Media & Marketing: After the frenzy of self-congratulation earlier this week from radio stations, advertisers have delivered their verdict on the JNLR statistics. Most agree on one thing: RTÉ and Today FM sustained serious damage this week.
Mr Paul McCabe, analyst with agency McConnells, puts it succinctly: "The strength of local radio is still increasing at the expense of national stations - particularly the RTÉ stations. 2FM has lost over 11 per cent of its adult audience; Today FM has dropped almost 7 per cent of its total reach, whilst Radio 1 has shed almost 4 per cent of its adult audience."
Stations want as many listeners as possible, but in their more candid moments most station managers agree that penetrating the Dublin market and reaching younger listeners is their top priority.
On that basis, this week's JNLRs were hardly a ringing endorsement for several stations. However, 98 FM, owned by Mr Denis O'Brien, and FM 104, subject of a € 30 million bid from SRH, managed to retain their pre-eminent position in the capital, says McConnells.
But SRH's national station, Today FM, is starting to have real problems in Dublin, according to McConnells. "Today FM has taken a hit in Dublin - with its reach down by almost 17 per cent. This loss is most badly felt amongst younger audiences; 15-24s and 15-34s are both down by almost 27 per cent."
But this downbeat assessment must be balanced by the upswing in listenership for mid-morning presenter Ray D'Arcy, who was one of the few success stories to emerge from this week's ratings.
Newstalk got a mixed review from McConnells, with the agency emphasising the station's continuing difficulties reaching younger listeners.
"Newstalk will be happy with their 13 per cent reach of ABC1 adults; however, they have still a long way to go in redressing the age profile of the station - having failed to significantly recruit the valuable 25-34 year old age group," says Mr McCabe.
As for Today FM's The Last Word, McConnells says that listenership was down by almost 24 per cent - from 192,000 listeners to 146,000 for Matt Cooper.
"Interestingly, the station is still attempting to charge the premium price for the slot once commanded by Dunphy. In Matt Copper's favour, the audience profile of The Last Word remains attractive. Almost 60 per cent are under 35, almost 77 per cent are aged between 20-44 and 54 per cent are ABC1. To put it into context, only 13 per cent of Five Seven Live's 218,000 listeners are under 35," McConnells says.
While RTÉ's stable of star performers took a hammering, some of them like Joe Duffy were coming from a high base in the 2002 JNLRs. Duffy's Liveline, for instance, between January and December 2002 managed to hit 365,000 listeners. So with radio listenership generally falling by 2 per cent, it was always going to be difficult to hold this position, particularly when the show is not even in prime time.
Mediaworks, the media arm of agency Owens DDB, was uncompromising in summarising RTÉ's position. "The only programme with positive listenership was Five Seven Live with a 6 per cent increase," it pointed out. But it acknowledged that "Marian Finucane held its ground as the number one programme in the country with 332,000 listeners".
It noted that Maxi's Risin Time suffered a 42 per cent drop. On 2 FM it accepted that Ryan Tubridy recorded a 4 per cent rise in morning listenership but this was counterbalanced by Larry Gogan and Dave Fanning down 15 and 14 per cent respectively.
McConnells also offered its views on Newstalk's evening presenter, George Hook. "He is by far the greatest draw to Newstalk with 19,000 daily listeners, corresponding to a 2 per cent reach. This performance represents an increase of 533 per cent from the period July-December 2002. Unsurprisingly, 68 per cent of Hook's audience is male, while 84 per cent are ABC1 and 58 per cent are aged 20-44," it says.
'In Dublin' lives on
Mike Hogan's In Dublin is set to live on, albeit under a new owner, advertisers report this week. Next month the magazine will be returning to the streets of Dublin, literally.
AFA O'Meara reports that a version of In Dublin will be distributed free on Dublin streets and at major transport locations. The publisher of Car Buyer's Guide, which bought the title from publisher Mike Hogan, will print 30,000 copies of In Dublin next month, the agency reports.
"This free distribution could work well for this listings magazine; it has been the route to success for other similarly positioned titles in main UK cities," says O'Meara.
New property title
A new property magazine is set to launch within weeks called the Irish Property Buyer. The 124- page publication will be full colour with a 20,000 print run. It will cover the whole range of residential property and property-related issues, including transport, waste and security. Initially, the magazine will be published every two months, but if sales are strong this may be changed. The cover price has been set at €3.90. The publisher is Property Media Ltd and its two directors are Mr Don Buckley, formerly of The Irish Times, and Ms Joan Fitzpatrick, an executive with Mike Hogan's Hoson Publications. The editor is journalist Ms Angela Long.
Emmet Oliver can be reached at eoliver@irish-times.ie
