NewsTalk may make major gains in Dublin - report

NewsTalk 106, the Dublin talk radio station, could be set to make significant gains in the Dublin radio market, according to a report from the media arm of McConnell's advertising agency.

MCM Communications says there is a real possibility NewsTalk could achieve a 6-7 per cent listenership figure in Dublin and become a "key niche player", but only if it finds a way to reach younger listeners.

The station, in which Mr Denis O'Brien is now the largest shareholder, is currently at 4 per cent. A major marketing drive by the station is expected shortly and a cash competition where listeners have to guess the voices of certain guests is under way.

The new marketing drive and emphasis on high-profile promotions have followed the appointment of a new chief executive, Mr Dan Healy. Mr Healy made a success of Dublin pop station 98 FM and hopes to bring about a major transformation at NewsTalk. While this is likely to prove challenging, Mr Healy believes improvements in listenership are already under way.

In the last JNLR survey, NewsTalk doubled its listenership to 4 per cent, recruiting 22,000 extra listeners. The report suggests some new listeners switched from Lite FM which slipped back in the last JNLR survey.

According to MCM, the good news for NewsTalk is that 69 per cent of its audience "falls within the sought-after ABC1 cohort".

However, it cautions that NewsTalk's audience may not be that attractive to advertisers because of its age profile: "82 per cent of listeners are aged 35 plus, an age group which traditionally is ignored by marketers when defining their target audience".

MCM analyst Mr Paul McCabe points out that the most dramatic growth in its audience is among 35-44-year-olds. He says the gains among this group are "matched by a corresponding drop of 10,000 35-44-year-olds tuning into Lite FM and 6,000 less tuning into the two main RTÉ radio stations".

"It must be noted that Today FM also increased the number of 35-44-year-olds listening to it by 9,000, so not all losses in listenership can be attributed to NewsTalk."

However, Mr McCabe stresses that reaching younger listeners is difficult at present. "Rather than merely changing stations, 25- 34-year-olds are also tuning out of commercial radio altogether. Reach among 25-34-year-olds by stations available in Dublin has dropped from 79 per cent to a worrying 71 per cent over the course of the two JNLR periods.

"It will be a grave disappointment to NewsTalk that they did not make the most of this exodus away from commercial radio," according to the McConnell's report. Mr McCabe says if the station finds a way to reach this group, it could become a key player in the Dublin radio sector.