RTÉ radio is holding its own

RTÉ radio has staged a strong recovery in the latest listenership figures, with many of its leading presenters enjoying audience growth.

Joe Duffy, Ryan Tubridy, Gerry Ryan and Pat Kenny all recorded increases in listenership, with only the News at Oneamong its leading programmes showing a slight fall.

The trend follows several years of gradual decline in the national broadcaster's figures as measured by the JNLR TNS/mrbi survey.

Increased competition from the commercial sector had been eating into RTÉ's audience.

The latest survey covers the period from July 2006 to June 2007.

In the fiercely contested evening slot, RTÉ Radio One's Drivetime, presented by Mary Wilson, Des Cahill and Dave Fanning, leapfrogged above Today FM's The Last Word, presented by Matt Cooper.

However, the growth in the show's audience from 180,000 in the previous survey to 204,000 is largely explained by a move to a 4.30pm starting time, from 5pm, in August 2006.

Once again, RTÉ broadcast nine of the 10 most popular programmes in the State, led by Morning Ireland with a listenership of 435,000, up 11,000 on the previous survey.

The only non-RTÉ programme in the top 10 is Today FM's Ray D'Arcy in ninth position; his listenership dropped 2,000, to 246,000.

Commercial rivals suggested RTÉ's improved figures could be linked to its general election coverage, but this hardly explains the strong performance by 2FM's Gerry Ryan, who added 24,000 listeners to reach an audience of 325,000.

Joe Duffy added 13,000 listeners to Liveline, Ryan Tubridy gained another 4,000 listeners and Pat Kenny's audience grew by 10,000.

Another strong performance came from Marion Finucane, whose Saturday-morning show gained another 13,000 listeners. Her Sunday show has 237,000 listeners, compared to 102,000 for Today FM's Sunday Supplement.

RTÉ radio managing director Adrian Moynes said the figures showed that schedule changes were paying off.

"I've always said we're in this for the long haul. RTÉ radio made strategic changes last year on RTÉ Radio One and RTÉ Lyric FM, and earlier this year on RTÉ 2FM.

"The initial signs are that listeners are welcoming those changes. We are determined that this pattern will continue."

Overall, Today FM was steady, with its two rush-hour presenters, Ian Dempsey and Matt Cooper, recording their highest listenerships yet. Dempsey was up 6,000 to 233,000, while Cooper's audience grew from 187,000 to 193,000.

Chief executive Willy O'Reilly expressed satisfaction at the station's performance in the face of increased competition.

For Newstalk FM, these were the second set of figures since it started broadcasting nationally in September 2006. George Hook's drivetime programme added another 5,000 listeners, but the station has yet to make as strong an impact outside Dublin as it does in the capital.

Some 85 per cent of the population listen daily to the radio, the figures show.

Among national stations, RTÉ Radio One has a audience share of 20.9 per cent, while 2FM has 13 per cent. Today FM is on 12.4 per cent, Newstalk has 3.2 per cent and RTÉ's classical station, Lyric FM, has dropped slightly to 1.7 per cent.

In Dublin, 2FM gained ground on its commercial music rivals but its 11.5 per cent share remains behind the 12.7 per cent enjoyed by both 98FM and FM104. New entrant Phantom has a 1.2 per cent share.

As usual, the most listened-to local radio station was Highland Radio in Co Donegal, with a 64.2 per cent share of its audience.

Mid West Radio and Radio Kerry also recorded audience shares of more than 50 per cent.