer Media Audio Ireland Interim CEO Chris Doyle said:
“This is an excellent set of results for the Bauer stations, now reaching the biggest weekly audience of any group in Ireland. Huge performances from Newstalk, Today FM and Red FM contributed to this record of 2.1million weekly listeners. More listeners, listening for longer to high quality and innovative audio makes Bauer the perfect partner for advertisers”