Local radio has made strong gains in the latest listenership statistics, with RTÉ losing further ground to the commercial sector.
The figures for the period April to September 2004 show the local radio sector increasing reach by 3 per cent to 56 per cent, with RTÉ 1 remaining unchanged at 28 per cent. RTÉ's 2 FM dropped 1 per cent to record a 24 per cent reach.
Reach refers to the percentage of people listening to a certain radio station. The figures are compared with the equivalent period in 2003.
RTÉ's main commercial rival, Today FM, managed to increase its reach by 1 per cent to 16 per cent. Chief executive Mr Willie O'Reilly said the station was very pleased with the performance considering the extra channels now available, especially in Dublin.
The latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) survey does not include details of individual programmes or presenters. The interim figures are designed to give stations a snapshot of how the market is evolving.
The survey was undertaken by TNS mrbi. It shows that radio listenership in the Republic generally was up 3 per cent, at 89 per cent. This was a notable reversal in the recent trend.
In the Dublin market, there were drops in reach for RTÉ Radio 1 (2 per cent); 98 FM (2 per cent) and Dublin's Country (1 per cent).
The main winner in Dublin was Q102, formerly Lite FM. The station, owned by UTV, managed to increase its reach by 6 per cent to 13 per cent.
Chief executive Mr Scott William said: "We were confident when we re-launched that we could live up to the promises we made to listeners. Since day one, Dublin's Q102 has been listening intently to what Dubliners want to hear on the radio and we will continue to deliver."
Spin FM was one of the biggest successes in the figures, adding 4 per cent to give a total reach of 9 per cent. The station's chief executive, Ms Naomi Maguire, it was confirmed yesterday, had left the station and Mr Tom Wright was taking over as acting chief executive.
NewsTalk was up 1 per cent at 5 per cent, while music-driven stations FM 104 and 2 FM were unchanged at 20 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
Today FM was down 2 per cent in Dublin at 10 per cent, while Lyric FM was unchanged at 5 per cent. 98 FM was down 2 per cent at 20 per cent.
Nationally, excluding Dublin and Cork, local stations were again up 3 per cent at 58 per cent. 2 FM was down 3 per cent (30 per cent) and RTÉ Radio One was down 1 per cent at 26 per cent.