The 9am slot on RTÉ Radio 1 has added 13,000 listeners since the departure of Ryan Tubridy, new audience figures reveal.
Radio 1′s 9am slot had a listenership of 347,000 in the latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) survey, which covers the year to the end of September.
This was higher than the 334,000 listeners secured by the hour-long show in the previous survey for the year to the end of June, suggesting that audiences have been tuning into stand-in presenters such as Oliver Callan.
On an annual basis, the popularity of the slot has increased by a more modest 3,000 listeners, and it remains below the numbers who listened to Mr Tubridy between 2020 and mid-2022.
RTÉ was plunged into crisis in June when the broadcaster revealed it had not correctly declared fees to its then highest-paid earner, Mr Tubridy.
The scandal widened as a series of other financial and governance issues emerged.
Negotiations over a new radio contract for Mr Tubridy were halted, and he was taken off-air amid the crisis that engulfed the organisation.
RTÉ later re-entered negotiations with a view to securing Mr Tubridy’s return to the airwaves on a new contract, but those talks broke down in August after the RTÉ director general claimed the presenter was not taking sufficient responsibility for his role in the payments controversy.
Meanwhile, Pat Kenny has emerged as the big winner of the summer upheaval on Irish radio.
Mr Kenny’s 9am-12pm programme on Newstalk has seen its listenership surge by 26,000 in recent months to reach 205,000, marking the first time that a Newstalk show has exceeded 200,000 and helping the station to its highest ever market share.
Bauer Media Audio Ireland now has a combined weekly reach of almost 2 million listeners. https://t.co/BZEbi65TWY
— Bauer Media Audio Ireland (@bauermediaIRL) November 9, 2023
Newstalk managing editor Patricia Monahan said: “Pat recently celebrated 10 years at Newstalk and has never sounded better. It is great to see that the audience are continuing to move the dial to hear more of him.”
Responding to the audience numbers, RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said: “Without a doubt this has been an extraordinarily challenging period for RTÉ. It is with gratitude then that I thank the listeners to RTÉ’s radio services for sticking with RTÉ, and with pleasure welcome the 16,000 additional listeners to Radio 1, the 49,000 additional listeners to 2fm, and the 7,000 additional listeners to RTÉ lyric fm (YoY).
“RTÉ staff and our presenters have delivered a diverse range of content that is clearly connecting with more and more people. As we prepare to set a new strategic direction for RTÉ, the latest listenership figures are an endorsement of the enduring popularity and value of public service media, direct from the audiences we serve.”
