However, RTÉ is confident its new schedule launch will help steady the ship.
Figures released today from the Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR’s) reveal that all of 2fm’s main shows have continued to slump in popularity.
Its daytime show ‘Drive with Beta Da Silva’ has seen the biggest drop of 12,000 listeners, down to 145,000 while ‘Breakfast with Carl and Aifric’ has lost 7,000.
The station has experienced huge changes in recent times, losing five of its most popular hosts in the past few months. Doireann Garrihy, The 2 Johnnies, Jennifer Zamparelli and Donncha O’Callaghan all decided to move on from the broadcaster.
However, an RTÉ spokesperson said that it expected to see some fluctuations in its listenership given all the changes.
“We knew this was coming,” she told the Irish Independent.
“For 2fm, we opened an expressions of interest process for new presenters and we had hundreds and hundreds of applicants for it. We will have a new schedule in place in early 2025 so we have a plan there for this. The station is a platform where we nurture and develop new talent.”
It was a far better story for its sister station of RTÉ Radio 1, which saw few changes in the latest batch of JNLR’s, which cover the past three months.
Oliver Callan’s 9am show has gained 2,000 more listeners and now stands at 338,000, some 4,000 more than predecessor Ryan Tubridy had for his final full year in that slot.
The latest survey reveals a drop in Irish-based listenership for the ex-RTÉ star’s three-hour show on Q102, down 4,000 to 34,000.
He left RTÉ after the payments scandal erupted in June 2023 and last January took up the reins of a new weekday slot with Virgin Radio UK, simulcast here on Q102.
‘Morning Ireland’ has shed 23,000 listeners to stand at 465,000 but is still the most-listened to radio show in Ireland.
‘Today with Claire Byrne’ had a slight drop of 2,000 down to 342,000 while Louise Duffy’s 12pm show gained 2,000 more to stand at 223,000.
‘News at One’ is continuing to perform strongly, gaining 7,000 listeners to come to 302,000 while Joe Duffy’s Liveline had a surge of 5,000 up to 307,000.
However, the afternoon shows told a different story, given that the Ray D’Arcy Show is down 3,000 to stand at 188,000.
Hot on his heels is Ray Foley’s afternoon show on Today FM, which gained 14,000 more listeners to stand at 169,000 in the latest survey.
RTE’s Drivetime is also down 3,000 to a figure of 221,000.
Weekends on Radio 1 see Brendan O’Connor’s Saturday show gain 2,000 more listeners and now has 342,000.
However, his Sunday programme has seen a drop of 7,000, down to 339,000 from 346,000.
Interestingly, this is exact same figure gained by Anton Savage for his Sunday current affairs show on Newstalk – which starts an hour earlier at 10am. He now has 125,000 for his show.
Over on Today FM, listenership remains steady, given that the long-running Ian Dempsey Breakfast show is down just 1,000 to stand at 209,000.
Louise Cantillon is down 2,000 for her slot to stand at 129,000 while the Last Word has seen a drop of 4,000 to stand at 171,000.
However, Dave Moore’s morning slot is down 15,000 to stand at 208,000, having seen the departure of his former co-host Dermot Whelan in August 2023.
Earlier this week saw Today FM announce the launch of its new evening schedule.
When it comes to Newstalk’s flagship weekday show, Pat Kenny still has the most popular show on commercial radio. Despite a slight drop of 3,000, his listenership is now at 241,000.
Andrea Gilligan’s ‘Lunchtime Live’ also shed 3,000 down to 134,000 while ‘Moncrieff’ and ‘The Hard Shoulder’ both dropped 3,000.
