GAY BYRNE and Pat Kenny have lost radio audience share, according to the latest listener ship figures published yesterday. But the movement from one station to another was small in 1995. Local stations went ahead of RTE Radio 1 by one percentage point but RTE's overall listener ship stands at 56 per cent, compared to 44 per cent for local radio.
MRBI carries out the Joint National Listenership Research for the radio and advertising industry. Last year's figures (Jane Dec) show the local stations up by one point, with Radio 1 down two points and RTE's 2FM at 22 per cent, up by one point.
RTE still dominates the Dublin market with 66 per cent, while local radio takes 34 per cent of audience share. But real competition lies in music radio and here 2FM has 21 per cent, with FM 104 on 11 per cent and 98 FM on 20 per cent. The latter is down by one point while 2FM has risen by three points and FM 104 by two points.
The popular Morning Ireland attracts 21 per cent of the radio audience. The Gay Byrne Show is down from 21 per cent in 1994 to 18 per cent. Even so, Gay Byrne remains the choice of 480,000 listeners. Pat Kenny is also down from 15 per cent to 12 per cent.
Radio 1, the main target for new national station Radio Ireland, claims only 14 per cent of listeners in the 25 to 34 age bracket and only 9 per cent among 20 to 24 year olds.
. Trim based Radio Tara, which broadcasts Atlantic 252 to Britain, has announced profits of £2.5 million for last year.