Late Late Show contender Brendan O’Connor has suffered a blow after his radio shows lost more than 20,000 listeners.
His RTE Radio 1 Saturday show figures dropped 11,000 to 327,000 while his Sunday show was down 10,000 to 319,000 according to latest Joint National Listenership Ratings.
Miriam O’Callaghan’s audience also fell by 25,000 in the last quarter bringing her audience to 292,000. But the station made small gains since their last two books – which promoted crunch talks with station bosses at the time.
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Morning Ireland saw a 4,000 rise to 437,000 and Ryan Tubridy gained 4,000 extra listeners. He now has 335,000 tuning in each morning.
Claire Byrne saw a 6,000 increase bringing her audience to 327,000. But newbie Louise Duffy, who took over from Ronan Collins earlier this year shipped 9,000 listeners of her mid-morning slot and now has 213,000.
Bryan Dobson’s News At One saw a 11,000 drop to 299,000 while Joe Duffy’s Liveline also lost 4,000 listeners. Joe now has 306,000 tuning in.
Ray D’Arcy celebrated an extra 4,000 listeners – his afternoon show now has 181,000, while Drivetime gained 6,000 listeners, with hosts Sarah McInerney and Cormac O hEadhra with 214,000.
Radio 1 chief Peter Woods said: “The increase in the listenership across the morning and late afternoon is very welcome. It’s a tribute to the focus and commitment of our teams and we will continue to refine our output.
“Weekend programmes have always fluctuated – but the position of so many of those programmes in the top 10 underlines our continuing pre-eminence and connection with the audience. This was a good book.”
Over at 2FM, Breakfast Republic gained 6,000 listeners. Carl Mullan, Doireann Garrihy and Donncha O’Callaghan now have 135,000, while Jennifer Zamparelli lost 1,000. She now has 133,000, according to the latest listenership figures.
And The 2 Johnnies saw a jump of 11,000 to their afternoon show, meaning they have 130,000 listeners, while Tracy Clifford dropped 7,000 to 109,000.
Dan Healy, Head of RTE Radio Strategy and RTE 2FM, said: “Overall 2FM, has performed well. This is the first time we have a full 12-month view of the 2 Johnnies since they joined the station in February last year. Their daily reach has grown by 11,000 adults since the last survey and with significant growth every quarter hour from 3pm. Doireann, Donncha and Carl also continue to grow.
“Their daily reach has increased by 21,000 from this time last year from 114,00 to 135,000.
“The new weekend schedule has bedded in quickly and we will have a clearer picture of how that is performing in the next survey.
“I want to thank everyone at 2FM, both on and off air for their creativity and hard work.
“Most importantly I want to thank our audience, who despite the changing audio environment and irrespective of what device is used to listen, they know there is nothing better than live radio.” RTE legend Marty Whelan is celebrating a big win today – he’s gained 8,000 listeners to his Lyric FM show leaving him with 57,000 daily tuning in.
An insider said Marty’s figures continue to rise because listeners “need escapism” at times.
Today FM had similar winners and losers. Ian Dempsey gained 5,000 listeners to his morning breakfast show. He now has 208,000 since the last book while Dermot and Dave lost 2,000 – leaving them with 205,000.
Pamela Joyce gained 2,000, seeing the presenter hit 136,000, while Ray Foley gained 3,000. Ray now has 163,000 listeners. And Matt Cooper’s The Last Word lost 4,000, leaving him with 168,000 listeners.
There were gains too across Today FM’s weekend schedule; Louise Cantillon is proving a hit with national audiences as she saw listenership of her Saturday show grow to 134,000, an increase of 12,000, while Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis also saw increases with Today FM’s Saturday morning audience now at 179,000 – an increase of 9,000.
Louise said: “I’m absolutely thrilled and so grateful. I couldn’t imagine a better place to spend my weekends, playing the music you love and using an capla focal on a national platform.”
