As The 2 Johnnies follow Doireann out the door, 2FM faces cruel summer

Station denies link between departure of presenters, but the timing is tough for RTÉ to take

The heat is on for 2FM now that it has lost The 2 Johnnies, its flagship drivetime presenters, who are due to leave the same week that presenter Doireann Garrihy hangs up her headphones.

Sources in RTÉ insisted yesterday that there was no connection between the demise of Drive It with The 2 Johnnies and the departure of one of its most high-profile breakfast presenters.

Some within the national broadcaster denied there were any new rules coming down the line that were influencing presenters’ decisions to leave, such as a crackdown on presenters running their own commercial podcasts outside of RTÉ.

If the departures are a coincidence, they are a desperately unfortunate one for the youth station, which is already bruised from a year of RTÉ financial scandals during which many questioned the right of 2FM to even exist.

In the heat of the payments scandal that engulfed the broadcaster last year, some within RTÉ had proposed ditching the radio station entirely in a bid to save money.

2FM is weeks away from announcing its summer schedule and is heading into the warmer months with some big holes in its daily output.

The most important and most popular hours in its weekday programming have now all been hit with either bombshell departures or extended absences.

The most recent JNLR listenership figures, published last week, showed Johnny Smacks (real name Johnny McMahon) and Johnny B (real name John O’Brien) were up 1,000 listeners to bring in a daily weekday audience of 151,000 people, making it the most popular show on the 2FM schedule.

In announcing their departure, The 2 Johnnies hinted that “we may be back on the radio some day” – suggesting they could yet be poached by a commercial rival. For most of the rest of the summer, they will be taking their podcast on tour in the US, Canada and Australia.

This is a chart-topping podcast they hosted before joining RTÉ, and it was run, produced and presented separately from their public service broadcasting work.

According to its most recently published figures, no 2FM presenter earns more than €180,000. But through their radio show and their private ventures, The 2 Johnnies shared directors’ pay of €404,183 at their firm last year.

It’s a mark of a changed media landscape – and a real challenge for broadcasters like 2FM – that many young personalities and podcasters may well be able to afford to walk away from an RTÉ salary if they feel the terms are not good enough.

The pair are leaving 2FM just two years after joining, in what was seen as a major coup by the station.

When they were signed up by Montrose in 2022, The 2 Johnnies brought an important audience with them.

Diversity in radio is often considered only in terms of gender, but the south Tipperary presenters represented an important rural constituency that was very important for 2FM.

As its boss Dan Healy said yesterday, the “listenership for the drivetime show has been very strong from the very start”. News of the presenters’ decision to leave and finish their show shocked some staff in Dublin yesterday. The second-most popular show on 2FM’s daily schedule was 2FM Breakfast with Doireann, Donncha and Carl, which attracted 143,000 weekday morning listeners.

That line-up is also suffering from a crisis after Garrihy’s decision to leave.

It is not yet known if 2FM will replace Garrihy and keep Donncha O’Callaghan and Carl Mullan or change the line-up entirely.

Jennifer Zamparelli, presenter of the third-most popular 2FM slot, is on extended leave from her radio programme. Zamparelli, who attracts 135,000 listeners to what is known as the “Gerry Ryan” slot of 9am to 12pm, told fans last month she was taking a break.

“The last couple of weeks have been hectic professionally and personally, so taking a little extended time off my radio show on @2FM to be with the family,” she posted online last month.

Her show is being covered by Laura Fox, the 2FM and Ireland’s Fittest Family presenter.

After Garrihy announced her departure, rumours swirled about Zamparelli’s future and the reason she had taken time off.

However, both her agent and 2FM told reporters she would definitely be returning to the station and to her slot.

‘News of their decision to leave and finish their radio show shocked some staff in the station’s studios yesterday’