RTÉ suffered another significant fall in radio listenership yesterday, while the major gainer in the latest statistics was Dublin's NewsTalk 106.
For the first time, national listenership for RTÉ Radio 1 has fallen 2 per cent to just 26 per cent. A reduction in this figure to below 25 per cent would be highly significant, said radio observers.
The Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) survey is based on listenership between October 2003 and March 2004. This is then compared year-on-year with the equivalent period in 2002/03.
Last night, the head of RTÉ Radio, Mr Adrian Moynes, said he remained happy with the performance of RTÉ Radio. "I am happy with the performance of the three measured RTÉ services, given the range of audience age groups and interests they serve."
A spokeswoman said there were no plans to alter the line-up on RTÉ Radio. Once again, she denied speculation that Ms Marian Finucane would be moved out of prime time.
RTÉ's other stations also suffered in the JNLR survey: 2FM was down nationally by 2 per cent to 24 per cent and, in Dublin, it was down 2 per cent to 16 per cent. Lyric FM was unchanged at 3 per cent nationally and up 1 per cent in Dublin at 5 per cent.
NewsTalk made the largest year-on-year gain, growing from 2 per cent to 5 per cent in Dublin. Chief executive Mr Dan Healy said the station was moving in the right direction and the next set of figures would record further progress. The station is currently involved in a major promotional campaign involving George Hook, the rugby pundit and host of the Right Hook.
Today FM, a national service, struggled in the latest figures. Its national year-on-year performance was down 2 per cent at 13 per cent. More worryingly, its position in Dublin was also eroded, with listenership down 2 per cent to 10 per cent.
In Dublin, bitter rivals 98 FM and FM 104 both fell 2 per cent to finish at 20 per cent. Lite FM, now known as Q102, managed to increase its listenership by 2 per cent to finish at 12 per cent.
Dublin youth station Spin FM pushed its listenership up 1 per cent to 5 per cent, while Dublin's Country was up 1 per cent to 3 per cent.
In Cork, RTÉ managed to perform strongly, with Radio One up 3 per cent at 25 per cent.