Weekend broadcasters Brendan O’Connor, Miriam O’Callaghan, Alison Curtis and Anton Savage all enjoy listenership boostsNot all good news for national broadcaster – with further hits on a number of showsSeveral Today FM shows celebrating, while it’s a mixed bag for Newstalk
According to the latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures, Brendan O’Connor and Miriam O’Callaghan on RTÉ Radio One, along with Alison Curtis on Today FM and Anton Savage on Newstalk, are all enjoying boosts in listenership.
Overall, RTÉ Radio 1 has seen an increase of 25,000 listeners a week, the latest listenership figures have revealed. It now reaches 1.4 million listeners each week.
Brendan O’Connor has a lot to do with this, with the Cork man bringing in an extra 89,000 listeners to the station across Saturdays and Sundays.
The Saturday show is up 49,000 listeners, bringing the show to 412,000. O’Connor’s Sunday instalment is up 40,000 listeners, bringing it to 409,000.
This is the first time this slot on RTÉ Radio 1 has reached 400,000 on both days of the weekend.
When Marian Finucane presented the show until 2020, she had over 400,000 listeners on Saturdays but never on Sundays.
Sunday with Miriam has also seen an increase with 13,000 more listeners standing the show at 317,000.
But it’s not all good news at Montrose – Liveline has taken another hit with a loss of 8,000 listeners, an increase on the 7,000 drop announced in May. This brings the show below the 300,000 mark to 299,000 and is despite the media coverage around Joe Duffy’s retirement in late June.
So far this summer, Philip Boucher-Hayes, Colm Ó Mongáin and Sarah McInerney have presented the show. Cormac Ó hEadhra is rumoured to pull on the fill-in shoes next after McInerney.
Elsewhere on Radio 1, Morning Ireland is down 2,000 listeners but remains the country’s most popular radio show at 469,000 listeners.
Now more than a year into his tenure on the 9am slot, Oliver Callan holds steady and is only down 1,000 to 354,000.
Ray D’Arcy’s afternoon show is down 1,000 in the last three months to 182,000. This time last year the programme had 191,000 listeners and had gone up 10,000 in the three months previous.
Louise Duffy’s music show continues on a downward trajectory, dropping by 4,000 to 219,000 listeners, while News At One has jumped up 1,000 to 298,000.
Today with Claire Byrne is trending in the right direction and is up 6,000 to 354,000 after taking a slight drop in May.
Dramatic drop
Next on the twist of the dial, 2FM has seen a dramatic drop in listeners.
RTÉ announced a major shake-up in January, introducing new presenters, all selected from an expression of interest competition that the station ran in autumn 2024.
However, the overhaul has yet to deliver a boost in numbers.
2FM Breakfast, presented by Rozanna Purcell, Aisling Bonner and Carl Mullan, has lost 9,000 listeners, bringing the show to 139,000. This is 10,000 listeners less than last year.
Donncha O’Callaghan signed off from the show last July, after presenting the show for three years.
Doireann Garrihy was also a presenter on the show, exiting before O’Callaghan in May.
She then began presenting a new 3pm to 6pm slot on the station in February.
As of the latest figures, Garrihy’s 2FM Drive is down 8,000 listeners, leaving listenership at 125,000.
2FM Morning with Laura Fox is down 5,000, with the show now standing at 122,000. This is in comparison to last year’s figure of 141,000 listeners.
Tracy Clifford is the host with good news, albeit a humble 1,000 increase in listeners, bringing the show to 110,000. This is 18,000 listeners down on last year.
Commercial radio
Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis is on the up again. Her Saturday show now stands at 186,000 listeners – up 9,000 – and she has 171,000 listeners tuning in on Sundays.
While Curtis’ show is up book-on-book, this is a drop from last year’s figure of 189,000 listeners.
The Canadian native is the longest-running female presenter on Today FM, having moved to Ireland in 1999.
The Anton Savage Show is continuing to see growth, jumping by 6,000 listeners to 139,000. This comes after May’s increase of 10,000 listeners.
‘The Last Word’ with Matt Cooper has grown to 181,000 listeners nationally.
The Dublin man has previously been linked with the Liveline host position; however, he has denied he has been contacted by RTÉ.
He said: “I’ve not let a complete absence of any offers dissuade me from putting down some serious money in the bookies.”
Today FM is one of the big winners in the latest book, with a weekly audience of 928,000 listeners tuning into the Bauer Media-owned station.
The Last Word with Matt Cooper has seen the biggest jump with a growth of 18,000 listeners, bringing it up to 181,000. That figure also represents a year-on-year increase for Cooper, up from last August’s figure of 171,000.
“Everyone on The Last Word team is delighted with this lift in listener numbers,” Cooper said.
“Trump’s tariffs obviously have hogged the headlines in recent months – and we’ve also given much of our time to covering the horrors in Gaza – but we think we’ve found a mix of all sorts of things in news, sport, culture and business that appears to be resonating with listeners.”
Louise Cantillon has seen a growth of 12,000, bringing listenership to 119,000. This is a jump from last year’s figure of 131,000.
“I am so grateful to every single person that decides to spend their lunchtime with me. Ar bís agus an a bhuíoch,” Cantillon said.
The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show isn’t too far behind with 10,000 extra listeners, with the show now at 213,000 – a 3,000 increase on last year.
“Cheers to all the extra early risers that have joined us and started tuning in to our show each morning,” Dempsey said. “We love bringing positivity to the start of people’s days so we’re so grateful to see more people joining us each morning.”
Mid-mornings have also been given a boost for Today FM, with Dave Moore’s 9am to 12pm slot up 5,000, bringing the total audience to 198,000.
In the afternoons on the station, Ray Foley has jumped to 159,000, up 6,000 on three months ago.
Finally, it’s a mixed bag for Newstalk.
The Newstalk Breakfast Show, hosted by Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly, has seen no change, holding the line at 165,000 listeners. The Pat Kenny Show is down 8,000, bringing it to 216,000, but maintains its place as commercial radio’s most popular show.
Lunchtime Live has shed 10,000 listeners to stand at 124,000, while Sean Moncrieff’s show is continuing to stand at 108,000.
The Hard Shoulder has gained listeners again, moving up 12,000 in the charts to 165,000.
This article was amended on August 7 at 12.30pm to insert the correct figure for Alison Curtis’s radio show