2fm comes out on top in ratings war with Today FM

RTÉ’S 2fm has more listeners than Today FM for the first time since Gerry Ryan died, new figures revealed yesterday.

It was confirmed that 2fm now has a daily audience of 404,000, marginally more than Today FM, one of its main competitors, which has 402,000 daily listeners.

Year on year, 2fm has seen positive gains for its weekday presenters – as Breakfast Republic now has 189,000 listeners, up 44,000 compared to this time in 2016, new JNLR figures revealed.

Nicky Byrne and Jenny Greene enjoyed an increase of 20,000 listeners in the year and

‘Gerry Ryan was a huge icon in 2fm’s schedule’

now have an audience of 151,000. Tracy Clifford and Eoghan McDermott are both at 127,000 listeners – an increase of 17,000 and 18,000 respectively, year on year.

The 2fm chief, Dan Healy, said he is pleased with the station’s progress in recent years, but admitted it has ‘taken a bit longer than I thought’, adding: ‘I thought we’d be there this time last year.’

Mr Healy said that back in 2013, 2fm bosses and staff knew they had to ‘do something completely different’.

‘We have more listeners now on a daily basis than Today FM and it is the first time that has happened since Gerry [Ryan] passed,’ he told the Irish Daily Mail.

‘Gerry was a huge icon in the middle of 2fm’s schedule and it’s unlikely we are going to see a broadcaster dominate a station like that again in Ireland.’

He said that in April 2014, the only way the station ‘could survive would be if you burnt it to the ground’, so he is very pleased with the ‘consistent steady growth’ it has made which everyone in the station has ‘worked hard for’.

Mr Healy said the focus now is to put ‘radio stations into your mobile phone’.