Ryan Tubridy has emerged as the ‘King’ of morning radio - whilst his colleagues Joe Duffy, Ray D’Arcy, Miriam O’Callaghan and Brendan O’Connor all suffered losses in radio listeners this season.
RTE’s top earner Tubridy proved his worth in the latest Joint National Listenership Report (JNLR), as his 9-10am morning show recorded 366,000 listeners, an increase of 7,000 since the last book in December.
This positions him, and that particular slot, as the second most listened to radio show in Ireland for the first time ever, behind Morning Ireland.
Commenting on the news, Tubridy, who is on annual leave this week, told the Irish Mirror: “We are very very happy with the results of the JNLR book that was released.
“It is very heartening, very encouraging and we are very grateful to have the company of all of those listeners every morning between 9-10am.
“We enjoy their thoughts and contributions to the show and I like to feel in some ways in it is a nine’o’clock club and in some ways a nice little distraction from all of the crazy that is going on in the world.
“So yeah, we are very grateful and thankful. We love what we do."
Head of RTE Radio 1’s Peter Woods told Irish Mirror: "It is a reflection of the work that Ryan Tubridy puts in and his series producer. And the same with the rest of them.
"But it is a big day for Ryan Tubridy there is no doubt about that. It is a great achievement to get that spot."
It comes as the new figures revealed that RTÉ now reaches almost 2 million (1,961,000) radio listeners in Ireland, with 49 percent of the Adult 15+ population tuning in every week, a growth of 34,000 in a year.
To break it down:
RTÉ Radio 1 remains the only station in Ireland with a weekly reach of over 1 million, at 1,409,000.
Radio 1’s Morning Ireland continues to dominate the airwaves as the most listened to radio show in the country, pulling in 459,000 listeners, a jump of 9,000 listeners since the previous period.
Today with Claire Byrne now boasts 346,000 listeners, up 6,000 compared to December’s book, while Ronan Collins also celebrated a gain, recording 7,000 more listeners bringing him to 242,000 in the mid morning slot.
After suffering a hit in the previous book, current affairs also recorded slight increases with News at One fronted by Bryan Dobson up 1,000, now bringing in 330,000 listeners.
Drivetime with Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra, is up 3,000, up to 227,000.
However, weekend stalwarts Miriam O’Callaghan and Brendan O’Connor, who came out as the ratings winners in the last period, suffered drops across the board.
Miriam’s Sunday morning slot now pulls in 312,000, a drop off of 10,000 listeners compared to the previous results.
Meanwhile, Brendan O’Connor’s Saturday and Sunday show, which he took over from the late Marian Finucane’s slot before the pandemic hit, now attracts an audience of 351,000 and 323,000 respectively - which is a 15,000 drop in listeners on Saturday and 6,000 less tuning in on Sunday.
But the Brendan O’Connor Show on Saturday mornings is still the third most listened to radio programme in the country.
This dip was echoed across the afternoon slots, as RTE’s prized show Liveline with Joe Duffy also saw a drop in figures, down 3,000.
It comes after the show, which is currently pulling in 343,000 listeners, suffered a huge drop in last December’s book, as almost 60,000 tuned out of the show over the year.
Ray D’Arcy also suffered a slight drop of 1,000 listeners since the past period, down to 209,000 – compared to 210,000 during the last JNLRS.
The new figures, released today, recorded highs across the board at sister station 2fm after a troublesome period last year, whilst their competitors in commercial stations Today FM and Newstalk are celebrating record results once again.
The Breakfast Show with Doireann Garrihy, Carl Mullan and Donnacha O’Callaghan now has 111,000 people tuning in daily, up 8,000 this time around.
It comes after the show struggled to increase figures last year, after the show saw a complete change in format and presenters following the sudden departure of former host Eoghan McDermott.
Jennifer Zamparelli’s jumped to 141,000 listeners this season, an increase of 1,000, whilst Tracy Clifford recorded the same change, up 1,000 with 129,000 now tuning in.
The drivetime slot with Jenny Greene, which is due to see a huge change later this month with the 2 Johnnies set to take over, saw a 7,000 increase in this book, now also pulling in 129,000 in the evening.
Elsewhere, Today FM bosses celebrated record breaking audience growth and triumphs throughout the schedule, registering its biggest weekly audience in more than 10 years and becoming the second most listened to station in the country.
There are now 929,000 people tuning into Today FM every week, an increase of 52,000 year on year, and 453,000 each day, a jump of 38,000, compared to last year.
Their performance widens the gap with RTÉ 2FM, which has a weekly reach figure of 710,000, even further, now reaching almost 220,000 more listeners every week.
Every show across Today FM’s daytime schedule attracted new listeners during the last survey period, maintaining its pole position as the most listened to station in Ireland on a daily basis for 20-44 year olds.
Dermot & Dave’s morning show from 9am – 12pm grew their audience to 208,000, up 3,000 book on book, cementing their status as the biggest show on commercial radio in Ireland.
Breakfast presenter Ian Dempsey was also celebrating good news after increasing his breakfast show audience to 184,000, up 6,000 in this book.
It comes as the show has introduced a new early start, now kicking off an hour earlier, broadcasting on Today FM from 6am – 9am every weekday morning.
Mairead Ronan has left the station on a huge high, handing over an audience of 143,000, - which is an increase of 11,000 since the last book - to new lunchtime host Pamela Joyce.
In the afternoon, Fergal D’Arcy leaves the station with a healthy audience of 134,000, an increase of 2,000 listeners in his last book.
Ray Foley takes over this timeslot and launches his new show on Today FM from next Monday, February 14th.
In the ever competitive drive time slot, The Last Word with Matt Cooper (4.30pm – 7pm) had another impressive JNLR performance, this time smashing a 10 year record to reach an audience of 173,000, an increase of 3,000, book on book.
Commenting on the latest results, Matt Cooper said: “We’re thrilled to have our largest audience in a decade. It seems we’re hitting the right note with our content on The Last Word, a smorgasbord that delivers the right taste for our listeners!”
It is also a good day for Newstalk, who recorded subtle increases across it’s schedule.
Breakfast with Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman and The Pat Kenny show both increased their audience by 1,000, now achieving an audience of 138,000, and 184,000 respectively.
Lunchtime Live with Andrea Gilligan has an audience of 114,000, up 2,000.
Seán Moncrieff is also up 1,000 to 77,000 and The Hard Shoulder, which was taken over by Ciaran Cuddihy from Ivan Yates last year, is up 5,000 listeners, to 151,000.
