Listenership statistics to be released today likely to influence the financial futures of several stations
The radio industry is today bracing itself for new listenership figures which could influence the financial futures of several stations.
The contents of the Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) survey will be closely studied this morning by presenters, producers, managers and shareholders.
The survey covering July 2002 to July 2003 will reveal whether stations licensed in the last year have made any progress.
It will also provide an insight into whether RTÉ has managed to arrest a downward slide in its overall listenership figures.
The State-owned broadcaster will hope to see some improvement in the listenership figures for its classical station Lyric FM.
Yesterday RTÉ announced a radical shake-up at 2FM with some of its older broadcasters moving out of their traditional slots. For example Larry Gogan is no longer to present the Golden Hour show during the day. He will now present a show at a later time.
However the figures for Dublin stations are likely to attract most interest today.
For the talk station NewsTalk 106 the figures are crucial. Since coming on air last year NewsTalk's listenership has not managed to move beyond 2 per cent. Its market share against other stations in the Dublin market has also been extremely low.
While some radio sources believe the station's listenership will edge past 2 per cent today, others believe that unless the station significantly increases its presence its future could be in doubt.
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland is planning to licence four new stations in Dublin and this could put NewsTalk under further pressure next year.
The station is understood to have funds until September, but after that its future is dependent upon backing from its leading shareholders, among them Mr Denis O'Brien and Setanta media.
Meanwhile, the managing director of FM 104, Mr Dermot Hanrahan, has been trying to sell his shares in the station for several months, but no buyer has emerged.
The station's own internal research gives the station a listenership of between 7 and 9 per cent. The amount of text messages sent to the station's various programmes has increased in recent months and some staff believe this has to be reflected in listenership figures eventually.
While often criticised, the JNLR figures give advertisers their best indication of how each station is performing.
In RTÉ, attention inevitably centres around leading broadcasters like Pat Kenny, Marian Finucane and Gerry Ryan. But the fiercest competition in the last three years has been in the evening drive-time slot.
In this segment RTÉ's Five Seven Live competes with Today FM's The Last Word, presented by Matt Cooper and NewsTalk's The Right Hook, presented by sports pundit George Hook.
NewsTalk has stated that major listenership gains can be made in this segment, although Today FM is hopeful that Cooper can hold most of the audience built up by his predecessor Eamon Dunphy.
Today's information also provides a guide to the penetration of new stations such as Spin 1038 and Dublin's Country 106.8. While Spin - a dance music station for young people - has managed to make an impression in Dublin, the country station has found it harder to establish a niche.