RTE loses ground to regional, local stations

RTÉ Radio has lost further ground to regional and local stations, according to the latest national radio listenership statistics.

Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures for the period January to December 2004 show RTÉ Radio One's national market share down 1 point at 24 per cent with Regional/Local stations up one at 47 per cent.

RTÉ Radio Two's figure was static at 17 per cent while Today FM and Lyric FM both increased by one per cent registering market shares of 10 per cent and two per cent respectively.

In Dublin RTÉ Radio One's market share fell by three points to 33 per cent.

The station, which is understood to be under pressure in Dublin recently announced a reshuffle, with Ryan Tubridy taking over from Marian Finucane in the key slot after Morning Ireland.

Its rival talk show station Newstalk 106 increased its share of listeners by 1 point to 3 per cent providing the first official insight into how Eamonn Dunphy is performing.

Q102 and Spin103.8 recorded the biggest gains in Dublin increasing their market share to 8 and 4 per cent respectively.

RTÉ Radio Two increased its market share by two points to 7 per cent while 98FM fell 3 points to 14 per cent with FM104 down one point at 14 per cent.