{"id":52046,"date":"2025-08-07T12:51:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T12:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/52046\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T12:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T12:51:09","slug":"jnlrs-weekend-radio-the-big-winner-but-its-not-all-good-news-at-rte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/52046\/","title":{"rendered":"JNLRs: Weekend radio the big winner \u2013 but it\u2019s not all good news at RT\u00c9"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\" data-testid=\"title-summary\">Weekend broadcasters Brendan O\u2019Connor, Miriam O\u2019Callaghan, Alison Curtis and Anton Savage all enjoy listenership boostsNot all good news for national broadcaster \u2013 with further hits on a number of showsSeveral Today FM shows celebrating, while it\u2019s a mixed bag for Newstalk\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">According to the latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures, Brendan O\u2019Connor and Miriam O\u2019Callaghan on RT\u00c9 Radio One, along with Alison Curtis on Today FM and Anton Savage on Newstalk, are all enjoying boosts in listenership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Overall, RT\u00c9 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Brendan O\u2019Connor 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The Saturday show is up 49,000 listeners, bringing the show to 412,000. O\u2019Connor\u2019s Sunday instalment is up 40,000 listeners, bringing it to 409,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">This is the first time this slot on RT\u00c9 Radio 1 has reached 400,000 on both days of the weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">When Marian Finucane presented the show until 2020, she had over 400,000 listeners on Saturdays but never on Sundays.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Sunday with Miriam has also seen an increase with 13,000 more listeners standing the show at 317,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">But it\u2019s not all good news at Montrose &#8211; 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\u2019s retirement in late June. <\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">So far this summer, Philip Boucher-Hayes, Colm \u00d3 Mong\u00e1in and Sarah McInerney have presented the show. Cormac \u00d3 hEadhra is rumoured to pull on the fill-in shoes next after McInerney.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Elsewhere on Radio 1, Morning Ireland is down 2,000 listeners but remains the country\u2019s most popular radio show at 469,000 listeners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Ray D\u2019Arcy\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Louise Duffy\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">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.<\/p>\n<p>Dramatic drop<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Next on the twist of the dial, 2FM has seen a dramatic drop in listeners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">RT\u00c9 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">However, the overhaul has yet to deliver a boost in numbers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Donncha O\u2019Callaghan signed off from the show last July, after presenting the show for three years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Doireann Garrihy was also a presenter on the show, exiting before O\u2019Callaghan in May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">She then began presenting a new 3pm to 6pm slot on the station in February.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">As of the latest figures, Garrihy\u2019s 2FM Drive is down 8,000 listeners, leaving listenership at 125,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">2FM Morning with Laura Fox is down 5,000, with the show now standing at 122,000. This is in comparison to last year\u2019s figure of 141,000 listeners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">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.<\/p>\n<p>Commercial radio <\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis is on the up again. Her Saturday show now stands at 186,000 listeners \u2013 up 9,000 \u2013 and she has 171,000 listeners tuning in on Sundays.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">While Curtis\u2019 show is up book-on-book, this is a drop from last year&#8217;s figure of 189,000 listeners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The Canadian native is the longest-running female presenter on Today FM, having moved to Ireland in 1999.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The Anton Savage Show is continuing to see growth, jumping by 6,000 listeners to 139,000. This comes after May\u2019s increase of 10,000 listeners.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"'The Last Word' with Matt Cooper has grown to 181,000 listeners nationally.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/d6d80af1-3dca-4a2d-99aa-b1878b940872.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_caption1 indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_secondary indo-66f0fec7_regular indo-1d70522a_marginbottom0 indo-1d70522a_marginleft0 indo-1d70522a_marginright0 indo-1d70522a_margintop3 indo-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">&#8216;The Last Word&#8217; with Matt Cooper has grown to 181,000 listeners nationally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The Dublin man has previously been linked with the Liveline host position; however, he has denied he has been contacted by RT\u00c9.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">He said: \u201cI\u2019ve not let a complete absence of any offers dissuade me from putting down some serious money in the bookies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">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\u2019s figure of 171,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cEveryone on The Last Word team is delighted with this lift in listener numbers,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cTrump\u2019s tariffs obviously have hogged the headlines in recent months &#8211; and we\u2019ve also given much of our time to covering the horrors in Gaza \u2013 but we think we\u2019ve found a mix of all sorts of things in news, sport, culture and business that appears to be resonating with listeners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Louise Cantillon has seen a growth of 12,000, bringing listenership to 119,000. This is a jump from last year\u2019s figure of 131,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cI am so grateful to every single person that decides to spend their lunchtime with me. Ar b\u00eds agus an a bhu\u00edoch,\u201d Cantillon said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show isn\u2019t too far behind with 10,000 extra listeners, with the show now at 213,000 \u2013 a 3,000 increase on last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cCheers to all the extra early risers that have joined us and started tuning in to our show each morning,\u201d Dempsey said. \u201cWe love bringing positivity to the start of people\u2019s days so we\u2019re so grateful to see more people joining us each morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Mid-mornings have also been given a boost for Today FM, with Dave Moore\u2019s 9am to 12pm slot up 5,000, bringing the total audience to 198,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">In the afternoons on the station, Ray Foley has jumped to 159,000, up 6,000 on three months ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Finally, it&#8217;s a mixed bag for Newstalk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">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\u2019s most popular show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Lunchtime Live has shed 10,000 listeners to stand at 124,000, while Sean Moncrieff\u2019s show is continuing to stand at 108,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The Hard Shoulder has gained listeners again, moving up 12,000 in the charts to 165,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">This article was amended on August 7 at 12.30pm to insert the correct figure for Alison Curtis\u2019s radio show <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Weekend broadcasters Brendan O\u2019Connor, Miriam O\u2019Callaghan, Alison Curtis and Anton Savage all enjoy listenership boostsNot all good news&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-52046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}