RTÉ Radio is continuing to lose listeners to the independent sector, according to the latest figures from the JNLR/TNS mrbi survey.
While RTÉ still produced the 10 most listened to radio shows in the State between July 2005 and June 2006, just two of these shows showed an increase in listenership. In contrast, Today FM showed increases in all its flagship shows.
Marian Finucane's Saturday programme gained the greatest increase. She had 272,000 listeners in the year to June 2006. This was an increase of 12,000 listeners on the previous survey period of April 2005 to March 2006.
However, this may not be strictly comparing like with like as Ms Finucane started her weekend show last September, during the survey period.
2FM presenter Will Leahy was the only other RTÉ personality in the top 10 list to show an increase in listenership. He gained 1,000 more listeners for his Saturday show, retaining the final placing in the top 10 list.
After a slide in the previous survey, Gerry Ryan's listenership remained stable this time at 320,000, making him the fourth most listened to presenter.
Morning Ireland is still the most listened to show with an audience of 459,000, but the morning news programme lost 4,000 listeners in the year to June 2006.
Ryan Tubridy, in second place, lost 5,000 listeners over that period, while Joe Duffy's Liveline programme lost 2,000 listeners.
Seán O'Rourke's News At One retained its fifth place position but also lost 2,000 listeners.
In sixth place, Pat Kenny suffered one of the greatest losses of listeners, with 10,000 fewer listeners tuning into the weekday current affairs show.
Derek Mooney also lost 10,000 listeners but he had the biggest percentage drop, at 3.7 per cent. He fell from seventh to ninth place with his Saturday morning wildlife show.
Playback, the radio review show, lost 5,000 listeners.
Adrian Moynes, managing director of RTÉ Radio, said the figures showed RTÉ was still the market leader. "In the season just ended RTÉ Radio put the emphasis on building weekend audience," Mr Moynes said.
"The latest JNLR figures show that this move has brought great results. We've recognised the challenge of weekday listening trends and, in line with that, new schedule changes are coming into effect shortly across all RTÉ Radio stations."
The big winner at Today FM was Ray D'Arcy who gained 10,000 listeners for his morning show. With 235,000 listeners, he is just 7,000 listeners behind the 10 most listened to radio shows.
Today FM chief executive Willie O'Reilly said every show in the station's schedule had gained listeners. Ian Dempsey gained 8,000 listeners to give him 224,000, while Matt Cooper's drive-time programme gained 6,000 more listeners, giving him 180,000 listeners.
He said the independent station had "bucked the national trend, gaining an extra 20,000 listeners against a backdrop of significant losses for Radio One and 2FM and retaining its 15 per cent listened yesterday figure".
Independent radio stations, including Today FM, now have a combined daily listenership market share of 68.4 per cent, according to the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI) group. IBI chairman David Tighe said the figures were "a really positive indicator" for the independent sector.
There was good news too for Newstalk's George Hook who gained 1,000 more listeners compared with the April 2005-March 2006 period, but departed breakfast presenter Eamon Dunphy lost 1,000 listeners after making strong gains in the previous survey. The Dublin station will begin a national service in October.
The survey found that 85 per cent of the adult population had "listened yesterday" to some radio station. Some 58 per cent listened to a local station, while 24 per cent listened to RTÉ Radio One. 2FM achieved a reach of 19 per cent, while Lyric FM retained its 3 per cent share.
Highland Radio in Donegal was still the most popular local station, commanding a 65.1 per cent market share. It was followed by Mid-West Radio, with a 57 per cent share.
In Dublin, FM 104, 98FM and Spin 103.8 all increased their weekday listenership, while Q102 fell by 1 per cent.
