Overall Dublin listenership now stands at 76% or 795,000 people every day. This is down one percentage point on the previous book and four percentage points on the previous year.
It’s the sixth successive fall in the Dublin market with no sign of a letup. The graphic below gives a good visual representation of what’s been happening over the past few books.
Like the national scene, the market is dominated by RTE1 with a 28% reach and 299,000 listeners every day. That’s down 2% on the previous year and up marginally on the last book.
Table: Dublin Reach
| Latest | Book on Book | Year on Year | ||||||||||||||
| 2016Q4 | 2016Q3 | +/- | +/- | Ch | 2015Q4 | +/- | +/- | Ch | ||||||||
| Any Radio | 795 | 76% | 800 | 77% | -5 | -1% | -1% | 823 | 80% | -28 | -4% | -3% | ||||
| RTE Radio 1 | 299 | 28% | 297 | 28% | 2 | 0% | 1% | 312 | 30% | -13 | -2% | -4% | ||||
| FM 104 | 169 | 16% | 174 | 17% | -5 | -1% | -3% | 186 | 18% | -17 | -2% | -9% | ||||
| Newstalk | 149 | 14% | 144 | 14% | 5 | 0% | 3% | 165 | 16% | -16 | -2% | -10% | ||||
| Spin 1038 | 125 | 12% | 133 | 13% | -8 | -1% | -6% | 149 | 14% | -24 | -2% | -16% | ||||
| 98FM | 113 | 11% | 118 | 11% | -5 | 0% | -4% | 103 | 10% | 10 | 1% | 10% | ||||
| Q102 | 77 | 7% | 72 | 7% | 5 | 0% | 7% | 73 | 7% | 4 | 0% | 5% | ||||
| Today FM | 70 | 7% | 70 | 7% | 0 | 0% | 0% | 90 | 9% | -20 | -2% | -22% | ||||
| RTE Lyric FM | 57 | 5% | 57 | 5% | 0 | 0% | 0% | 56 | 5% | 1 | 0% | 2% | ||||
| Radio Nova | 51 | 5% | 51 | 5% | 0 | 0% | 0% | 58 | 6% | -7 | -1% | -12% | ||||
| RTE 2FM | 51 | 5% | 51 | 5% | 0 | 0% | 0% | 69 | 7% | -2% | -26% | |||||
| Sunshine 106.8 | 51 | 5% | 55 | 5% | -4 | 0% | -7% | 56 | 5% | -5 | 0% | -9% | ||||
| 4FM | 22 | 2% | 29 | 3% | -7 | -1% | -24% | 36 | 3% | -14 | -1% | -39% | ||||
Newstalk is in the third slot at 149,000 up marginally on the last book but down 10% on the previous year. Spin have had the biggest year on year fall of all the stations down 24,000 (16%) and book on book they are down 8,000 (6%) to land at 125,000. 98FM, Sunshine and FM104 all fell foul of the book recording falls on the previous quarter with only Q102 and Newstalk adding to their numbers.
98FM lost 5,000 on the last book but are still up 10,000 on the previous year. Q102 added 4,000 on the year to reach 77,000 and adding 5,000 or 7% on the last book.
Today have struggled in the metropolis and are now reaching 70,000 which is down 20,000 (22%) on last year and they are stationary on the previous book.
Graphic: Dublin Reach
The long term trend for Dublin listenership is downward and gained some acceleration since 15Q3.
Graphic: Station Reach:
The graphics give a good snapshot as to what’s happening over the long term. You can see above the way RTE are edging ahead whereas FM104, Newstalk and Spin had all curved downwards on the last few surveys.
At the smaller end of the market some of the movements are much more pronounced most notably Today FM, 2FM and Classic Hits.
Graphic: Station Reach:
In terms of the Dublin top 20, there’s been a bit of a coup! Marion’s crown has been toppled by Morning Ireland to take the top slot and to add insult to injury, Sean O’Rourke has just nicked the third spot from her second programme – by dropping less that her fall it has to be said. But a win is a win!
Dublin Top 20
| Station | Programme | Time | 16Q4 | 16Q3 | 15Q4 | YoY | BoB |
| RTE 1 W/D | Morning Ireland | 07.00-09.00 | 158 | 158 | 169 | -11 | 0 |
| RTE 1 Sat | Marian Finucane | 11.00-13.00 | 152 | 161 | 169 | -17 | -9 |
| RTE 1 W/D | Sean O’Rourke | 10.00-12.00 | 133 | 137 | 146 | -13 | -4 |
| RTE 1 Sun | Marian Finucane | 11.00-13.00 | 131 | 143 | 147 | -16 | -12 |
| RTE 1 Sat | The Business | 10.00-11.00 | 125 | 129 | 123 | 2 | -4 |
| RTE 1 W/D | Ryan Tubridy | 09.00-10.00 | 125 | 120 | 125 | 0 | 5 |
| RTE 1 W/D | Liveline | 13.45-15.00 | 119 | 124 | 125 | -6 | -5 |
| RTE 1 Sat | Playback | 09.00-10.00 | 106 | 103 | 114 | -8 | 3 |
| RTE 1 Sun | Sunday Miscellany | 09.00-10.00 | 105 | 103 | 82 | 23 | 2 |
| RTE 1 W/D | News At One | 13.00-13.45 | 105 | 111 | 124 | -19 | -6 |
| RTE 1 Sun | Miriam O’Callaghan | 10.00-11.00 | 93 | 99 | 112 | -19 | -6 |
| RTE 1 W/D | Ronan Collins | 12.00-13.00 | 86 | 89 | 96 | -10 | -3 |
| RTE 1 W/D | Drivetime | 16.30-19.00 | 80 | 83 | 91 | -11 | -3 |
| RTE 1 Sun | This Week | 13.00-14.00 | 79 | 85 | 111 | -32 | -6 |
| FM104 W/D | The 10-3 Show | 10.00-15.00 | 77 | 82 | 87 | -10 | -5 |
| RTE 1 Sat | Claire Byrne | 13.00-14.00 | 76 | 86 | 109 | -33 | -10 |
| Newstalk W/D | Pat Kenny | 09.00-12.00 | 70 | 65 | 57 | 13 | 5 |
| FM104 W/D | Strawberry Alarm | 06.00-10.00 | 69 | 72 | 82 | -13 | -3 |
| FM104 W/D | The Jam | 15.00-19.00 | 68 | 64 | 67 | 1 | 4 |
| Spin W/D | Steve K | 14.45-18.45 | 67 | 72 | 86 | -19 | -5 |
Station Programmes – Dublin
| Station | Time | Programme | 2016Q4 | 2016Q3 | 2015Q4 | BoB | YoY |
| RTE 1 | 07.00-09.00 | Morning Ireland | 158 | 158 | 169 | 0 | -11 |
| RTE 1 | 09.00-10.00 | Tubridy | 125 | 120 | 125 | 5 | 0 |
| RTE 1 | 10.00-12.00 | Sean O’Rourke | 133 | 137 | 146 | -4 | -13 |
| RTE 1 | 12.00-13.00 | Ronan Collins | 86 | 89 | 96 | -3 | -10 |
| RTE 1 | 13.00-13.45 | News at One | 105 | 111 | 124 | -6 | -19 |
| RTE 1 | 13.45-15.00 | Liveline | 119 | 124 | 125 | -5 | -6 |
| RTE 1 | 15.00-16.30 | Ray D’Arcy | 62 | 65 | 72 | -3 | -10 |
| RTE 1 | 16.30-19.00 | Drivetime | 80 | 83 | 91 | -3 | -11 |
| Station | Time | Programme | 2016Q4 | 2016Q3 | 2015Q4 | BoB | YoY |
| 2FM | 06.00-10.00 | Breakfast Republic | 30 | 29 | 38 | 1 | -8 |
| 2FM | 10.00-13.00 | Nicky Byrne | 22 | 22 | 30 | 0 | -8 |
| 2FM | 13.00-16.00 | Tracy Clifford | 14 | 14 | 18 | 0 | -4 |
| 2FM | 16.00-19.00 | Eoghan Mc Dermot | 12 | 13 | 18 | -1 | -6 |
| 2FM | 19.00-20.00 | Game On | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Station | Time | Programme | 2016Q4 | 2016Q3 | 2015Q4 | BoB | YoY |
| Today | 07.00-09.00 | Ian Dempsey | 32 | 35 | 42 | -3 | -10 |
| Today | 09.00-12.00 | Anton Savage | 24 | 23 | 39 | 1 | -15 |
| Today | 12.00-14.30 | Dermot and Dave | 14 | 13 | 19 | 1 | -5 |
| Today | 14.30-16.30 | Fergal D’Arcy | 15 | 14 | 17 | 1 | -2 |
| Today | 16.30-19.00 | Matt Cooper | 23 | 25 | 28 | -2 | -5 |
| Station | Time | Programme | 2016Q4 | 2016Q3 | 2015Q4 | BoB | YoY |
| Newstalk | 07.00-09.00 | Breakfast | 52 | 47 | 81 | 5 | |
| Newstalk | 09.00-12.00 | Pat Kenny Show | 70 | 65 | 57 | 5 | |
| Newstalk | 12.00-14.00 | High Noon* | 40 | 43 | 35 | -3 | |
| Newstalk | 14.00-16.00 | Moncrieff* | 23 | 23 | 49 | 0 | |
| Newstalk | 16.00-19.00 | Newstalk Drive* | 47 | 47 | 58 | 0 | |
| Station | Time | Programme | 2016Q4 | 2016Q3 | 2015Q4 | BoB | YoY |
| FM104 | 06.00-10.00 | Strawberry | 69 | 72 | 82 | -3 | -13 |
| FM104 | 10.00-15.00 | The 10-3 Show | 77 | 82 | 87 | -5 | -10 |
| FM104 | 15.00-19.00 | The Jam | 68 | 64 | 67 | 4 | 1 |
| FM104 | 19.00-21.00 | The Takeover | 10 | 11 | 14 | -1 | -4 |
| FM104 | 21.00-01.00 | FM104 Phoneshow | 18 | 20 | 30 | -2 | -12 |
| Station | Time | Programme | 2016Q4 | 2016Q3 | 2015Q4 | BoB | YoY |
| 98FM | 07.00-10.00 | Big Breakfast | 40 | 41 | 36 | -1 | 4 |
| 98FM | 10.00-12.00 | Dublin Talks | 38 | 40 | 34 | -2 | 4 |
| 98FM | 12.00-16.00 | Barry Dunne | 47 | 50 | 48 | -3 | -1 |
| 98FM | 16.00-19.00 | The Big Ride Home | 33 | 33 | 29 | 0 | 4 |
| 98FM | 19.00-22.00 | The Fix | 10 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 0 |
| Station | Time | Programme | 2016Q4 | 2016Q3 | 2015Q4 | BoB | YoY |
| Q102 | 06.00-10.00 | Dave Harrington | 32 | 27 | 21 | 5 | 11 |
| Q102 | 10.00-14.00 | Liam Coburn | 34 | 31 | 36 | 3 | -2 |
| Q102 | 14.00-17.00 | Aidan Cooney | 32 | 30 | 39 | 2 | -7 |
| Q102 | 17.00-19.00 | Drive @5 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 0 | 2 |
| Q102 | 19.00-00.00 | The Love Zone | 11 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Station | Time | Programme | 2016Q4 | 2016Q3 | 2015Q4 | BoB | YoY |
| Spin FM | 06.45-09.45 | Fully Charged | 41 | 46 | 49 | -5 | -8 |
| Spin FM | 09.45-12.45 | Spin Hits | 32 | 33 | 35 | -1 | -3 |
| Spin FM | 12.45-14.45 | Spin Talk | 34 | 36 | 41 | -2 | -7 |
| Spin FM | 14.45-18.45 | Steve K | 67 | 72 | 86 | -5 | -19 |
| Spin FM | 18.45-21.00 | The Zoo Crew | 26 | 25 | 31 | 1 | -5 |
| Spin FM | 21.00-00.00 | Total Request Live | 10 | 10 | 16 | 0 | -6 |
*A few of the programme time slots have changed and are therefore are not directly comparable year on year. They are comparable on a book on book basis
It’s worth looking at the absolute dominance of RTE1 in the Dublin market. Looking beyond that, the Newstalk line is interesting where it dominates the other stations in the early part of the day, until around midday, and then it falls behind FM104 and 98FM by 1:00pm.
