Thursday, 15th August: The latest JNLR listenership figures for the 12 months to the end of June 2024 have been released, showing further growth for Irish radio. Today’s results, show a daily radio audience of 3.87 million listeners.
Today FM remains on track to hit a weekly reach of 1million, with 988,000 listeners tuning in to the national station each week, over 50,000 more listeners than this time last year (-4,000 BoB / +51,000 YoY). While Today FM’s daily reach stands at 489,000 (-17,000 BoB), it’s the weekend schedule that saw a number of wins in the latest results, including Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis, KC on Today FM and Block Rockin’ Beats with Dec Pierce.
Ireland’s favourite alarm clock, The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show (06:00-09:00), now has 210,000 listeners (-6,000 BoB) tuning in each morning. This weekend will see Ian Dempsey make his Electric Picnic debut as he takes to The Today FM Sound Garden stage with Ian Dempsey’s Pick N’ Mix. On Saturday afternoon, the king of Breakfast will entertain festival goers with a mix of games, music and The Rose of EP where one lucky winner will be crowned the queen (or king!) of Electric Picnic.
Dave Moore on Today FM (09:00-12:00) marks his one-year anniversary of his show with 223,000 listeners, 7,000 more than this time last year (-5,000 BoB). Dave Moore continues to be the most listened-to show on the station.
Louise Cantillon (12:00-14:00), entertains a sizeable audience of lunchtime listeners with 131,000 tuning in (-8,000 BoB). One of the hardest-working women in Irish media, Louise has been out and about hosting her show live from various locations including last weeks’ Fleadh Ceol in Wexford as well as the Galway Races, where she was a judge for Best Dressed at the annual event.
Ray Foley in the afternoons (14:00 – 16:30) now holds an audience of 155,000 loyal listeners (-6,000 BoB). Ray Foley continues to be the most successful show in that timeslot in the history of Today FM. As well as Ian Dempsey, Ray is also gearing up for Electric Picnic this weekend as he takes a bus load of lucky listeners straight to the festival with Ray’s Rally to Stradbally, broadcast live on Today FM tomorrow (Friday).
The Last Word with Matt Cooper (16:30-19:00) recorded an audience of 171,000 (-10,000 BoB) in this book as he continues to entertain a sizeable audience of evening commuters.
It was another Block Rockin’ JNLR for Dec Pierce, his Saturday Block Rockin’ Beats Show (18:00-21:00) grew to 53,000 listeners (+9,000 Bob). The show continues to grow its cult following of rave fanatics. Block Rockin’ Beats will headline the Today FM Sound Garden stage at Electric Picnic on Friday for an unforgettable live performance. Commenting on another impressive JNLR results, Dec Pierce said:
“I want to thank everyone that tunes in every Friday and Saturday night to Today FM. This radio show holds a really special place in my heart, and it is such an honour to share the Block Rockin’ Beats music and madness with so many of you every weekend.”
Another weekend show on the rise is Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis. Alison continues to grow her army of weekend early risers as her Saturday show now stands at 189,000 listeners (-1,000 BoB , +4,000 YoY).
Finally, it was a great JNLR for Cork based Keith Cunningham, KC on Today FM (Saturday 2-6pm) now holds an audience of 141,000 listeners (+11,000 BoB). The show which is a mix of the music you love and live sports updates goes from strength to strength since KC went into the slot. Commenting on his great results KC said; “”Coming back to Today FM this year was so special for me, & now landing 11,000 new listeners each Saturday is something else. On Saturday afternoons we play the music you love, with the sports updates you need, and do lots of messin’ in-between. I can’t thank the loyal Today FM audience enough for supporting the show.”
Commenting on the figures, Fyona Smith, Managing Editor of Today FM said: “The Today FM team’s effort over the past year has led to significant growth. We’re excited to keep pushing forward to meet our audience’s expectations, continuing to strive to deliver entertaining and engaging moments is our key focus.”
James Brownlow, Managing Editor, Music & Entertainment at Bauer Media Audio Ireland commented: “This survey shows that radio across the country is thriving, especially within our Bauer Media portfolio. It’s as challenging as ever to be the best in market and for Today FM to once again achieve such fantastic market winning measures, in such competitive times, really is testament to the quality of work the team puts in for the Irish audience.