The latest JNLR/Ipsos survey reveals that Irish radio is enjoying its highest audience ever.
With 3.94m people listening to radio every week in Ireland, radio is enjoying it highest audience levels ever according to the latest JNLR report which was carried out by Ipsos B&A.
The 3.94m represents a growth of 128,000 listeners compared to the same 12 month period previously (April 2023 to March 2024).
The daily weekday audience is also impressive, with 3.5m people tuning in each weekday, an increase of 103,000 listeners compared to the same period last year.
Despite competition from a wide range of media, Irish people have a deep passion for live radio and are listening in growing numbers across both broadcast and online platforms, according to RadioCentre Ireland.
The latest JNLR book also shows that 90% of all adults and 85% of 15–34-year-olds listen to radio every week.
In addition, some 68% of 15-34 year olds listen to radio each weekday, while daily weekday listening levels for the hard to reach 15-24 year old cohort is also very impressive with 64% listening each weekday.
When it comes to local and regional radio, the Ipsos B&A research shows that radio is listened to by 2.2m adults each week day
According to the JNLR, the average weekday audience listening at any time between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. is now 1,091,000 — one of the highest ever recorded — representing an increase of 41,000 listeners compared to the same period previously.
The Irish Audio Report which was published in November 2024 and measures all forms of audio listening, shows that “there is universal listening to audio content with 97% of adults listening every week.”
Live radio dominates audio listening with a 76% share of total audio listening followed by music streaming with a 12% share while YouTube Music has a 6% share and podcasts a 3% share of audio listening.
In terms of how people listen, 12% of all radio listening is now through a connected device with 7% of all listening through a smart speaker while listening via a mobile device is at 3%.
For the younger 15 to 34 age cohort, 20% of all their radio listening is now through a connected device with a smart speaker accounting for 7% of all 15-34 listening, while listening through a mobile device also accounts for 8% of all radio listening for this audience.
