2fm Ryan high again
station beating today FM for first time since gerry’s death
MORE radio listeners are tuning into 2fm than Today FM for the first time since Gerry Ryan’s death, it has been revealed.
The RTE station has overtaken its rival for the first time since the legendary broadcaster passed away in 2010, the latest Joint National Listenership Research survey found.
2fm recorded a daily reach of 404,000 listeners, beating Today FM by just 2,000.
Big winners for the RTE station include Breakfast Republic, the Nicky Byrne Show with Jenny Greene, Tracey Clifford and Eoghan Mcdermott, all making gains in the last three months.
2fm boss Dan Healy told the Irish Mirror: “This station was written off in 2013 but it didn’t go anywhere. It has been a slow and steady drive but we got there. We’re back and I’m delighted for the team.”
Healy also hit back at former 2fm star Colm Hayes’ criticism of the station when July’s JNLR figures were released.
Hayes joined Radio Nova back in June as programme director and took a swipe at his old employers when Nova recorded a larger audience share in the Dublin region.
The radio boss said: “Colm shouldn’t be spouting his mouth off to get headlines when in the past three months – the three months he has been with Nova – we have had a better book than them.”
LISTENERSHIP
While 2fm continue to make gains for RTE, many of Radio 1’s big names saw substantial losses in listenership over the three months.
Marian Finucane was down 47,000 between her Saturday and Sunday shows, with figures of 350,000 and 316,000 respectively.
Today with Sean O’rourke also dipped by 18,000 in the last quarter to 324,000, while 11,000 switched off Joe Duffy’s Liveline, leaving him with a listenership of 370,000.
RTE Radio 1 remains the most listened to station, with boss Tom Mcguire blaming the time of year, saying: “It’s a summer book and we tend to see some drops in figures.”
Meanwhile, banished radio presenter George Hook’s Newstalk show gained 4,000 listeners in the past year.
Hook’s High Noon had a reach of 102,000 in total.
It has since been cancelled in favour of Lunchtime Live, now presented by Ciara Kelly.
Newstalk grew its market share to 6.2% and increased listenership by 40,000, a weekly reach of 739,000.
Today FM recorded an 18-month high of 870,000 weekly listeners, up 33,000 year-on-year.
The station increased its market share to 7.5%.
Big winners included Ian Dempsey’s Breakfast Show, up 6,000 in three months to 169,000, while funnyman Al Porter saw figures for his lunchtime slot shoot up 5,000 to 118,000.