{"id":271613,"date":"2025-11-19T12:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/271613\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T12:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:34:09","slug":"radio-ulster-loses-over-100000-listeners-in-a-year-slugger-otoole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/271613\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Ulster loses over 100,000 listeners in a year\u2026 \u2013 Slugger O’Toole"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Rosborough<\/a> has done his quarterly rummage through the RAJARs again, and this one lands with a thud. BBC Radio Ulster has managed to misplace over 100,000 listeners in twelve months. They were sitting at 462,000. Now they\u2019re at 358,000. That\u2019s not a dip. That\u2019s the sort of fall that makes you stare at the graph for a moment just to check someone hasn\u2019t labelled the axis wrong.<\/p>\n

It comes at a time when the station feels a bit wobbly anyway. Budget cuts, schedule tinkering, long-standing presenters disappearing without much ceremony, and a general sense that nobody\u2019s fully sure what the station wants to be anymore. Some days it feels like they\u2019re reaching for a more generic BBC sound. Other days they\u2019re clinging to the old \u201clocal companion\u201d thing. The end result isn\u2019t exactly coherence.<\/p>\n

And yes, the wider audio world is eating into everyone. Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok etc, a dozen niche stations all slicing the audience thinner and thinner. Fair enough. But losing a quarter of your listeners in a small market suggests something more than general drift.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a point where you can\u2019t keep blaming \u201cchanging consumer habits\u201d and have to admit the audience is quietly slipping out the side door. People don\u2019t abandon a station in those numbers unless they\u2019ve stopped recognising it, or stopped trusting it, or just stopped caring.<\/p>\n

Personally I no longer listen to Radio Ulster or any live radio. I am all in on music and Podcasts via Spotify.<\/p>\n

i found listening to Radio Ulster depressing. There\u2019s too much news and divisive content. I would rather listen to a sensible podcast that explains an issue well than hear 2 local politicians shout at each other.<\/p>\n

You miss the days of unique presenters like Gerry Anderson. But maybe I am being unfair. He might not be everyone\u2019s cup of tea but I know uncle Hugo still gets massive audiences. Talkback is solid. Ralph McLean is always a reliable broadcaster of good music.<\/p>\n

Are there any shows or presenters you recommend on Radio Ulster?<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/p>\n

I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.<\/p>\n

\tDiscover more from Slugger O’Toole<\/p>\n

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