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13,000 jump for 9am Radio 1 slot after Tubridy departure

Ryan Tubridy departed RTÉ in the summer
Ryan Tubridy departed RTÉ in the summer

RTÉ Radio One's 9am slot has gained an average 13,000 listeners over the last 12 months, as well as seeing the departure of Ryan Tubridy from the station.

In the latest round of the JNLR results, figures show that more listeners are choosing to turn the dial to RTÉ Radio 1 than any other station as it continues to be the only station with a weekly audience of over 1 million.

RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst has thanked listeners for "sticking with RTÉ" during an "extraordinarily challenging period" as the number of people tuning in to RTÉ Radio 1, 2fm and RTÉ lyric fm grow.

In a statement 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 since last year."

Despite Ryan Tubridy's departure during the summer, the 9am slot on RTÉ Radio 1 has picked up listeners, with an extra 13,000 on average tuning in over the last 12 months.

That brings the total listenership for the programme to 347,000.

Morning Ireland is Ireland's most popular radio show

Morning Ireland remains Ireland's most listened to radio programme in Ireland, with 463,000 listeners (+23,000), while Today with Claire Byrne has 331,000 listeners (+8,000). The Ray D'Arcy Show has 187,000 listeners (+4,000). Sunday with Miriam, which was off-air for a six-week period over the summer, has dropped from 287,000 to 272,000.

Peter Woods, Head of RTÉ Radio 1 said the success of the station is not only down to the on-air presenters, but also the production teams and "their commitment to public service broadcasting".

He said: "All of this is driven by our presenters and most of all by our production teams. Everything here goes back to those production teams and their commitment to public service broadcasting. We're grateful for the trust of our listeners."

Breakfast with Doireann, Donncha, and Carl has gained 11,000 listeners

2FM has seen growth across a number of shows - since the last round of results in August - including Breakfast with Doireann, Donncha, and Carl (+11,000), Drive It with The 2 Johnnies (+11,000) and Tracy Clifford (+6,000).

The weekend schedule has also gained traction, in particular, Roz & Emma on 2FM have 123,000 listeners on Saturday (+20,000) and 101,000 listeners on Sunday (+12,000) while Laura Fox at Weekends has 118,000 listeners (+7,000) on Saturday and 114,000 on Sunday (+12,000).

Dan Healy, Head of RTÉ Radio Strategy and RTÉ 2FM said: "In every radio market morning radio is the vital battleground for radio stations, and I am thrilled for the entire Breakfast team for their continuous success with the show, which is up 11,000 listeners from the last survey. The 2 Johnnies are also up 11,000 listeners and have become a real appointment to listen, delivering a strong back end of the day for 2FM.

"This has been a challenging number of months for RTÉ, but as ever the team at 2FM have been focused solely on serving younger audiences in Ireland."

Over on RTÉ lyric fm Marty in the Morning holds steady with 58,000 listeners (+1,000). Lorcan Murray's Classic Drive is up 8,000 to 63,000 and Daybreak now reaches 33,000 (+7,000).

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