Ryan Tubridy's Irish listenership revealed since his departure from RTE last year

The former Late Late Show host moved over to Virgin Radio UK in January of this year.

By: irishmirror.ie

Nov 07 2024
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Ryan Tubridy's Irish listeners

Ex-RTE star Ryan Tubridy was dealt a crushing blow to his Q102 radio show as the star pulled in 34,000 listeners in the latest quarter this year, we can reveal.

The former Late Late Show host moved over to Virgin Radio UK in January of this year after a major fall out with RTE over the payments scandal, which rocked the station last year.

Tubridy's UK based radio show also airs on Q102 for Irish listeners.

According to the latest Joint National Listenership Research (JLNR), we can reveal the father-of-two - who was once the highest paid presenter at RTE - is broadcasting to just 34,000 Irish listeners daily - a drop of 4,000 compared to his last quarter at the Dublin station.

A spokesperson for Q102 said: "We work on year on year comparisons as industry standard best practice. While we can't compare show time-blocks year on year currently, owing to time-block duration differences, we are delighted that Q102 has added 18,000 new weekly listeners since last year, clearly driven by the addition of Ryan Tubridy to our daily schedule.”

It is not yet known how many listeners Tubridy broadcasts to in the UK - but it is expected to be considerably higher, given the star power at Virgin Radio UK, which include the likes of Chris Evans, Ricky Wilson, Angela Scanlon and previously Graham Norton, who stepped down from his show earlier this year.

But Tubridy's Irish figures are stark in contrast to his former RTE Radio 1 listenership ratings where the star used to pull in more than 400,000 listeners daily to his one hour morning show, which has since been taken over by comedian Oliver Callan.

Elsewhere, the JNLRS show a slump in listenership across the board.

2FM suffered a devastating blow to their listenership after some of their top talent quit the station earlier this summer.

The station was thrown into chaos in May when Doireann Garrihy, Jennifer Zamparelli and The 2 Johnnies announced they were quitting their shows at the end of the month.

And their shock departures appeared to be reflected in the latest Joint National Listenership Research - but radio bosses insist they were "prepared for it".

When The 2 Johnnies left the station due to their hectic schedules and touring commitments, 12,000 listeners switched off their Drivetime show as 2FM bosses put in temporary guests in their place.

Drivetime on 2FM now boasts 145,000 listeners since the podcast duo's departure.

Laura Fox has 133,000 listeners – a drop of 8,000, while Breakfast Radio also suffered a loss after Doireann Garrihy and Donncha O’Callaghan quit with – tuning in – a drop of 7,000.

And Tracy Clifford suffered a 9,000 loss to her radio show, leaving her with 119,000 listeners.

Over at RTE Radio 1, Morning Ireland lost a massive 21,000 listeners to their breakfast show, with the programme broadcasting to 465,000 people daily.

But Tubridy’s former Radio 1 slot saw a gain – new host Oliver Callan pulled in an extra 2,000 people, leaving him with 336,000 listeners in the morning.

Claire Byrne lost 2,000 listeners with 334,000 tuning in, while Louise Duffy’s midday show saw a 2,000 jump. She now has 223,000 tuning in.

Afternoons on RTE Radio 1 also saw a bit of a slump with shows seeing a mix of losses and gains.

News at One saw a 7,000 increase - a triumphant gain for new presenter Rachael English who now boasts a 302,000 daily listenership after Bryan Dobson retired in April.

Liveline gained 5,000 new listeners. Host Joe Duffy now has 307,000 listeners daily, but Ray D’Arcy lost 3,000. He now has 188,000 daily listeners.

And 3,000 tuned out of Drivetime. The afternoon show – hosted by Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra – has 221,000 tuning in.

The JNLR figures also revealed Brendan O’Connor’s Saturday show on RTE Radio 1 gained 2,000 listeners, to 342,000, while his Sunday show has 339,000 – a drop of 7,000 tuning in.

Miriam O’Callaghan – who is currently in Washington D.C. reporting on the American Elections – was off air for most of the summer. The slot dropped 9,000 listeners in her absence to 300,000 listeners.

Commercial radio stations Today FM and Newstalk also suffered losses.

Breakfast King Ian Dempsey lost 1,000 listeners. He now has 209,000, while the former Dermot and Dave slot lost 15,000 listeners after the duo's amicable split last year.

The mid-morning show now has 208,000 people tuning in. And Matt Cooper’s The Last Word lost 4,000 listeners, leaving him with 167,000 listeners.

Fyona Smith, Managing Editor of Today FM said: “Todays FM’s results provide moments of celebration and highlight areas for even greater impact.

"We’re energised by the opportunities ahead to continue connecting with our audience and driving results as well as in class entertainment across all shows, even higher.

"With Ray Foley welcoming huge audiences to afternoon's, we’re excited to connect with even more listeners and elevate our entertainment across all programs.'”

Over at Newstalk, Pat Kenny lost 3,000 listeners after the star had made considerable gains to his morning radio show over the last 12 months.

The former Late Late Show host now has 241,000 listeners tuning in, while Lunchtime, Moncrieff and The Hard Shoulder all dropped by 3,000 listeners.

Lunchtime now has 134,000 people tuning in, Moncrieff has 105,000 listeners and The Hard Shoulder has 152,000.

Mark Simpson, deputy managing editor of Newstalk said: "We’re happy to see that Newstalk remains the most listened to daily talk station of choice for 20-44 year olds in Ireland, a real indication that our strategy of delivering a broad range of engaging, informative and compelling conversations that reflect what our audience are talking about, is working.

"The Pat Kenny Show remains the No.1 commercial show on Irish radio and we are delighted that Pat leads our team into the busy election period ahead as one of the country’s most respected and trusted broadcasters."