Ratings for some of RTÉ's most well-known radio broadcasters have fallen significantly, with stations aimed at younger listeners gaining ground, according to the latest listenership statistics.
There was a steep decline in listenership levels for Pat Kenny, while flagship programmes like Morning Ireland and the Marian Finucane Show lost ground despite rising levels of radio listenership generally.
The figures compare average listenership between July 2003 and June 2004 to the corresponding period in 2002/2003. They show radio listening nationally rising by 1 per cent to 2.79 million.
The latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) survey may prompt a major shake-up at some stations. Already Dublin's NewsTalk 106 has ended its relationship with broadcaster David McWilliams and hired Eamon Dunphy for its main morning show.
The advertising industry was last night absorbing the results. But one of the largest agencies Mindshare summed up the trends.
Ms Fiona Gallagher, head of radio, said: "The locals continue to nip at the heels of the nationals and in some cases have drawn blood.
"Overall this was great for the local stations but we would expect that there will be some high-up management meetings at the national stations to address the problems these figures have highlighted". In Dublin in particular the trend in favour of stations aimed at younger listeners was most pronounced. Spin FM, a niche station aimed at younger consumers, managed to increase its listenership from 4 to 7 per cent.
Even within the RTÉ figures, there was a drift towards younger presenters, with the Full Irish, a programme presented by Ryan Tubridy, adding 20,000 listeners to finish on 244,000. Five Seven Live, a drive time show presented by Rachel English, hit an all-time high of 224,000, a 6.7 per cent increase. Joe Duffy's Liveline was also a significant winner as it added 19,000 listeners in a 5.7 per cent increase.
The head of RTÉ Radio, Mr Adrian Moynes, said he was pleased to see a remarkable growth for a range of flagship programmes with "Five-Seven Live, Liveline with Joe Duffy, The Full Irish with Ryan Tubridy and The Ronan Collins Show, among others, all increasing their listenership figures".
Overall RTÉ One dropped 1 per cent in terms of listenership and market share nationally. 2 FM was down 2 per cent in terms of listenership and 1 per cent for market share.
The popularity of local stations was cited by many advertising sources as the explanation for these trends.
The news in the commercial sector was more mixed. The national station Today FM lost 2 per cent in listenership terms and 1 per cent in market share. Chief executive, Mr Willie O'Reilly, said advertisers would be happy to see that Today FM's core audience of 20 to 44-year-old ABC1s was on an upward curve from February 2004.
"The stalwarts of Ian Dempsey and Ray Darcy are performing well (215,000 and 156,000 respectively) and while The Last Word suffered some decrease in listenership, it continues to outperform RTÉ Radio One's 5-7 Live in its core target audience of 20 to 44-year-olds," he said.
The 14.8 per cent decline (or 24,000 listeners) in the listenership of the Last Word, presented by Matt Cooper, will concern the station.
The agency, Mindshare, said the programme "continued to haemorrhage listeners".