Thursday 5th November 2026: The latest JNLR figures show a significant surge in both Newstalk’s daytime and weekend audience, marking a major success for the station just eight months after the most significant schedule refresh in its history.
Almost every programme on Newstalk’s schedule saw audience increases with Claire Byrne charging ahead at mid-mornings, The Hard Shoulder also celebrating a jump in listenership and Pat Kenny hitting an all-time high in his weekend slot.
According to JNLR/Ipsos 2026-3 (October 2025 – September 2026) Newstalk now informs and entertains a weekly audience of 882,000 (+27,000 BoB), its highest weekly reach in the station’s history, and a daily audience of 511,000 (+27,000 BoB), underpinned by engaging interviews, notable guests and a consistent focus on delivering conversation that counts, across the station’s seven day offering.
Newstalk Breakfast with Anton Savage continues to attract a substantial audience of 167,000 (-1,000 BoB).
The Claire Byrne Show grew its mid-morning audience to 222,000, a huge jump of 12,000 listeners in the past 3 months.
The Hard Shoulder, hosted by Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman, also saw its evening audience grow with an increase of 17,000 (BoB) to 170,000.
Lunchtime Live with Andrea Gilligan continued its upward trajectory, with audience figures rising to 126,000 (+11,000 BoB) while Seán Moncrieff delivered further audience gains to reach 113,000 listeners (+8,000 BoB).
On weekday evenings, Off The Ball also saw its audience grow to 51,000 (+6,000 BoB).
Further successes were recorded across Newstalk’s weekend schedule, with several programmes achieving record-high listenership, and the station reaching its highest-ever weekend market share on both Saturday and Sunday, reaching 7.5% and 7% respectively.
The Pat Kenny Show, broadcast Saturday and Sunday 10:00am – 12:00pm, achieved record-breaking figures across both days for the station. Pat’s Saturday show now boasts an audience of 175,000 (+8,000 BoB), maintaining its title as the most listened to weekend show in Newstalk’s history. Pat’s Sunday show also achieved a record-high of 134,000 (+12,000 BoB).
Elsewhere on Saturday, Tech Talk with Jess Kelly also recorded its highest-ever audience, attracting 101,000 listeners (+10,000 BoB). Likewise, Screentime with John Fardy reached its highest-ever audience with 33,000.
There’s further record-breaking success showcased on Sunday, as Off The Ball with John Duggan attracted its largest audience to date in that timeslot with 162,000 (+29,000 BoB).
Newstalk’s market share climbed to8.3% (+0.5% BoB/+0.8% YoY).
Eric Moylan, Newstalk’s Managing Editor said: ‘’These are excellent figures. It clearly shows that the new schedule is landing with the public. We have more people tuning in across the entire week than ever before in the station’s history. Enormous credit must go to our hard-working teams behind the scenes. They are creating great radio that is being expertly delivered by our stellar presenters. There is significant growth over the past eight months on every part of our schedule; from early morning to afternoon and the drive home as well as our weekend line up which is reaching levels we have never seen before. As we continue to grow our mission stays the same: Cover the stories that matter to our listeners in a way that brings something new, engages and entertains.’’