RTÉ RADIO 1 has lost listeners across its biggest shows, according to radio data published today.

The radio station recently overhauled its weekday schedule, with Claire Byrne moving to Newstalk and Kieran Cuddihy arriving from the opposite direction to take over Liveline.

Tara Campbell, head of RTÉ Radio 1, noted that as the new schedule “continues to bed in,” RTÉ Radio 1 remains the biggest radio station in the country.

But listening figures are down across most of the big shows.

The latest JNLR figures cover the 12-month period up to March of this year.

The JNLR survey is conducted among an annual sample of around 16,800 people aged 15 and over.

It uses the “one-day-aided” recall methodology, whereby the respondent recalls all their listening activity for the day prior. 

When compared to the most recent JNLR figures, which cover 2025, RTÉ Radio 1 has lost 32,000 weekly listeners.

Today with David McCullagh has lost 17,000 listeners, down to 423,000, while Oliver Callan is down 12,000 listeners in his 11am-1pm slot, with an audience of 296,000.

Liveline with Kieran Cuddidy is also down 12,000, to 268,000, and while Morning Ireland remains the most listened to radio programme with 452,000 listeners, this is down 15,000.

Elsewhere, Drivetime with Katie Hannon and Colm Ó Mongáin has lost 7,000 listeners, with an audience of 211,000.

On weekends, Brendan O’Connor’s Saturday show is down 15,000 listeners, while his Sunday show has shipped 9,000 listeners, with audiences of 414,000 and 409,000 respectively.

Over on RTÉ 2FM, the breakfast show has the same number of listeners, an audience of 121,000, while Tracey Clifford’s afternoon show has lost 3,000 listeners, with an audience of 102,000.

Dan Healy, head of RTÉ 2FM, describes the figures as “stable” and remarked that “these numbers tell us our foundation is solid.”

Newstalk

Newstalk also overhauled its schedule recently and managing editor Eric Moylan described today’s figures as “really positive”, especially as a “new line up beds in”.

The Claire Byrne Show has the same number of listeners that Pat Kenny signed off with, 206,000.

The Hard Shoulder, now presented by Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman, have added 4,000 listeners to reach an audience of 153,000.

Anton Savage left his Saturday show on Newstalk to take over the breakfast show from Kelly and Coleman, and he too has the same audience as his predecessors, at 158,000.

The Pat Kenny Show meanwhile has an audience of 159,000 on Saturdays and 119,000 on Sundays.

Today FM

Meanwhile on Today FM, Matt Cooper’s The Last Word has seen an increase in listeners, up 8,000 to 192,000.

Dave Moore also adds to his audience, up 3,000 to 206,000, while the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show recorded its highest listenership, up 8,000 to 232,000.

Dempsey said the figures are “incredibly special” and that he’s “so thankful that more people than ever are joining us each morning”.

Dublin radio

Meanwhile in the Dublin area, Bay Broadcasting has a 23% prime-time market share.

It owns Radio Nova, Classic Hits Music and has a substantial share in Sunshine 106.8.

Bay Broadcasting CEO, Kevin Branigan, remarked that their radio stations “continue to out-perform Bauer and Onic in the most important market in the country, showing that it’s connection with audiences and attention to detail that attract audiences”.

However, a spokesperson for Bauer Media Audio Ireland said the combined market share in Dublin for its stations, which include Newstalk, Today FM, 98FM and SPIN 1038, is 27.1%. 

“BMAI’s stations perform very well in the Dublin Market,” said a spokesperson, “with SPIN 1038 holding the number one position for 15 to 34-year-olds, while Newstalk is the number two station in Dublin overall behind RTÉ Radio 1.”

 Radiocentre Ireland, which aims to promote radio stations, said the latest figures “confirm the scale and influence of radio in Ireland”.

Close to 80% of adults listen to the radio every weekday, while two-thirds of 15 to 34-year-olds listen each weekday.

Local and regional radio stations meanwhile attract 2.3 million adult listeners every weekday.

Ciarán Cunningham, CEO of Radiocentre Ireland, said the results “show that radio delivers both exceptional scale and deep audience connection”.

He added that the figures “highlights the unique power of radio to connect communities, create emotional engagement and deliver real impact for audiences and advertisers alike”.