While ad spend for other media streams is in decline, Garret Monahan reports on how Irish radio remains buoyant, with listenership figures faring well.
Irish radio has transformed from the days when there was very little choice of stations for listeners and advertisers alike to a marketplace where there is arguably an over-supply of choice for both. There is now a total of 24 local stations, five regional channels, primarily designed to serve the youth sector, along with six national commercial stations to choose from. But, with all of this choice now available to us, how are listenership numbers and commercial revenues faring, especially against the backdrop of extremely tough economic conditions faced by the industry and the wider economy as a whole?
The recent JNLR (Joint National Listenership Research), issued for the period covering July 2008 to June 2009 shows overall radio listenership at 86pc or 3,043,000 adults listening every day – a rise of one percentage point on last year. This is still a phenomenal rate of radio listenership. To put this in context, Ireland still manages to outperform all of the other major radio markets across most key audience and revenue performance indicators.
Yet this is not a recent development by any means. Examining trends in listenership over the past 10 years, this shows a consistent upward path in terms of total listeners. Since 1999, despite a drop of two percentage points in reach over this period, the actual number of listeners to radio has increased by 288,000.
Time spent listening to radio also shows a steady upwards trajectory over the past decade, both within peak or primetime hours (7am-7pm) and evening/night time listening. Both trends show how resilient radio in Ireland has been in the face of stiff competition from both other forms of news and entertainment and emerging digital media, in the past 10 years.
Within the latest JNLR research, on a national level, there were increases for RTÉ Radio 1 (up two percentage points to 25pc) and Newstalk (up one percentage point to 7pc), which both gained at the expense of 2FM (16pc) and Today FM (15pc), both of which fell one point year-on-year.
By station, RTÉ Radio 1 generally remained static across most key target audiences, though it did show improvement in the Dublin market for adults (up two percentage points to 29pc) and the always-key ABC1 audience (up one percentage point to 34pc). In terms of individual programme performances, ‘Morning Ireland’ gained 23,000 listeners and Mary Wilson’s ‘Drivetime’ was up 13,000, but Pat Kenny saw a drop of 17,000 year-on-year.
2FM dropped in overall listenership nationally year-on-year, down one percent to 16pc. However, the key drop was within the 15–34 audience, which saw the station shed two percent year-on-year both nationally (down to 20pc) and in Dublin (down to 9pc).
The high-profile programmes on 2FM suffered further drops in audience, including ‘The Colm and Jim Jim Breakfast Show’ losing 8,000 listeners, Will Leahy losing 10,000 and Gerry Ryan losing 11,000. This result is likely to hasten the repositioning of 2FM, with a new focus on the older 25–44 age group. This will involve some overhauling of the current schedule, with one confirmed reappointment in the form of Dave Fanning who returns from RTÉ Radio 1 after three years (other changes are still to be announced). The broadcaster intends to concentrate on the 15-34-year-old audience through its digital stations (RTÉ 2XM, RTÉ Pulse and RTÉ Chill).
For Today FM, adult average weekday listenership fell from 16pc to 15pc, while 15–34s also dropped by one percentage point to 22pc. In Dublin, 15–34 listenership remained static at 11pc, but all other main demographic categories fell by one percentage point. The station’s three main daytime programmes lost audiences year-on-year: Ray D’Arcy’s show saw a reduction of 14,000 listeners, Ian Dempsey’s show was down 2,000 and ‘The Last Word’ with Matt Cooper was down 13,000. The station does lead 2FM though in the 25–44 age segment and will be concentrating its efforts to hold that lead as 2FM repositions.
For Ireland’s dedicated talk radio station, Newstalk, adult listenership rose by one percentage point, both nationally and in Dublin. Both ‘Tom Dunne’ and ‘The Right Hook’ saw a rise in their audiences (each gaining 4,000 listeners year-on-year), while the ‘Breakfast Show’ remained static at 33,000 listeners. The next JNLR survey should show a positive result for the latter, which was revamped in May with Ivan Yates partnering Claire Byrne on what is generally regarded as a much improved show.
The latest research also shows the first interim results for 4FM, which has been on air since the end of February. The station has a pan-regional remit, targeting Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Clare, with a mixture of music, entertainment, news and talk. The results show a weekly reach of 95,000 adults (5pc) and an average weekday adult listenership of 40,000 (2pc). It’s a promising start for the new station, given the level of competition it faces and hopefully a base on which it can build over the coming year.
The battle for music station supremacy continues to rage in Dublin. The daily audience for Dublin’s 98 fell by one percentage point for adults (16pc to 15pc), but showed an increase of two percentage points for adults in the 15–34 category (20pc to 22pc), which looks to have been at the expense of FM104. However, FM104 still remains the top station in Dublin for reaching 15–34s (31pc average reach) ahead of Spin 103.8 (29pc) and Dublin’s 98 (22pc).
Other highlights include a strong performance by Q102, boosting its adult daily reach to 115,000 and its housekeeper listenership by three percentage points (from 9pc to 12pc), and Spin 103.8 increasing its core 15–34 listenership from 26pc to 29pc. In Cork, the big winner was Red FM, which enjoyed an adult listenership increase from 17pc to 21pc and an increase among 15–34 year olds from 35pc to 39pc.
Outside Dublin and Cork, local radio performed exceptionally well, particularly amongst 15–34s (average weekday listenership up from 54pc to 60pc) and housekeepers (average weekday listenership up from 46pc to 50pc). The growth in the 15–34s market is particularly encouraging and is down to the number of youth-oriented stations either growing or maturing over the past few years, including Spin South West, iRadio (i105–107 serving the north east and midlands and i102–104 serving the north west and west regions), which have joined more established youth stations such as Beat 102–103 in the south east and Cork’s Red FM. Their effect on overall listening levels by young adults has been generally positive, providing a much-needed defence to the iPod/music download phenomenon.
Carat is projecting radio ad revenue to reach €112m this year, which is a drop of 23pc year-on-year (versus a total of €145m for 2008). When one includes the additional revenues from sponsorship and promotions, it means that the radio spend per capita here is €30, compared with almost €7 in the UK. The medium has taken advantage of lower production costs and its ability to deliver to large audiences at a very cost-efficient level, to stay relatively buoyant compared to the overall advertising market, which is down close to 30pc. Continued investment by retail, telecoms and some FMCG brands and a return by other brands that previously were TV-only spenders, has helped to slow the decline for radio.
Following an unprecedented period of new station launches and ownership changes, the past couple of years have been more about consolidation. Communicorp is now a formidable player, with a range of strong city brands including Dublin’s 98 and Spin in Dublin, Spin South West and now two national assets, Today FM and Newstalk.
UTV Radio now owns or acts as sales agent for seven prime urban-based stations (including the recent addition of FM104 in Dublin) under the banner of its new sales house, UTV Radio Solutions. In December of last year, it launched Urban Access, a competitive seven-station package across the key city and regional stations it represents. Its primary aim is to win more business from the national stations with further initiatives like this.
With radio remaining a key source of information, entertainment and companionship in the lives of Irish people, the future looks bright for the medium. Overall listenership levels are still extremely high and recent results suggest that younger audiences are unlikely to lose the listening habit any time soon. There are now more stations on air than ever before, presenting more choice of content for listeners. Technology has also evolved and now presents numerous different channels by which consumers can access on their own terms, from the internet to mobile phones and MP3 players.
The evolution of digital radio is the next key milestone for Irish radio. Previously only available the via digital TV platform, RTÉ launched six new DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) services in 2008 – RTÉ Choice (speech/imported shows), RTÉ Junior (content aimed at children between two and 12), RTÉ 2XM (alternative, indie rock), RTÉ Pulse (dance music), RTÉ Chill (electronic, ambient music), and RTÉ Gold (classic hits from the Fifties to the Eighties). The services are currently available to those with digital radio sets in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Although quite niche at present, and requiring the involvement of the commercial operators, DAB will hopefully provide opportunities for the next generation of radio talent and place the medium firmly in the digital age.