RTÉ 2FM’S Drive time programme has held steady ahead of the return of Doireann Garrihy to the station.

At the end of May, 2024, The 2 Johnnies brought to an end a two-year stint on 2FM’s 3-6pm slot to focus on other projects.

Since then, a host of faces including Lottie Ryan, David O’Reilly and Beta Da Silva have filled in for the pair, with the trio of Roz Purcell, Emma Power and Graham Smyth heading the show since October.

However, it was announced last month that Doireann Garrihy is set to return to the station after a brief hiatus.

She will return to take over as the host 2FM Drive, while Roz Purcell will move to the breakfast slot alongside Carl Mullen and new addition Aishling Bonner.

The new daytime and weekend schedules are due to launch this month. 

When The 2 Johnnies left the 3-6pm drive time slot on 2FM, the duo had 151,000 listeners.

In the latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures for the 12 months to the end of December 2024, 2FM Drive had 145,000 listeners.

This is unchanged from the previous report last November, which covered the 12-month period up to the end of September last.

2FM is the most popular radio station in the country for 15 to 34-year-old Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

2FM Breakfast meanwhile has seen a jump when compared to the previous figures, up 10,000 listeners to 152,000.

Laura Fox’s 9am-12pm show is down 2,000 to 131,000, as is Tracy Clifford who drops to 117,000 listeners.

It’s a mixed bag for Roz Purcell and Emma Power’s show, which is down 6,000 to 122,000 listeners for its Saturday edition, but up 2,000 for its Sunday show to 111,000.

Emma Power and Roz Purcell

RTÉ 2FM is the most popular radio station in the country for 15 to 34-year-old, with a weekly reach of 769,000.

Its head Dan Healy paid particular tribute to Bláthnaid Treacy, whose weekend show added 2,000 listeners to the Saturday edition to hit 155,000, and is up 4,000 on Sundays to 141,000.

Over on RTÉ Radio 1, which reaches 1.3 million listeners each week, Morning Ireland remains the most listened to radio programme nationally, with 466,000 listeners, a slight increase of 1,000.

Brendan O’Connor is biggest winner for RTÉ Radio 1, with his Saturday show up 16,000 to 358,000 while the Sunday edition is up a massive 27,000 to 366,000.

Oliver Callan has added 11,000 to his audience to hit 349,000 listeners and Today with Claire Byrne is up 7,000 to 349,000.

File image of Oliver Callan RTÉ RTÉ

News at One has also added 5,000 listeners to reach 307,000, Liveline with Joe Duffy is up 7,000 to 314,000, and Drivetime has an extra 5,000 listeners to hit 226,000.

Sunday with Miriam meanwhile is up 4,000 to 304,000 when compared to the previous figures.

Over on Newstalk, The Pat Kenny Show has lost 4,000 listeners, down to 237,000.

Newstalk's Pat Kenny Barry McCall Barry McCall

Andrea Gilligan’s Lunchtime Live is up 5,000 to a record high of 139,000, Breakfast with Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman is down 2,000 to 165,000, and Kieran Cuddihy’s The Hard Shoulder is down 2,000 to 150,000.

Off the Ball meanwhile is down slightly, losing 1,000 listeners to 52,000.

Newstalk now has a weekly reach of 871,000, up 10,000 when compared to the previous figures.

And on Today FM, the station has lost 19,000 listeners compared to last time out, with a weekly audience of 953,000.

The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show has lost 7,000 listeners, down to 202,000, while Dave Moore’s 9am-12pm slot is down 11,000 to 197,000.

Ray Foley’s 2-4.30pm show is down 5,000 to 164,000, while The Last Word with Matt Cooper remains steady with an audience of 167,000.

Meanwhile, the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland said the latest JNLR figures show the Irish public has a “deep passion for live radio”.

Its chief executive Michael Kelly noted that 90% of all adults and 85% of 15–34-year-olds listen to radio every week.

He added that listening levels to local and regional radio continues to be strong, with over 2.2 million adults listening to their local or regional station every weekday.

Kelly remarked that “after a year when radio was key to audiences being informed on election campaigns and counts, and most recently through the provision of essential information for those without power around Ireland, this shows the trust and connection of radio in Ireland is evergreen”.