RTÉ Radio 1 has seen large weekend gains in the latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures released today, with The Brendan O'Connor Show enjoying the biggest increases on both Saturdays and Sundays.
RTÉ Radio 1 remains the most popular station in Ireland, reaching 1.4 million listeners every week, an increase of 25,000 since the last figures. It is the first choice for adults aged 35–54 nationwide, with a share of 14%.
Combined, RTÉ Radio stations have an all-adults audience share of 29% - the highest in the country.
RTÉ Radio now holds 18 of the top 20 programmes and the entire top 10.
Raidío na Gaeltachta has increased its weekly reach to over 100,000 listeners.
Commenting on the latest figures, Patricia Monahan, Director of Audio, RTÉ said: "This is a great result for RTÉ, giving us 29% audience share and clearly positioning our stations as the most-listened-to in Ireland.
"Across the portfolio, we provide a diverse mix of trusted content for audiences covering a wide range of genres including news and current affairs, sport, arts and culture, music, entertainment, and the Irish language."
For the first time, The Brendan O'Connor Show on RTÉ Radio 1 has exceeded 400,000 listeners on both days of the weekend, with Saturday's figure standing at 412,000 listeners, up 49,000 book-on-book; and Sunday's at 409,000, up 40,000 book-on-book.
Book-on-book refers to a comparison of the average listenership for programmes across the four previous quarters (three-month periods).
On Saturdays on RTÉ Radio 1, Playback is up 16,000 listeners book-on-book to 351,000, and The Business is also at 351,000, up 31,000 book-on-book.
Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin is at 229,000, up 25,000 book-on-book; and the combined Saturday Sport/Doc on One slot is at 226,000, up 27,000 book-on-book.
Year-on-year, The Brendan O'Connor Show is up 72,000 listeners (Saturday) and 63,000 (Sunday), and The Business is up 20,000.
Sunday Miscellany on RTÉ Radio 1 has added 16,000 listeners book-on-book to 300,000, and Sunday with Miriam is up 13,000 listeners book-on-book to 317,000.
This Week is at 200,000, a book-on-book increase of 16,000; and Sunday Sport is at 211,000, a book-on-book increase of 28,000.
Tara Campbell, Head of RTÉ Radio 1, said: "RTÉ Radio 1 has consolidated its position as the biggest radio station in the country and continues to be the number one destination for listeners in the competitive age 35 to 54 demographic.
"There has been a particularly strong performance at weekends in this book with gains across the board - one of the standout performances has been The Brendan O'Connor Show, which now has a listenership of over 400,000 on both Saturdays and Sundays."
On weekdays on RTÉ Radio 1, Morning Ireland is down 2,000 listeners book-on-book to 469,000 but maintains its position as the country's most popular radio show.
Oliver Callan's 9am-10am weekday slot on RTÉ Radio 1 is at 354,000 listeners, down 1,000 book-on-book.
Today with Claire Byrne is up 6,000 listeners book-on-book to 354,000.
The Louise Duffy Show is down 4,000 listeners book-on-book to 219,000, and The News at One is up 1,000 listeners book-on-book to 298,000.
Liveline, which said goodbye to Joe Duffy as host during the summer, is down 8,000 listeners book-on-book to 299,000.
The Ray D'Arcy Show is down 10,000 listeners book-on-book to 182,000, and Drivetime with Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra is down 4,000 book-on-book to 217,000.
On RTÉ 2FM weekdays, The 2FM Breakfast Show is down 9,000 book-on-book to 139,000, The Laura Fox Show is down 5,000 book-on-book to 122,000, and 2FM Drive with Doireann Garrihy is down 8,000 listeners book-on-book to 125,000.
On the weekend, 2FM Breakfast with Bláthnaid Treacy is at 153,000 listeners on Saturdays, down 5,000 book-on-book; and on Sundays is at 140,000 listeners, up 5,000 book-on-book.
On Saturdays, 2FM Weekend Afternoon with Demi & Mikey is up 5,000 book-on-book to 127,000 listeners, and on Sundays the duo's show is also at 127,000 listeners, up 9,000 book-on-book.
2FM Weekend Drive with Emma & Graham is at 112,000 listeners on Saturdays, up 9,000 book-on-book; and 78,000 on Sundays, up 10,000 book-on-book.
RTÉ 2FM has 677,000 weekly listeners and a 10.3% share among 15-34-year-olds.
Dan Healy, Head of RTÉ 2FM, said: "It's early days for the new 2FM schedule, which first went on air in February and therefore isn't fully reflected in these results."
He said the station is "very excited about the weekend schedule that features Demi (Isaac) and Mikey (O'Reilly), both recruited through the expressions of interest process we ran last year", and 2FM has "also seen good gains for Graham (Smyth) and Emma (Power)".
Over on RTÉ lyric fm, Marty in the Morning continues to thrive weekdays with a new record-breaking audience of 75,000, up 4,000 book-on-book.
Also on RTÉ lyric fm, Lorcan Murray's Classic Drive has added 5,000 listeners book-on-book to stand at 64,000.
RTÉ lyric fm is now reaching 329,000 listeners every week and has achieved its highest audience share to date at 2.8%.
Sinéad Wylde, Head of RTÉ lyric fm, said: "This is a great result for RTÉ lyric fm, growing listeners across our schedule to our highest ever share. The success of Marty in the Morning continues with 4,000 (book-on-book)/8,000 (year-on-year) new listeners choosing a lighter start to their day in the Marty Whelan way."
"It is also great to see that while lyric retains its loyal over-55 audience, the station is seeing increases amongst 35-54-year-olds, reinforcing our mantra that good music is for everyone," she added.
On Newstalk, The Hard Shoulder is up 12,000 book-on-book to 165,000 listeners while The Pat Kenny Show is at 216,000 listeners, down 8,000 book-on-book.
On Today FM, The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show is at 213,000 listeners, Dave Moore's show is at 198,000 listeners, and The Last Word is at 181,000.
